17th Annual Women's Ice Hockey Beanpot
Tue 02/07 Beanpot (at Harvard)
Northeastern 24 - Boston U. 0 6:00 pm
Harvard 3 - Boston C. 2 8:00 pm
Tue 02/14 Beanpot finals (at Harvard)
3rd Pl Boston C. 7 - Boston U. 0 6:00 pm
Champ Harvard 3 - Northeastern 2 8:00 pm
Tuesday night at Bright, the third place game found Boston College coming
up with a strong win over Boston University 7-0. It was very good to see
BC playing all their players, but it does beg the question: why not play
them all the time? The forwards and defenders who got their chance last
night played very well. I was again impressed with the skating and puck
skills of the BC Eagles' Karen Emma. She is a fun player to watch. I
also liked the line of Heidi Anderson, Sue Compson and Kate Antos. They
can really toss the puck around. The BU Terriers were lead by their fine
skating defender Sue Lee.
In the championship match, the Crimson of Harvard played a steady game
and got some great goaltending from Beanpot MVP Erin Villiotte to edge
the Northeastern Huskies 3-2. Given the goalie skill levels of Villiotte
and Kim Flatt I knew this would be a low scoring game. In the end,
Harvard was able to generate just enough offense to earn its fourth
overall Beanpot and its second within the last four years.
The first period feature tentative hockey from both sides and no
scoring. They seemed very tense and probably a little too up for the
cup. At the start of the second period, AJ Mleczko (Holly Leitzes)
opened the scoring. AJM had intercepted a pass and let rip with a shot.
The rebound fell to Leitzes whose shot was deflected into the net by
AJM. Northeastern immediately tied the match at one when Kelly Tapani
swooped down the right wing, cut towards net and buried her shot. At
that point both teams picked up their team defensive sets and the goalies
started making big saves. A short time into the final period, AJM
(Winkie Mleczko) drilled her chance from the right face-off circle into
the back of the net. There really wasn't much of a play involved, it was
just AJM having a go. The Crimson went up 3-1 on a power play goal when
Stacy Kellogg (WM, Leitzes) redirected a point shot. At that time
Harvard tried to be up a wall around their net. The Huskies kept coming
and after some good fore-checking produced a nice 1-2-3 passing play with
Catherine Cataldo (Tapani, Jessica Lien) getting the final touch. The
final minutes featured a ton of pressure by Northeastern and some good
defense by the Crimson.
Northeastern faced the same problem in the final that they have come up
against all year. They don't have the goal scorers. At times the
Huskies flowed up the ice with some expert passing. However they just
can't finish easily. Bree Cheatham was the NU woman of the match. Her
penalty killing was great. Cheatham's skating skills allowed her to
attack, but then she was always there when the other team tried to
counter. Flatt had a good night in goal coming up with several huge
saves. Kim Drews showed some elegant skating moves. Courtney King,
Emily Pemrick and Lien were the top line creating some lovely rushes.
Cataldo could have been the first star of the match except for the fact
that Harvard's goalie Villiotte robbed her of several sure goals.
Overall, Northeastern left too much to be done at the end of the game.
They are going to need to crank it up this weekend when they face Brown
and PC is they want home ice for the ECAC quarterfinals.
Harvard's win was not pretty. They did just enough to shut down the
Huskies and allow Villiotte to preserve the win. I find it significant
that the two Beanpot victories for the Crimson in the last four years
have come with Villiotte in goal. Having watched Harvard hockey for ten
years now, she is clearly the best goalie Harvard has had (men or
women). I would add, when she is on her game, she is one of the better
keepers I have seen. Therefore, in addition to being the MVP for the
Beanpot I would make Erin Villiotte woman of the match. Last night she
stopped several sure goals. Leading the attack and providing the goals
the Crimson needed to win the game was AJ Mleczko. She did not have a
great night, but if she gets half a chance, its in the net. I thought
her penalty killing was again strong, though at times she over did it and
got the team into trouble. Diana Clark was the other forward who put out
a big effort in the back-checking department. Colleen Malek is playing
very good defense towards the end of the season. Last night she came up
with many key break up plays. Leitzes was the other tower of strength on
the blue line last night. Double shifting on the first line she really
hasn't hit form yet. But her efforts in her own end helped to win the
pot. Overall it was a big win for Harvard. Under first-year coach Katey
Stone it is so good to see all the women playing. Last night's Beanpot
victory was one every player shared in. It was a grand way for the
seniors to play their last game at Bright and a fine accomplishment for
the team. Well done!
_____________
/
good shooting
rhun-hungerf
_____________/
|
