Five Crimson Players Honored on All-Ivy League Team

Pictured: Defender Leanna Coskren earned a spot on the All-Ivy League second team.
Photo courtesy: Kevin Burns Photography

Complete Ivy League Release

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Five skaters on the fourth-ranked Harvard women’s hockey team have garnered spots on the All-Ivy League team, the conference office announced Thursday morning. Junior forward Kate Buesser was an unanimous selection to the All-Ivy first team, while junior defender Leanna Coskren and freshman forward Jillian Dempsey earned spots on the All-Ancient Eight second team. Senior defender Cori Bassett and senior goaltender Christina Kessler grabbed nods to the honorable mention squad.

Buesser, who was also named to the All-ECAC Hockey first team and is a nominee for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, led Harvard in scoring with a career-best 35 points, notching 13 goals, while assisting on 22 other tallies. A two-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Week, as well as a member of the ECAC Hockey All-Star team, Buesser, who hails from Wolfeboro, N.H., stands 20th in the nation with 1.21 points per game and stands 16th with 0.76 assists per contest. Buesser was second in the Ivy League action with 16 points on five goals and 11 assists.

Coskren, a native of Walpole, Mass., was an All-ECAC Hockey third-team selection and was also a nominee for the Patty Kazmaier Trophy. A key member of Harvard’s blue line, which ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, Coskren notched six goals while dishing out 11 assists for 17 points, setting a career-high for points. She ranks 18th in the country among defenders with 0.59 points per game and has tallied three game-winning goals. Coskren stood third in the Ivy League in power-play points, netting two goals and handing out three assists for five points. She was also sixth in defenseman scoring in Ancient Eight play (2-5-7).

Dempsey, who garnered a nod to the All-ECAC Hockey Rookie team, was second on the Crimson in points with 23, scoring 10 goals and assisting on 13 tallies. A two-time ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week, Dempsey notched Harvard’s lone short-handed tally this season and ranked eighth in the nation among all freshmen with 0.79 points per game. Dempsey, who hails from Winthrop, Mass., was first among freshmen in Ancient Eight games with 12 points (6-6-12), ranking her fifth for all players in scoring. She also tied for third with five power-play points (3-2-5).

Bassett, a co-captain of the Crimson, tied for third on the team with 18 points, notching four goals and handing out 14 assists. In addition to being a leader on the blue line and helping Harvard rank third in the nation in scoring defense, Bassett, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, was tied for fourth in the Ivy League with seven assists, tied for seven with four power-play points (1-3-4) and was third among defenders with nine points (2-7-9).  Bassett was also a member of the ECAC Hockey All-Star team in January.

Kessler, a native of Oakville, Ont., is the NCAA career leader in save percentage with a .9413 mark (1,863 of 1,979). She is also Harvard’s career leader with 64 victories and 25 shutouts. In her senior season, Kessler, a nominee for the Patty KAzmaier Award, owned a 9-3-3 overall record with four shutouts and a 1.39 goals-against average, which ranked sixth in the nation. In Ancient Eight play, Kessler, a two-time ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week this season, was 3-2-1 with a 2.12 goals-against mark and a save percentage of .925 (160 of 173).

Harvard will host Princeton in an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series at Bright Hockey Center Feb. 26-28. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.