In their first non-conference game of the year, Harvard women’s hockey (1-5-0, 1-4-0 ECAC) fell to UNH (4-10-0, 3-5-0 Hockey East) in a hard-fought overtime battle. The contest marked their fifth straight loss, and third one-goal loss in a row.

The Crimson’s .142 winning percentage is deceiving, given that this is the team’s second overtime loss in the last three games.

Senior goalie Molly Tissenbaum has been under siege as of late, stopping 42 shots against the Wildcats, and 50 recently against Princeton. Her .933 save percentage is among the best in the conference. This was the veteran netminder’s third start of the season; she has been alternating games with senior goalie Brianna Laing.

The Crimson drew first blood at 6:10 in the opening period, as junior forward Lexie Laing fired home a power play goal assisted by senior defender Briana Mastel and junior forward Haley Mullins.

Mastel notched her second helper with 9:45 to go in the third period when freshman forward Kat Hughes scored Harvard’s second power play goal of the game—senior Abbey Frazer also assisted on the play. Hughes’ wrister was the first goal of her career.

Down 2-1, UNH fought back late in the final frame, as Amy Schlagel scored the equalizer with just 3:41 left in regulation. Harvard managed a few chances in the final minutes of regulation, but extra time would be needed to settle the contest.

At 3:19 in the overtime period, Harvard’s Mastel drew a two-minute minor for interference, earning the Wildcats a dangerous 4-on-3 advantage. 14 seconds into the penalty kill, the Crimson surrendered a goal to UNH’s Jonna Curtis, her second of the night, following a scrum in front of the net.