CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The 2025-26 Harvard women's hockey season keeps rolling this weekend when the Crimson head South to New Jersey to take on the Princeton Tigers in the ECAC Championship quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Crimson (15-13-3, 8-11-3 ECAC) will battle the second-seeded Tigers (21-8-0, 16-6-0 ECAC) in a best-of-three series at Hobey Baker Rink this weekend (Feb. 27-Mar. 1) to determine who will advance to the semifinal round in Lake Placid. Another thrilling victory over St. Lawrence last weekend in the Opening Round gave Harvard its first playoff win since 2022 and its first advancement in the ECAC Championship tournament since 2020.
The Matchup
An Ivy rivalry will be reignited this weekend when Harvard and Princeton meet in the ECAC Championship Quarterfinal round. Harvard will look to exact revenge on the Tigers, who defeated the Crimson in the quarters in 2022, the last time the teams met in the postseason. The sides split the two regular season matchups and will now meet in a three-game series to determine who will advance to the semifinal round at Lake Placid. The games are set to take place on Friday, Saturday and – if necessary – Sunday (Feb. 27-Mar. 1) all of which will begin at 3:00 PM and be streamed live on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Cardiac Crimson struck again last Saturday (Feb. 21) in the 2026 ECAC Championship Opening Round, winning the contest off an overtime game-winner off the stick of
Kaley MacDonald. It was Harvard's sixth win in crunch time (last five minutes of the third period or overtime) this season and sent Harvard into the quarterfinals.
Ella Lucia and
Angelica Megdanis also found the back of the net in the contest with
Ainsley Tuffy providing support on the other end, making 27 saves while allowing just two goals. MacDonald also supported the team on the defensive end, leading the squad with three blocked shots in a 14-block effort by the Crimson.
ECAC Championship History
Harvard comes into the matchup with a 51-31 all-time record in the ECAC Women's Hockey Championship. The team has won the tournament seven times in program history with the last title coming in 2015, when Laura Bellamy was an assistant coach for the Crimson. This will be the team's first appearance in the quarterfinal round since the 2023 season.
The Crimson owns a favorable 7-2 record against Princeton in the ECAC Championship, with the last matchup coming in the 2022 tournament. The Tigers upset the Crimson in the series, winning two games to one. The sides have met in the quarterfinals four times in the Championship's history and Harvard has won the other three meetings. Overall, Harvard is 18-12 in quarterfinal matchups and 15-5 since the best-of-three format kicked in 2002.
Series History Against Princeton
The Crimson owns a favorable 7-2 record against Princeton in the ECAC Championship, with the last matchup coming in the 2022 tournament. The Tigers upset the Crimson in the series, winning two games to one. The sides have met in the quarterfinals four times in the Championship's history and Harvard has won the other three meetings. Overall, Harvard is 18-12 in quarterfinal matchups and 15-5 since the best-of-three format kicked in 2002.
Harvard leads the overall series against Princeton with a 52-43-7 record against the Ancient Eight foe. The Tigers have struck back in the series of late, owning a 7-2-1 record over the Crimson in the last 10 meetings. The sides split the season series this year, which each team taking the win on their home ice. In the most recent matchup at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center, Harvard got a late goal from
Ella Lucia which helped the Crimson drop the No. 7 Tigers on senior day.
Player History Against Princeton
- 10 active Crimson skaters own a point against the Tigers
- Brooke Manning and Gwyn Lapp lead the team with three points each against Princeton.
- Morgan McGathey scored two goal in the last matchup with Princeton in the regular season (Feb. 7).
- Carla McSweeney, Kaley MacDonald and Ella Lucia all own goals in the series with the Tigers.
- Ainsley Tuffy has started three games against Princeton and owns a .933 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA to go along with a 1-2-0 record in those contests.
Trends and Streaks
- Morgan McGathey owns four points in her last four games.
- Ella Lucia has recorded four points in her last six games and recently recorded a multi-point effort against St. Lawrence (Feb. 21).
- Harvard is 8-3-1 in games where Carla McSweeney owns a point.
- The Crimson is 14-1-3 when allowing two or fewer goals to opponents.
- Harvard is unbeaten when Annie Sun records a point (4-0-1).
Cardiac Crimson
Harvard earned yet another crunch time victory this past weekend over St. Lawrence after
Kaley MacDonald scored the overtime game-winner. It was the sixth game-winner for Harvard recorded in crunch time – the final five minutes of regulation or in overtime – this season. Harvard is 4-2-3 in overtime this season and 1-1 in shootouts.
Leading the Nation
The Crimson's starting goaltender,
Ainsley Tuffy, has been nothing short of stellar in 2025-26. The sophomore currently leads the nation with a .951 save percentage in 18 games played this season. Tuffy owns an 11-5-2 record this season, 620 saves and a 1.75 GAA. A lockdown goaltender, Tuffy has allowed two or fewer goals in 14 of her 18 starts in 2025-26.
It Takes Everyone
Contributions from the entire lineup have helped the Crimson find success on the offensive end of the ice in 2025-26. Harvard has eight skaters in double figures this season after having just two in 2024-25.
Morgan McGathey leads the team with 15 points and 10 goals while also contributing five assists in her rookie campaign.
Ella Lucia is tied for the team lead with 15 points and leads the squad with 10 assists.
McGathey's linemates
Carla McSweeney and
Elle Sproule along with
Angelica Megdanis are tied for second on the team with 14 points each.
Zoe Boosamra,
Emily Hamann and
Gwyn Lapp round out the top eight with 13, 12 and 10 points each, respectively.
Youth Movement
One of the youngest lineups in college hockey, Harvard's underclass players are stepping up to make a serious impact on the program. The Crimson's first-year and sophomore players have combined to total 104 points on the season and represents 56-percent of the team's scoring output. That total is the second highest in the ECAC behind only St. Lawrence. The Saints' underclass players account for 68-percent of the team's scoring this season.
The Crimson Climb
The Crimson showed rapid improvement from its 2024-25 season in just the first semester of 2025-26. The team posted seven wins, which tied the program's wins total from the last two seasons combined. Harvard also scored 36 goals in the first semester schedule which was more than the team's 2024-25 season total of 35 goals. In the 2025-26 regular season, Harvard scored 63 goals, nearly doubling the team's total from a year ago.
180 Degree Turnaround
Under the leadership of Laura Bellamy and her staff, the Crimson has shown rapid improvement from previous seasons. Currently at 15 wins in 2025-26, the Crimson has posted 13 more victories than 2024-25, which is already the second biggest turnaround in program history. It is also the largest turnaround in NCAA women's hockey this season, beating out Holy Cross (+8) for the top spot on the list.
When looking at just regular season records, the Crimson's +12-win mark was good for second place in program history and just two shy of the record for largest turnaround.
She's Only a First-year
Braintree native,
Morgan McGathey has made an immediate impact on the Harvard women's ice hockey team in her first season with the program. With 15 points and 10 goals, the rookie leads the team in both categories this season. She has played in the center spot on the top two lines all season and brought a new level of offensive ability to the lineup.
The first-year phenom has scored two goals in two games this season against Brown (Nov. 15) and more recently against No. 7 Princeton (Feb. 7) in Harvard's upset win over the Ivy rival. She has tallied a point in 13 contests during the campaign and leads the team in shots with 84. The center is also the team's leader in faceoff wins, raking 31st in the NCAA with 308 on the season. She is also19th in faceoff win percentage nationally among qualifying players (100+ faceoff attempts).
For her efforts in her first season, McGathey was named to the ECAC's All-Rookie team, the first selection for Harvard since 2022. Just the 11
th student-athlete to earn a spot on the team in program history, McGathey joined the likes of Emerance Machmeyer '16, Jillian Dempsey '13 and others with the honor.
McClutch
In just her first season with the Crimson,
Carla McSweeney is beginning to make a name for herself by coming through in clutch moments. Most recently, the Chicago native scored the overtime game-winner – on a penalty shot – against Boston University in the Beanpot.
McSweeney lived up to her "McClutch" nickname in the Friendship Series as well, scoring the game-winning goal against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal round of the tournament.
The first-year currently ranks tied for third on the Crimson with 14 points and nine goals – three of which are game-winners - this season.
Getting in the Way
A staple of the Harvard defense since Laura Bellamy's hiring has been blocking shots. Harvard's defensive core has continued to get into shooting lanes and disrupt opposing forwards with active sticks that has led to 479 blocked shots this season. The third highest total in the ECAC, Harvard is led by
Kaley MacDonald who has blocked 70 shots this season.
Standing Tall
The Crimson defense has been outstanding in 31 games played this season, allowing just 65 goals and holding opponents to just 2.1 goals per game. That number makes Harvard the 14th best scoring defense in the NCAA heading into the week. The defense has allowed two or fewer goals in 18 of 31 games and has secured three shutouts on the year.
ECAC Weekly Awards
Harvard has taken home eight ECAC weekly honors this season after capturing only one a year ago.
Kaley MacDonald recently earned her first weekly honor after being named the ECAC Defender of the Week (Feb. 24). MacDonald earned the award after notching two points and scoring the game-winning goal in the ECAC Opening Round against St. Lawrence. Before that,
Ainsley Tuffy earned MAC Goaltending ECAC Goalie of the Week honors on Feb. 10. The sophomore earned her first career weekly award on Jan. 6 for her efforts during the 2026 Friendship Series.
The Crimson dominated the Rookie of the Week awards early in the season.
Izzy Whynot earned back-to-back Rookie of the Week awards (Nov. 4, 11) and
Morgan McGathey earned her first weekly honor right after her classmate on Nov. 18).
Elle Sproule was recognized as the conference Rookie of the Week as well on Dec. 2.
Keira Ley opened the season with a three-point effort against Saint Michael's (Oct. 17) and was named the conference's Defender of Week on Oct. 21.
Carla McSweeney also earned conference honors in 2025-26, earning the ECAC Rookie of the Month award for the month of December.
Crimson Upsets
Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, Harvard has played 15 games against teams who are receiving votes in the national polls this season. The Crimson has won five – and tied one - of those contests to beat the programs output from the last two seasons combined (4). The wins have come against RV St. Lawrence (Nov. 1), No. 10 Yale (Nov. 14), No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 2) and No. 12 Cornell (Jan. 31) and No. 7 Princeton (Feb. 7).
Boston Belongs to the Harvard Crimson
The Beanpot made its return to Cambridge on Tuesday (Jan. 20) after the Crimson knocked off the Boston University Terriers in the 47th Dunkin' Women's Beanpot Championship game. It was a storybook ending for the Crimson, who got the win in overtime after
Carla McSweeney scored on a penalty shot. The victory was sparked by a tremendous goaltending effort from sophomore
Ainsley Tuffy, who made 46 saves to stump the Terrier offense. For her stellar effort, Tuffy was named the Beanpot MVP and the Bertagna Award winner as the tournament's top goalie.
Bellamy Becomes the First
After capturing the 2026 Dunkin' Women's Beanpot Championship, the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women's Ice Hockey, Laura Bellamy, is now in her own category in the tournament's storied history. Bellamy is officially the only person to ever win the Beanpot as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
A member of three Beanpot Championship teams, Bellamy helped lead her team to the 2010 Beanpot as the team's starting goaltender in 2010. In the two games, Bellamy posted two shutouts while making 42 saves to shutout both Boston College and Northeastern. Bellamy was behind the bench for the Crimson in the 2015 tournament and now owns a title as a head coach after winning the 2026 tournament this season.
Harvard's standout sophomore goaltender,
Ainsley Tuffy, made history at the Beanpot on Tuesday (Jan. 20), becoming just the second player ever to win the Beanpot MVP and the Bertagna Award given to the tournament's top goaltender. The Duxbury native was selected as the recipient for both awards after making 86 saves and allowing just two goals in the two games of the tournament.
ECAC Championship Breakdown
After the Opening Round action this past weekend, eight teams remain in play for the 2026 ECAC Championship Tournament crown. Now in the quarterfinals, the remaining eight teams will compete in four separate three-game series to determine who will go to Lake Placid for the semifinal and championship games.
[8] Harvard will go to [2] Princeton, [6] Colgate will play [4] Cornell, [7] Brown heads to [3] Quinnipiac and [12] Union will compete against [1] Yale. The winners of those series will then move on to compete at Lake Placid in the semifinal and final rounds of the Championship (Mar. 6-7). The ECAC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, which is set to begin on Mar. 13-14 at various campus sites.
