BOSTON – Shenae Lundberg and the defensive unit limited the Crimson's offense to one-goal. However, the Dutchwomen are held scoreless in a 1-0 defeat at Bright Hockey Center Saturday afternoon.
Lundberg eclipsed 1,000 career saves, becoming the eighth goaltender in program history to exceed the mark.
Union (7-14-3, 0-9-3 ECAC) is the second team this season to hold No. 2/3 Harvard's (16-1-1, 13-0-0) offense to just one goal. The other team was then No. 7 Boston University in a 2-1 Crimson loss back on Nov. 18.
Jillian Dempsey extends the nation's longest point streak with her 31
st consecutive game with her goal.
The Crimson tested the Dutchwomen defense often the first period, holding a 14-to-3 shot advantage. However,
Shenae Lundberg was there to stop all 14 shots. Lundberg's best save came on a redirected shot by a Crimson skater in which the netminder made a pad save to her left for the stop.
Courtney Turner and
Kelly McGrath had chances for the Dutchwomen offensively, but goaltender Laura Bellamy was there to make the stops to end the first period scoreless.
Union was first to draw a penalty as Hilary Crowe was sent to the penalty box for tripping. The Dutchwomen were able to get a few shots on Bellamy but the senior co-captain was able to stop all three shots faced on the penalty kill.
Harvard was able to draw a penalty moments later as
Stefanie Thomson was issued a 2:00 minor for boarding. Harvard wasted little time as Samantha Reber won the ensuing faceoff in which Sarah Edney found Jillian Dempsey alone in the middle to beat Lundberg.
The Dutchwomen offense could not gather much momentum in the final period. Union was on the penalty kill early with Norton sent to the box for tripping. Despite Harvard's shot advantage, the Crimson failed to pad their lead on the man-advantage with great shot-blocking by the Union defense. Union opted for the extra skater in the final moments but could not score the equalizer as Harvard edged out Union, 1-0.
Bellamy improves to 9-1-0 on the season while Lundberg takes the loss and drops to 6-11-3. Harvard held the advantage in shots and faceoffs with 35-to-7 and 29-18 respectively.
After playing their fifth game in eight days, the Dutchwomen will host Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a home-and-home series starting January 25 at Messa Rink; starting at 7:00 p.m. No. 2/3 Harvard will be on the road to take on No. 6 Clarkson on January 25, beginning at 7:00 p.m.