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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Playoff hockey will be back inside the Bright-Landry Hockey Center this weekend when Harvard takes on St. Lawrence in the Opening Round of the 2026 ECAC Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament. The Crimson (14-13-3, 8-11-3 ECAC) earned the eighth-seed in the conference tournament, passing the ninth-seeded Saints (11-20-3, 8-13-1 ECAC) with a win in the final game of the regular season to earn hosting rights. The sides will battle for a spot in the quarterfinal round next weekend when they meet on the ice this Saturday (Feb. 21) at 3:00 PM.
 
The Matchup
It’s playoff time for Harvard women’s hockey, who earned a clutch victory in the final game of the regular season to bring the ECAC Women’s Hockey Championship back to Bright-Landry. The Crimson secured the eight seed in the tournament and will host the nine-seed, St. Lawrence Saints in the opening round. Puck drop is slated for 3:00 PM with all the action set to air live on ESPN+.
 
Last Time Out
Harvard completed its 2025-26 regular season schedule with a trip to Central New York to take on RPI and Union. The Crimson fell to the Engineers in the first matchup on Friday (Feb. 13), 1-4. In the regular season final on Saturday (Feb. 14), Harvard posted a 2-1 victory over the Union Garnet Chargers to secure the eight seed and a home playoff game. Emily Hamann and Morgan McGathey scored the Crimson goals to help Harvard come-from-behind and defeat Union. Ainsley Tuffy backstopped the effort with 33 saves while allowing just a single goal.
 
Harvard Playoff History
Harvard comes into the matchup with a 50-31 all-time record in the ECAC Women’s Hockey Championship. The team has won the tournament seven times in program history with the last title coming in 2015, when Laura Bellamy was an assistant coach for the Crimson. This will be the team’s first time hosting a playoff game at Bright-Landry since the 2022 tournament.
 
The Crimson owns a favorable 7-2 record against St. Lawrence in the ECAC Championship, with the last matchup coming 14 years ago in the 2012 tournament. The Saints earned the win in the contest, posting a 2-1 overtime victory. The Saints and the Crimson have never met in the recently introduced opening round. The opening round began in the 2024 ECAC Championship. Harvard has faced Quinnipiac in both opening round games it has played in, falling in both matchups.
 
Home ice advantage has been a big boost for Harvard in previous tournaments, as the team owns a 36-7 all-time record in ECAC Championship competitions at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
 
Series History Against St. Lawrence


Harvard leads the all-time series with St. Lawrence with a 46-20-11 record.
The Crimson went 1-0-1 against the Saints this season, posting a 1-0 win – behind a shutout effort from Izzy Whynot – in the first meeting in Canton (Nov. 1). The sides skated to a 1-1 tie in the matchup at Bright-Landry (Jan. 23).  
The team owns a 4-3-3 record against the Saints in the last ten meetings.
Harvard owns a 7-2 lead in the series against the Saints in the ECAC Championship and a 4-0 record against SLU in ECAC Championship games in Cambridge.

 

Player History Against St. Lawrence


Eight active Crimson skaters own points in their careers against St. Lawrence.
Emily Hamann leads the squad with three points, two goals and an assist.
Ella Lucia and Kaley MacDonald each have two assists against the Saints.
Carla McSweeney scored a goal in the second meeting with SLU this season.
All three Crimson goalies have experience against SLU
Izzy Whynot shutout the Saints in the first meeting between the squads this season (Nov. 1).
Ainsley Tuffy made 31 saves in a 65-minute effort against the Saints this season (Jan. 23).

 

Trends and Streaks


Morgan McGathey is riding a three-game point streak into the weekend and owns four points in her last three games.
Elle Sproule owns two points in her last three games.
Harvard is unbeaten (4-0-1) in games which Annie Sun records a point.

 

Leading the Nation
The Crimson’s starting goaltender, Ainsley Tuffy, has been nothing short of stellar in 2025-26. The sophomore currently leads the nation with a .952 save percentage in 17 games played this season. Tuffy owns a 10-5-2 record this season, 593 saves and a 1.74 GAA. A lockdown goaltender, Tuffy has allowed two or fewer goals in 13 of her 17 starts in 2025-26.
 
It Takes Everyone
Contributions from the entire lineup have helped the Crimson find success on the offensive end of the ice in 2025-26. Harvard has seven skaters in double figures this season after having just two in 2024-25. Morgan McGathey leads the team with 15 points and 10 goals while also contributing five assists in her rookie campaign.
 
Her linemates Carla McSweeney and Elle Sproule are tied for second on the team with 14 points each. Zoe Boosamra, Ella Lucia and Angelica Megdanis all own 13 points while Emily Hamann rounds out the top seven with 12 points on the season.
 
Youth Movement
One of the youngest lineups in college hockey, Harvard’s underclass players are stepping up to make a serious impact on the program. The Crimson’s first-year and sophomore players have combined to total 101 points on the season and represents 66-percent of the team’s scoring output. That total is the second highest in the ECAC behind only St. Lawrence. The Saints’ underclass players account for 68-percent of the team’s scoring this season (109 points).
 
The Crimson Climb
The Crimson showed rapid improvement from its 2024-25 season in just the first semester of 2025-26. The team posted seven wins, which tied the program’s wins total from the last two seasons combined. Harvard also scored 36 goals in the first semester schedule which was more than the team’s 2024-25 season total of 35 goals. In the 2025-26 regular season, Harvard scored 63 goals, nearly doubling the team’s total from a year ago.
 
180 Degree Turnaround
Under the leadership of Laura Bellamy and her staff, the Crimson has shown rapid improvement from previous seasons. Currently at 14 wins in 2025-26, the Crimson has posted 12 more victories than 2024-25, which is already the third biggest turnaround in program history. It is also the largest turnaround in NCAA women’s hockey this season, beating out Holy Cross (+8) for the top spot on the list.
 
When looking at just regular season records, the Crimson’s +12-win mark was good for second place in program history and just two shy of the record for largest turnaround.
 
She’s Only a First-year
Braintree native, Morgan McGathey has made an immediate impact on the Harvard women’s ice hockey team in her first season with the program. With 15 points and 10 goals, the rookie leads the team in both categories this season. She has played in the center spot on the top two lines all season and brought a new level of offensive ability to the lineup.
 
The first-year phenom has scored two goals in two games this season against Brown (Nov. 15) and more recently against No. 7 Princeton (Feb. 7) in Harvard’s upset win over the Ivy rival. She has tallied a point in 13 contests during the campaign and leads the team in shots with 84. The center is also the team’s leader in faceoff wins, raking 31st in the NCAA with 308 on the season. She is also19th in faceoff win percentage nationally among qualifying players (100+ faceoff attempts).
 
McClutch
In just her first season with the Crimson, Carla McSweeney is beginning to make a name for herself by coming through in clutch moments. Most recently, the Chicago native scored the overtime game-winner – on a penalty shot – against Boston University in the Beanpot.
 
McSweeney lived up to her “McClutch” nickname in the Friendship Series as well, scoring the game-winning goal against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal round of the tournament.
 
The first-year currently ranks second on the Crimson with 14 points and nine goals – three of which are game-winners – this season.
 
Getting in the Way
A staple of the Harvard defense since Laura Bellamy’s hiring has been blocking shots. Harvard’s defensive core has continued to get into shooting lanes and disrupt opposing forwards with active sticks that has led to 465 blocked shots this season. The third highest total in the ECAC, Harvard is led by Kaley MacDonald who has blocked 67 shots this season.
 
Standing Tall
The Crimson defense has been outstanding in 30 games played this season, allowing just 63 goals and holding opponents to just 2.1 goals per game. That number makes Harvard the 13th best scoring defense in the NCAA heading into the week. The defense has allowed two or fewer goals in 17 of 30 games and has secured three shutouts on the year.
 
ECAC Weekly Awards
Harvard has taken home seven ECAC weekly honors this season after capturing only one a year ago. Ainsley Tuffy was the latest player to represent the Crimson, earning MAC Goaltending ECAC Goalie of the Week honors on Feb. 10. The sophomore earned her first career weekly award on Jan. 6 for her efforts during the 2026 Friendship Series.
 
The Crimson dominated the Rookie of the Week awards early in the season. Izzy Whynot earned back-to-back Rookie of the Week awards (Nov. 4, 11) and Morgan McGathey earned her first weekly honor right after her classmate on Nov. 18). Elle Sproule was recognized as the conference Rookie of the Week as well on Dec. 2. Keira Ley opened the season with a three-point effort against Saint Michael’s (Oct. 17) and was named the conference’s Defender of Week on Oct. 21.
 
Carla McSweeney also earned conference honors in 2025-26, earning the ECAC Rookie of the Month award for the month of December.
 
Crimson Upsets
Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, Harvard has played 15 games against teams who are receiving votes in the national polls this season. The Crimson has won five – and tied one – of those contests to beat the programs output from the last two seasons combined (4). The wins have come against RV St. Lawrence (Nov. 1), No. 10 Yale (Nov. 14), No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 2) and No. 12 Cornell (Jan. 31) and No. 7 Princeton (Feb. 7).
 
Boston Belongs to the Harvard Crimson
The Beanpot made its return to Cambridge on Tuesday (Jan. 20) after the Crimson knocked off the Boston University Terriers in the 47th Dunkin’ Women’s Beanpot Championship game. It was a storybook ending for the Crimson, who got the win in overtime after Carla McSweeney scored on a penalty shot. The victory was sparked by a tremendous goaltending effort from sophomore Ainsley Tuffy, who made 46 saves to stump the Terrier offense. For her stellar effort, Tuffy was named the Beanpot MVP and the Bertagna Award winner as the tournament’s top goalie.
 
Bellamy Becomes the First
After capturing the 2026 Dunkin’ Women’s Beanpot Championship, the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women’s Ice Hockey, Laura Bellamy, is now in her own category in the tournament’s storied history. Bellamy is officially the only person to ever win the Beanpot as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
 
A member of three Beanpot Championship teams, Bellamy helped lead her team to the 2010 Beanpot as the team’s starting goaltender in 2010. In the two games, Bellamy posted two shutouts while making 42 saves to shutout both Boston College and Northeastern. Bellamy was behind the bench for the Crimson in the 2015 tournament and now owns a title as a head coach after winning the 2026 tournament this season.
 
The Tremendous Ainsley Tuffy
Harvard’s standout sophomore goaltender, Ainsley Tuffy, made history at the Beanpot on Tuesday (Jan. 20), becoming just the second player ever to win the Beanpot MVP and the Bertagna Award given to the tournament’s top goaltender. The Duxbury native was selected as the recipient for both awards after making 86 saves and allowing just two goals in the two games of the tournament.
 
ECAC Championship Breakdown
The Crimson will begin its run in the ECAC Championship this weekend with the opening round matchup against St. Lawrence. The winner of the contest will earn a spot in the quarterfinal round which will be held next weekend (Feb. 27-Mar. 1). The quarterfinal round will be held at home rink of one of the top four seeds (Yale, Princeton, Quinnipiac and Cornell) and will see the teams compete in a best-of-three series. The quarterfinal matchups will be based off the results of the Opening Round, with the lowest remaining seed travelling to [1] Yale and the highest remaining seed heading to [4] Cornell.
 
The winners of those series will then move on to compete at Lake Placid in the semifinal and final rounds of the Championship (Mar. 6-7). The ECAC Tournament Champion will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, which is set to begin on Mar. 13-14 at various campus sites.