Icewomen Rout Bowdoin, 9-0

The Harvard women's hockey team gave Bowdoin a demonstration of the adage, "the best defense is a good offense," as the Crimson put the freeze on the Polar Bears, 9-0, Saturday afternoon in Brunswick, Me.

The icewomen dominated throughout, hemming Bowdoin in its own zone for most of the contest with crisp passing and nettlesome forechecking. The Crimson's extra hustle and aggressive loose-puck play created repeated opportunities, which accounted for a get-out-your-calculator total of 60 shots on goal.

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"We looked up more and used each other well," a pleased coach Rita Harder said after the game. "The passing in the offensive zone created a lot of chances, which we were able to cash in on directly or off the rebound."

The victory, Harvard's second in six outings, was the squad's second consecutive strong performance since Harder rearranged the first three lines to generate more offense. The new first two lines, featuring combinations which worked well together last year, accounted for four goals apiece Saturday at Dayton Arena.

Senior Sara Fischer struck first in this one-sided shootout, tallying the first of her two goals 12 minutes after the opening faceoff. Yardling winger Dianne Hurley slipped past the Polar Bear defense at the blueline, drew the other Bowdoin defender into the corner, and deftly centered to Fischer, who knocked the puck past net minder Liz Sherwood.

Vicki Palmer added the first of her pair at 16:45, flipping the puck into the crease from the right corner; the puck deflected off a Polar Bear blueliner into the net in the ensuing scramble. Moments later, last year's leading scorer Alex Lightfoot beat Sherwood from a seemingly impossible angle to give the Crimson a 3-0 first-period lead.

Hurley, who played four years of puck at Andover, converted the rebound from a Fischer slapshot in a scramble in front to continue Harvard's rout in the second period. Sue Yunick stuffed home a centering pass from co-captain Firkins Reed for number five at 10:37.

Reed, whose folks traveled from Vermont to watch the game, added an unassisted tally just 13 seconds later on a wristshot from the blueline. Palmer from Yunick, Fischer from co-captain Lauren Norton, and Alice Hill from the point, rounded out the scoring.

Crimson netminders Cheryl Tate, fully recovered from a leg injury against B.U., and Laura Zuckerman, who came on in the third period, had a quiet afternoon in Maine, stopping only five shots between them.