No. 10 Harvard Readies for Midweek Matchup With Dartmouth

Pictured: Josephine Pucci set a career-high with three assists in Harvard's win over Brown.
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

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Dempsey Named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week
Complete Game Notes (pdf)

The Particulars
The 10th-ranked Harvard women’s hockey team returns to the friendly confines of Bright Hockey Center to take on ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Dartmouth. The Crimson and Big Green are both riding two-game win streaks as both teams swept Yale and Brown last weekend.

Follow From Home
GoCrimson.com will provide live statistics for this week’s game, all home games and most road contests this season. Live audio and video will also be available on GoCrimson.com. Matt Sawyer and Glenn Conway will have the call.

Series History
Entering Wednesday’s game, Harvard trails Dartmouth, 39-31-2, in the all-time series, which began in 1978-79. The Crimson has won four of the last five games between the two schools after splitting last year’s two games. Harvard earned a 3-2 win in Hanover, N.H., on Dec. 17, as Sarah Vaillancourt ’08-09, Katharine Chute and Liza Ryabkina each tallied a goal. Later in the season on Dec. 6, the Big Green picked up a 3-0 shutout at Bright Hockey Center.

Last Time Out
The Crimson earned two victories on the road, shutting down Yale, 5-0, and topping Brown, 5-1. Jillian Dempsey scored twice in the first five minutes of the game and also handed out an assist, while Kate Buesser netted a goal and added two assists for the Crimson cause. Christina Kessler stopped 21 shots en route to the shutout.

On the following afternoon, Josephine Pucci handed out a career-high three assists and the Crimson scored a season-best three power-play goals as Harvard rolled to a win at Brown.

She’s Honored...Again
Freshman Jillian Dempsey was honored for the second straight time as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week Nov. 23. Dempsey scored two goals and handed out three assists in Harvard’s two wins at Yale and Brown. Dempsey netted two tallies and handed out an assist against the Bulldogs and dished out two assists in the game against the Bears.

Around the Ivy League
The Crimson is looking for its third straight win against Ivy League opponents after defeating Yale and Brown last weekend. Harvard stands at 2-2 against Ancient Eight opponents, while Dartmouth, the Crimson’s opponent on Wednesday, is 3-1 in the league. Cornell is in first place in the Ivy League with a 3-0 mark.

Just Win, Christina!
Senior goaltender Christina Kessler is 60-16-4 (.775) in her career in net, placing her second on Harvard’s all-time goalie wins list. Ali Boe ’06 is Harvard’s all-time winningest goaltender with 63 victories. Kessler is tied for the NCAA career record with a .941 save percentage, as she has stopped 1,718 of 1,826 shots faced during her career. Jessie Vetter (Wisconsin 2006-09) owned a .941 save percentage.

A Balanced Attack
The Crimson has had 11 different players score at least one goal this year, as the team has netted a total of 28 goals. Fourteen players have at least one point to their credit and Harvard had 15 different players light the lamp last season, scoring a total of 95 goals.

Harvard Coach Katey Stone
Katey Stone is in her 16th season as the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women’s Ice Hockey, and she brings a 324-139-23 record into Friday’s game. Stone, who ranks second all-time in Division I victories, has led Harvard to all seven of its NCAA tournament appearances. Stone is also the active leader in victories among Division I women’s hockey coaches.

Stone is currently 13 wins shy of tying the all-time Division I record, held by Laura Halldorson (337 victories).

When The Game Is On The Line
Five different Harvard players have scored a game-winning goal this season -- Jillian Dempsey, Leanna Coskren, Anna McDonald, Cori Bassett and Kathryn Farni.


Power-Play Surge
Jillian Dempsey leads the Crimson with four points on the power play (1-3-4), while Leanna Coskren has a team-best two power-play tallies. Josephine Pucci is tied with Dempsey for the Harvard lead with three assists on the power play.

First Thing’s First
The Crimson was 18-0-2 when scoring first and 1-10-1 when the opponent lit the lamp first last season. So far in 2009-10, Harvard is 4-1-1 when netting the game’s first goal and 1-2 when the opposition scores first.

It’s All Over
Harvard is 99-1-4 since the start of the 2004-05 season when leading after two periods.

Welcome To The Show
Freshman Kaitlin Spurling has recorded a point in six of her first nine games of her career (3-3-6). Classmate Jillian Dempsey has also had the scoring touch, notching five goals to tie her for the team lead. Dempsey also ranks second with nine points.

Storied Program
With its 3-0 victory over St. Lawrence Nov. 7, Harvard earned the 500th victory in program history. The Crimson owns a 503-290-38 (.628)record over its storied 31-year history.

To Be The Best ...
Harvard was 2-6-1 against top 10 opponents last season. With its 1-1 tied against No. 4 New Hampshire Nov. 18, the Crimson stands at 1-2-1 against ranked foes this year.

Bright Spot
The Crimson was 9-4-2 record at Bright Hockey Center last season, while posting a 9-5-1 mark on the road. In five games this season, Harvard owns a 2-2-1 record on home ice.

Red Lights
This season, Harvard ranks fourth in the nation in scoring defense (1.44 goals allowed per contest), fourth on the penalty kill (37 of 41, .902) and fifth in scoring margin (+1.67). The Crimson also stands eighth in combined special teams (42 of 79, .532), 11th in scoring offense (3.11 goals scored per game) and 20th on power-play efficiency (5 of 38, .132).

Rank And File
Harvard is ranked 10th in both the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national polls.

On The Road
The Crimson has played four road games this season, going 3-1. Harvard has won its last two on the road, topping Yale Nov. 20 and Brown Nov. 21.

Scoring Burst
Harvard netted three goals in the first and second periods in the Crimson’s 7-2 win over Quinnipiac Nov. 15. The team notched three goals in just one minute, 55 seconds of action in the second period, and the squad’s seven tallies marked the most for the program since Harvard defeated Boston University, 8-0, in the opening round of the Beanpot. On Nov. 21, Harvard scored three goals in the first 4:48 of action in the team’s 5-1 win at Yale.

Crimson Among The Nation’s Best
With 1.00 points per game, Jillian Dempsey ranks third among the nation’s rookies in scoring. Kate Buesser stands ninth in the country among all players with 1.44 points per game and is eighth with 0.89 assiss per game. At the blue line, Leanna Coskren appears 10th among defenders with 0.67 points per game.

Stopping The Puck
Christina Kessler ranks fourth in the nation with a save percentage of .941 (206 of 219) and stands fifth with a 1.45 goals-against average. Kessler also 13th with a winning percentage of .611 (6-3-1).

License to Kill
The Crimson boasts the nation’s fourth-best penalty kill unit, stopping 37 of 41 opponent power plays (.902). Harvard successfully killed the last 16 power plays by opponents dating back to Nov. 15.

Clean Sheets
Harvard, which has earned two shutous this season against St. Lawrence Nov. 7 and Yale No. 20, registered six clean sheets last season, after establishing a new program record with 14 shutouts during the 2007-08 season. Christina Kessler has recorded 23 shutouts through her first three seasons at Harvard, a program record.

Welcome Home
Harvard will play 18 regular-season games at Bright Hockey Center this season. In addition to its annual 11 ECAC Hockey contests at home, Harvard will also host the 2010 Women’s Beanpot, and play non-conference games against Minnesota, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Providence.