Women’s ice hockey celebrated a 2-0 sweep against the Harvard Crimson this past weekend, marking the third time in program history that the Raiders move on to the ECAC Hockey tournament’s semi-finals. 

The opening game of the conference quarterfinals between the Colgate Raiders and the Harvard Crimson could be described as an offensive shootout. More than a thousand fans watched as the Raiders clinched a 6-4 victory against Harvard, making it the first postseason win the in the Class of 1965 arena. 

Senior forward Breanne Wilson-Bennett scored a goal just 56 seconds into the first period. Junior forward Shae Labbe followed, adding two more goals before the end of the period, giving the Raiders an early 3-0 lead. Junior forward Jessie Eldridge made her 100th career point, throwing the puck on goal and grazing Labbe’s stick before making her first goal of the game. 

The Harvard Crimson got onto the board in under six minutes into the second period. Senior forward Megan Sullivan answered back with only 8:29 left in the second period scoring her 50th career goal. Receiving a pass from Labbe, she put the Raider back up by three again. This was followed by another goal scored by the Crimson with five minutes left in the second. After senior forward Shelby Perry scored with just over seven minutes into the third period, Harvard responded with two goals in the span of 42 seconds. Sullivan then tallied another goal for the Raiders, bringing them back up to a two goal lead, and ultimately taking the game from Harvard. 

“It was pretty electric in the rink tonight right from the very start. I thought that helped us get off on the right foot. The crowd was awesome. Any time anything positive happened, they gave us a boost. You could feel as the momentum shifted one way or the other, so did the crowd,” head coach Greg Fargo said. 

Friday’s win was followed by a standout performance on Saturday, where the Raiders secured their spot in the ECAC championship weekend with a 6-1 win against the Crimson. 

Eldridge lead the game offensively, setting the Colgate Division I record for points in a season with 41. The junior from Barrie, Ontario, opened the game’s scoring in just over seven minutes into the game, with a power play goal. This was followed by a goal from Harvard’s Brooke Jovanovich who responded with a goal just 41 seconds later. Wilson-Bennett pulled the game out of a draw 40 seconds into the second period, putting the Raiders back in the lead. Eldridge followed with her second goal, giving the Raiders a two-goal advantage. 

Senior defender Lauren Wildfang made her sixth goal of the season on a feed from Shelby Wood. Eldridge and Chelsea Jacques closed the scoring for the game, adding two more points and securing Colgate’s victory. 

“Playoff hockey is emotional. It doesn’t matter if it’s a penalty call or something else that can shift momentum at any time. It’s just so important that we continue to play the same way every time. More than anything, that’s what we did a nice job of – moving onto the next play and continuing to play the right way” Fargo said. 

The Raiders move on to play in the ECAC Hockey semifinals on Saturday, March 3 in Potsdam, New York, where they will face off against Cornell. The puck drops at 4 p.m.

Contact Daisy Krolik at [email protected].