W. Hockey Third Line Shreds Vermont

After showcasing the nation’s best defense the previous night, the Harvard women’s hockey team demonstrated why it is also the most potent offense in the country in its 9-1 triumph over Vermont on Saturday afternoon at the Bright Center.

The Crimson was led by its third line, which tallied four goals in the win.

Sophomore Kat Sweet led all scorers with a hat trick and an assist. Juniors Mina Pell and captain Angela Ruggiero each added a goal and two assists.

The four goals from Pell and Sweet alone were more than the entire third line had scored in a single game all season. In fact, the duo had as many goals Saturday as the top two lines combined.

“We really focused on getting a lot of shots on goal because that’s one thing the third line’s been really struggling with,” Sweet said. “So that’s what we focused on more than anything else.”

Saturday was the first time that coach Katey Stone had given Sweet every shift on the third line, and both were pleased with the results. The day before against Dartmouth, Sweet had played sparingly.

Sweet’s role on the team has changed on almost a monthly basis, and she’s spent time on all four lines.

“Bottom line is that kids understand that they need to work to keep their spots, and that’s great internal rivalry,” Stone said. “That’s the reason why we’ve been so dominant—because we play so hard against each other in practice every day.”

It seemed unlikely early on that Harvard’s third line would be so explosive, given that no Crimson forward could beat Vermont goaltender Tiffany Hayes in the first period.

Hayes played solidly in goal over the first twenty minutes, stopping 24 of 25 shots.

It took an amazing individual effort from Ruggiero to finally beat her. Ruggiero took the puck from neutral ice, split two defenders and waltzed straight in on Hayes for the finish.

“It wasn’t easy to score goals today,” Stone said. “Tiffany Hayes is by far one of the best goalies in the country, there’s no question about it. I hope she gets the chance to play for the national team or under-22 team. She’s of that caliber.”

Sweet’s first goal—Harvard’s second of the game—was the turning point midway through second period. In the next 11 minutes Harvard posted five more goals, finishing the second period with a 7-1 lead. After a pass from freshman Jennifer Raimondi, Pell unleashed a point-blank shot and Sweet lifted the rebound over Hayes’ right shoulder.

Harvard’s special teams were responsible for the next two goals. Freshman Julie Chu knocked in a power-play goal after junior linemate Lauren McAuliffe’s shot bounced off Hayes’ pads at 13:06.

Captain Kalen Ingram found the top shelf on the penalty kill, falling to the ice as she ripped a short-handed shot into the upper right corner of the net at 16:24.

The Catamounts learned the hard way that when the only way you can score is by pure accident, chances are you won’t beat the No.1 team in the nation.

Vermont’s lone goal came late in the second period. While her teammates skated off the ice for a line change, freshman Lindsey Tilbury released a desperation, flick-of-the-wrist shot that got by unsuspecting Crimson freshman goaltender Ali Boe at 18:20 to make the score 5-1.

But as has been the case all season, Harvard answered almost immediately. This time it took just 12 seconds as Pell deflected home a shot from the point by senior defenseman Pamela Van Reesema. Chu added a goal just over a minute later.

Sweet scored Harvard’s only two goals of the third period. After sophomore Emily Haigh set up Raimondi for a shot, Sweet punched in the rebound at 9:38.

Her final tally of the night came off a Raimondi assist at 15:17.

Boe finished with six saves on seven shots, while Hayes made 60 stops in the loss.

“Today we didn’t allow many shots and we turned it into offense,” captain Jennifer Botterill said. “We always say we need to play good defense and from that good offense will take care of itself.”

The Crimson next looks to capture the Beanpot for the fifth straight year on Tuesday when Boston College comes to the Bright Center.