Harvard women's hockey loses NCAA title to Minnesota for second straight year

Monday, March 28, 2005  Harvard University's fourth ranked women's hockey team Crimson lost to the first-ranked Minnesota Gophers, 4-3, after a close title match where Harvard was coming from behind all game. This was a repeat of last year's title match, which the Gophers won by a wider 6-2 margin.

Minnesota's offense was led by Natalie Darwitz, the all-time point leader in women's NCAA hockey. Harvard's Caitlin Cahow tied the game at 3 points, 6 minutes before the end of the game, but Darwitz sealed the win with her 114th point, a rebound shot with 68 seconds left.

This was Harvard's first loss in 22 games, who ended the season with a 27-7-3 record. Minnesota finished the season 35-2-2. The loss came only one day after The Crimson's men's hockey team lost an extremely close semifinal match to the UNH Wildcats, after 15 minutes of overtime.

Sources

• John R. Hein, Jonathan Lehman. "Minnesota Downs W. Hockey To Win NCAA Title" — The Harvard Crimson, March 27, 2005
• "Women's Hockey Falls Just Short In 4-3 Loss To Minnesota" — GoCrimson.com, March 27, 2005 on the Women's team's match today
• "Crimson Season Ends in OT Heartbreak" — GoCrimson.com, March 26, 2005 on the Men's team match yesterday
• "Minnesota to meet Harvard in women's Frozen Four final" — AP News, March 25, 2005