I am happy to say that last night at Bright Hockey Center I saw the best
game of the season.  The Providence Lady Friars were wonderful.  They
played a fast skating, quick playmaking, and drill your shots kind of
game.  Harvard played very well defensively to stay in the game.  In fact
the game was one long power play for Providence, even when Harvard had
a player advantage.
 
Scoring:   Despite all kinds of Lady Friar pressure, Harvard got on the board
first.  In a rare breakout, Megan Hall collected and held a long clearing
pass.  She knocked a pass off to linemate Sara Simmons, whose return pass
found Hall breaking up the middle on the Friar goalie Gina Martinello.  Her
shot was turned away, but Diana Clark followed up and dumped the rebound into
the net.  The rest of the first and all of the second period was scoreless
even though Providence continue to bombard Harvard's goalie Erin Villiotte.
During the second period Lady Friars' Wendy Cofran and Melissa Mills executed
several "oh-la-la" 1-2's that were delightful to watch.  Only a stellar per-
formance by Villiotte and a determined defense was keeping Providence off the
scoreboard.  In the third period, with the Friars on a real power-play, Cammi
Granato (Stephanie O'Sullivan, Lynn Manning) poke home a bouncing rebound.
A short time later O'Sullivan gunned a shot in from the left slot after getting
a nice step up pass from the left corner by Manning.
 
Providence positives:   All three lines skate and pass and shoot beautifully,
and together.  That team has a good offensive plan and executes it.  I
thought Granato and O'Sullivan on the first line were going to score multiple
times.  They were really strong players.  Defenders Michelle Johansson and
Chris Bailey set up some good chances with long breakout/in passes.
On the downside:   In a way, one could say the Lady Friars played it stupid.
They are a great skate and shoot team.  But staying in the Harvard zone for
the whole game, they stopped themselves by letting Harvard set up a wall.
The best chances came when Providence was coming in over the blue line. A
power play offense can be good, if you keep it moving.  Perhaps quicker pass-
ing, and pulling of defensive players out of position would have worked better.
 
Harvard positives:   Erin Villiotte played a good game in goal.  In the
third period Granto broke in and let fly with a low bullet from the right
circle.  It was drilled for the just inside the far post, but Villiotte
managed to kick it out.  Winkie Mleczko was strong on defense.  Several times
under pressure from forwards she grabbed the puck and powered forward just
enough to make a good outlet pass.  Megan Hall and the second line (Hall,
Clark, Simmons) were most of Harvard's offense.  They are starting to make
good plays.  Hall in particular is showing good puck instinct.
On the downside:   Harvard played only 10 of their 12 players.  Meanwhile,
the coach continues to whine that he doesn't have enough players.  The fact
is, he has never played more than 10-11 players against Ivy League teams, or
the Big Three.  Its sad, because these women can play.
 
Anyway, if you ever get a chance to see the Providence Lady Friars, go.
They are a wonderful team to watch.  Bravo to Harvard, the players played
a splendid match against a killer team.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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