NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Facing a 3-0 deficit against No. 9 Harvard entering the third period Friday night at Ingalls Rink, the Yale women's ice hockey team kept plugging away and managed to get two goals to make things interesting. But Harvard goalie Brianna Laing denied a last-second shot by junior forward Krista Yip-Chuck, and the Crimson came away with a 3-2 win.

With Emerance Maschmeyer -- a Patty Kazmaier Award nominee last season -- away with the Canadian women's national team at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden, Harvard (2-1-1, 2-1-1 ECAC Hockey) turned to Laing in goal and she helped her team to victory despite a 28-21 shot advantage for Yale and five Harvard penalties.

Yale junior goalie Hanna Mandl was put to the test just four minutes in on a breakaway by forward Karly Heffernan, coming up with a big save. Ninety seconds later, however, after a turnover in the Yale zone, a wrist shot from low in the right circle by forward Sydney Daniels snuck past Mandl to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead.

Three Harvard penalties in the final 14 minutes of the first put the Crimson on the defensive. They killed off all three, though, with Laing denying a slap shot by junior defenseman Taylor Marchin and a nifty backhand attempt by sophomore forward Eden Murray in the final minute of the first.

Less than two minutes into the second the Crimson went up 2-0 on a well-executed play. After forward Grace Zarzecki knocked the puck to Heffernan near the Harvard blue line, Heffernan carried it into the Yale zone, drove wide right, then cut back toward the net before firing a pass to Zarzecki all alone in the slot. Zarzecki merely had to tap the puck in for her first goal of the year.

Mandl reacted quickly to deny a redirect attempt by Daniels at 5:36 of the second, then swallowed up a Heffernan wrister from the right circle 90 seconds later. But with 4:40 left in the period, forward Lexie Laing battled to free the puck up from behind the net and sent it in front to Zarzecki. She backhanded it in for a 3-0 lead, which the Crimson took into the third.

Yale (1-4-0, 1-2-0 ECAC hockey) crept closer 3:27 into the final frame. Murray carried the puck into the zone and then fed freshman forward Jordan Chancellor in front. Laing was able to make the save on Chancellor's shot, but junior forward Phoebe Staenz knocked in the rebound.

Laing made one of her biggest saves of the night during a Yale power play seven minutes into the third. Senior forward Janelle Ferrara found her long-time linemate, senior forward Jamie Haddad, all alone low in the left circle for a one-timer. But Laing got back across the goal just in time to make the stop.

Mandl made a spectacular save with less than nine minutes to play, keeping her team in the game. During a Yale power play, Daniels stole the puck and skated in all alone. But when she tried to slide it past Mandl, Mandl got her left leg out just far enough to make the stop and keep the score 3-1.

The Bulldogs pulled Mandl for an extra skater with 2:34 to play, making for a tense final few minutes in which Yale had the puck in Harvard's zone for the overwhelming majority of the time. But Laing stood tall, turning aside shots by Haddad and Staenz (twice). By the time the Bulldogs finally solved her again -- with Murray blasting in a shot set up by junior defenseman Taylor Marchin -- there were only 12.8 seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs kept Mandl pulled and won the face-off, but Laing's save on Yip-Chuck finished off the win.

Eight of the last 11 meetings between these two teams have now either ended in a tie or been decided by two or fewer goals.

Yale hosts Dartmouth Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity