Corriero’s Five Points Earn W. Hockey Win, Tie With SLU

The Harvard women’s hockey team faced two different Rachel Barries over the weekend doubleheader against St. Lawrence, and earned three points in two rough, penalty filled games—highlighted by freshman forward Nicole Corriero’s game-tying goal with 12 seconds left on Saturday.

The Crimson (14-9-2, 7-4-2 ECAC North) fired only 23 shots on Saints’ sophomore goaltender Rachel Barrie on Friday night, but scored five times en route to a 5-3 victory.

Barrie played up to her reputation as the ECAC’s top goalie on Saturday, stopping 31 shots in a 2-2 tie.

Entering the weekend doubleheader, St. Lawrence (17-8-4, 9-2-1) stood in second place in the ECAC with 18 points. The Crimson nonetheless outgunned the Saints facing a subpar Barrie, and then nearly defeated Barrie at her best the next day.

With the three points from the victory and the tie, Harvard remains in fifth place at 16—two behind fourth place Princeton and four behind first-place Dartmouth.

Harvard 2, St. Lawrence 2 (OT)

Trailing 2-0 against the sensational Rachel Barrie in the third period on Saturday, the Crimson began to mount its comeback.

The Crimson finally cut the lead to one with eight minutes to play. Junior center Kalen Ingram cut in on the left side and passed it to Corriero, who couldn’t get a good shot off. Instead, Corriero was able to send the puck back to junior defenseman Pamela Van Reesema, who rifled it through Barrie’s legs for the goal.

Harvard put the pressure on in the closing minutes of the third period, but failed to score on a power play in the last three minutes. With the final seconds of regulation ticking away and Kuusisto on the bench, Van Reesema, junior forward Tracy Catlin and sophomore forward Mina Pell were all denied.

But with twelve seconds to play, Corriero got the puck at the point and fired a shot, beating Barrie top shelf for the goal. Pell and Catlin were credited with assists.

In overtime, each team took one shot, but it was Corriero who came the closest. Stealing the puck in the left corner of the St. Lawrence zone, she broke in from the corner alone on goal but was once again robbed by her former teammate.

Despite the tie and all the penalties in both games, the Crimson offense finally appeared to be clicking again.

“We had good chances,” said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. “To have those kinds of clean looks, if [Barrie] robs us she robs us. We’re putting ourselves in the position to score and that means we’re moving well offensively.”

The Harvard offense was limited by six penalties in the first game, including three on Catlin, and five in the second. The penalty kill suffered with the absence of freshman Ashley Banfield on Saturday, who received a minor concussion in Friday’s game.

“They’re a physical team, but I’m disappointed in all the penalties, especially being a man down [in the second game],” Stone said. “We were tired and careless at times.”

Harvard couldn’t get on Barrie early as in Friday’s game, which enabled her to get back to her old self. She stopped all 10 Harvard shots in the first period.

“In the first game, we got on her right away,” junior defenseman and captain Jamie Hagerman said. “The longer we took to score [on Saturday], the more confidence she got.”

Harvard senior goalie Alison Kuusisto was equally steady in the first period, saving all seven St. Lawrence shots.

The Saints opened the scoring 45 seconds in to the second period. Sophomore forward and recent cut from the Canadian Olympic squad Gina Kingsbury lobbed a soft backhander that Kuusisto couldn’t handle, giving St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead.

There were a lot of penalties in the second period. Harvard took four penalties including two on Hagerman, while St. Lawrence took three.

Midway through the second period, both teams traded two-man advantages, but neither was able to capitalize. The Saints didn’t even manage a shot during their five-on-three advantage and only fired three during the whole period. Harvard fired 11 shots in the period, but again could not solve Rachel Barrie.

With two minutes remaining in the second, Barrie robbed Corriero at point-blank range on a wrist shot that seemed destined for the back of the net but instead found its way in to Barrie’s glove.

As Barrie’s former Team Ontario teammate, Corriero was familiar with her handiwork.

“We knew that if [Barrie] let in five goals yesterday, today they were going to be hard to come by,” Corriero said.

The Saints doubled their lead two minutes in to the third period on junior forward Chera Marshall’s goal. Marshall’s goal was one of three shots St. Lawrence managed in the period; Harvard would take nine.

Harvard hopes that it can bring its potent offense to first-place Brown on Saturday.

“We can’t just be a little bit of a threat,” Stone said. “We’re dangerous. Brown’s gotta have their hands full.”

Harvard 5, St. Lawrence 3

Harvard had a game plan against Barrie going into Friday’s match against St. Lawrence.

“We thought, ‘She’s an awesome goalie, let’s just pepper her with shots,’” Ingram said. “We anticipated scoring second chance goals.”

It was quality, however, not quantity, that won the day for the Crimson. Harvard only took 23 shots on Friday but scored on five of them.

“We scored early, stunned [Barrie] a little bit,” Stone said. “We were on the mark and she didn’t get a lot of help. She’s very tempermental.”

Ingram opened the scoring three minutes into the game on a feed from Corriero. Ingram approached the net from the left side, faked a pass and then lofted a backhand into the upper left corner, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead.

With two minutes to play in the first period, Harvard doubled its lead on a blistering shot from the point by freshmen defender Emily Haigh. It was the second career goal for Haigh, who walked on to the team in September.

Haigh barely had time to celebrate before St. Lawrence responded. Nineteen seconds after Harvard’s goal, a defensive lapse led to Saints freshman forward Rebecca Russell with the puck in front of the net with Kingsbury, and nary a defender in sight. Russell dished to Kingsbury for the goal, making it 2-1 Harvard after one.

Harvard’s shooting percentage was a mean 67 percent in the first period. The Crimson managed only three shots, scoring on two of them, a surprising performance against Barrie. The Saints, for their part, were one for seven.

The Saints evened the score six minutes into the second period on a redirection by sophomore forward Ricki-Lee Doyle off sophomore defenseman Lindsay Charlebois’ shot from the point.

Harvard regained the lead on a tip-in of its own. Freshman forward Sarah Holbrook redirected Van Reesema’s shot over Barrie with seven minutes remaining in the period. It was the second goal of Holbrook’s career, and left the score 3-2 Harvard going into the third.

The Crimson extended its lead with five minutes to play in the game. Pell sailed towards the net and fired a shot that never left the ice, beating Barrie through the five-hole from an awkward angle

Once again, the Crimson’s two-goal lead was short-lived. Two and a half minutes later, the Saints cut the lead to 4-3, finally capitalizing on a powerplay when senior defender Colleen Coakley rifled a shot by Kuusisto.

This time, it was Harvard that responded almost immediately. Following Pell’s lead, Corriero fired a shot from a similar angle, beating Barrie top-shelf. Harvard never had a two-goal lead for more than two and a half minutes, but their two goal lead in the game’s final 87 seconds was enough for the victory.

“The underestimated us,” Stone said. “They’re very individual. We’re in really good shape, better shape then them and we just took them by surprise.”

W. Hockey 2, St. Lawrence 2

at Bright Hockey Center, Allston, MA

Harvard (14-9-2, 7-4-2) 0 0 2 0 2 (OT)

St. Lawrence (17-8-4, 9-2-1) 0 1 1 0 2

Second period: S, Kingsbury (Powers) 0:46. Third period: S, Marshall (Kingsbury, Powers) 1:49, H Van Reesema (Corriero, Ingram) 11:59, H Corriero (Pell, Catlin) 19:48. Shots on goal: H 10-11-9-1 31, S 7-4-3-1 15. Powerplays: H 0-6, S 0-4. Penalties: H 5-10, S 7-14. Goalies: H, Kuusisto (15-13), S Barrie (31-29). A: 396.

W. Hockey 5, St. Lawrence 3

at Bright Hockey Center, Allston, MA

Harvard (14-9-1, 7-4-1) 2 1 2 5

St. Lawrence (17-8-3, 9-2-0) 1 1 1 3

First period: H Ingram (Corriero) 3:14, H Haigh (Corriero, Pell) 17:50, S Kingsbury (Russell, Maguire) 18:09. Second period: S Doyle (Charlebois, Smith) 6:11, H Holbrook (Van Reesema). Third Period: H Pell (Van Reesema) 15:10, S Coakley (Kingsbury) 17:40 (pp), H Corriero (McAuliffe) 18:33. Shots on Goal: H 3-9-11- 23, S 7-6-9 22. Powerplays: H 0-3, S 1-6. Penalties: H 6-12, S 3-6. Goalies: H Kuusisto (22-19), S Barrie (23-18). A: 397