Leonoff Makes 39 Saves

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Friday afternoon witnessed another classic Yale-Harvard playoff battle in women's ice hockey at Bright-Landry Hockey Center, where the Bulldogs and Crimson had battled for three games a year ago at this time. Facing a Harvard team that ranked No. 3 in the nation in scoring offense (3.76 goals per game), Yale senior goaltender Jaimie Leonoff stood tall, making 39 saves and holding the Crimson to just two goals. But Harvard's stifling defense, backed by 22 saves from goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, ultimately carried the day by limiting Yale to just one goal as the Crimson came away with a 2-1 win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinals.

This game could not quite match game one of last year's series -- a 3-2 double-overtime win for the Bulldogs -- in length, but it certainly had a similar amount of tension throughout.  Harvard (22-5-3, 16-4-2 ECAC Hockey), the ECAC Hockey co-champions and the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament, outshot Yale 12-6 in the first period but could not get any past Leonoff. After she turned aside a flurry of Crimson shots in the final minute of the first, the teams headed into the first intermission scoreless.

Amidst an early series of shots by the Crimson in the second, a slap shot by defenseman Michelle Picard hit off the near post and bounced away. That, combined with several saves from Leonoff and diving blocks by multiple Yale players, helped keep the game scoreless even as the shot advantage tipped even more favorably in Harvard's direction.

Yale's first shot of the second period found paydirt, as defenseman Taylor Marchin sent a slapper towards the net. Junior forward Jamie Haddad -- who had fed the puck to Marchin from low in the left circle -- got in front and tipped it past Harvard goalie Emerance Maschmeyer on Maschmeyer's stick side at 3:43. Freshman defenseman Mallory Souliotis also assisted on the play.

Less than two minutes later the Bulldogs had to kill off the game's first penalty, and they kept Harvard (third in the nation on the power play at 22.7 percent entering the day) from getting any shots on goal -- even in the waning seconds of the kill when Leonoff momentarily lost her stick.

Maschmeyer made one of her best saves of the day to stuff a shot by senior forward Jackie Raines from point-blank range midway through the second. A minute after that the Crimson caught a break when forward Miye D'Oench -- tied for the team lead in goals entering the day with 16 -- tried a wraparound and barely managed to slide the puck toward the crease, where it bounced off a Yale skate and then bounced off Leonoff and over the goal line to tie the game 1-1 at 10:43.

Leonoff got right back to work 30 seconds later, stopping a chance from in front by forward Haley Mullins. Yale then had to kill off another penalty with six minutes left in the second, and Leonoff made four saves early on in that kill. The Bulldogs also got a big block from sophomore forward Gretchen Tarrant on a slap shot from the point, but the Crimson finally converted as time was about to run out on the power play. Forward Sydney Daniels' shot snuck through traffic and past Leonoff at 16:54 to make the score 2-1 Harvard, and that was where the score remained heading into the third.

The Bulldogs had some of their best offensive chances of the game in the final frame, when shots were even 11-11. Maschmeyer came up big to deny a shot by junior forward Hanna Åström and the follow-up attempt by sophomore forward Phoebe Staenz with less than 10 minutes to play.

With 8:30 remaining a shot by Crimson forward Mary Parker got past Leonoff but hit off the far post and bounced out, leaving the Bulldogs within striking distance. With 2:30 to play junior defenseman Kate Martini sent a hard shot on goal that Maschmeyer got a piece of but could not control. The puck popped up and feel to the ice just outside the crease, but Harvard defenseman Sarah Edney was able to grab it and keep it away from the Bulldogs.

Maschmeyer gloved a hard shot by Staenz with 2:12 to play and the Bulldogs then pulled Leonoff for an extra skater after calling timeout, but Maschmeyer stopped the only shot on goal the Bulldogs could get in that stretch -- by senior defenseman Aurora Kennedy -- to finish off the win. The loss snapped Yale's five-game winning streak, which had been tied for the longest active streak in the nation (No. 2 Minnesota has also won five straight).

Yale (15-14-1, 12-10-0 ECAC Hockey) now heads into game two hoping to do exactly what Harvard did a year ago -- rally to win the series after losing the first game. Game two is Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

The winner of this series plays in the ECAC Hockey semifinals next weekend. The top remaining seed hosts the semis and the championship; No. 5 Clarkson is the top seed entering the quarterfinals and hosts Dartmouth.

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