BOSTON - Paced by goals from senior Jenelle Kohanchuk and junior Louise Warren, the No. 7 Boston University women's ice hockey team defeated No. 6/5 Harvard, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena.
BU (9-3-1, 4-2-1 WHEA) has now earned a win against four ranked opponents this season, including three in the top five of either poll. The Terriers also handed Harvard (4-1-0, 2-0-0 ECAC) its first loss of the season.
Kohanchuk finished the weekend with six points (3g, 3a) in two games, while Warren extended her point streak to four games (5g, 2a). Junior co-captain Marie-Philip Poulin notched her 15th assist of the season and has now recorded at least one point in all 11 games in which she has played.
Junior goaltender Kerrin Sperry stopped 19 shots to earn her eighth win of the season. She improved to 3-0-0 all-time against Harvard and allowed just two goals in nearly 120 minutes of work this weekend.
The Terriers struck first at the 19:09 mark of the first period while killing a penalty. Poulin intercepted an outlet pass at the top of the Crimson zone. She dropped the puck back for Kohanchuk, who sent a wrist shot past Harvard goaltender Laura Bellamy (21 saves) for her sixth goal of the season. It was the first goal that Bellamy has allowed this season and it marked the second shorthanded goal in as many games for the Terriers.
Another good forecheck proved fortuitous for the Terriers at the 9:45 mark of the second stanza. Senior Isabel Menard forced a turnover in the Harvard zone and the puck eventually landed on Warren's stick. The Pembroke, Ont., native beat Bellamy to extend the BU lead to 2-0.
Harvard cut the deficit in half at the 2:18 mark of the final frame on a goal that was nearly overturned. Sperry stopped a Jillian Dempsey shot and the puck then caromed off of Mary Parker, who was charging towards the net in search of a rebound, and into the back of the net. The referees reviewed the play and the goal stood to make it a one-goal game.
That was all the Crimson mustered, however, even with Bellamy pulled in favor of an extra attacker for the final 48 seconds of the contest. BU blocked 15 shots, with junior Shannon Doyle's three blocks leading the Terriers.
BU will not be back in action until Monday, Nov. 26, when the Terriers host the Russian national team in their final exhibition game of the season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.