W. Hockey Earns Beanpot Glory

If only every championship seemed this easy to win.

Facing a youthful Boston College team, the No. 6 Harvard women’s hockey team cruised to victory in the Beanpot championship last night to earn its seventh straight Beanpot title.

The Crimson (17-6-2, 14-1-1 ECAC) extended its undefeated streak to 11 games by handily beating the Eagles (7-16-4, 3-8-3 Hockey East) 6-1, riding the momentum provided by three quick goals late in the first period. Last year, the Crimson beat BC 4-0 in the first round of the 2004 Beanpot and has now defeated the Eagles by four or more goals for 13 straight times.

For Harvard, the victory at Matthews Arena earned the program its 11th Beanpot overall, second in number only to Northeastern—who still leads the way with 14 trophies of its own.

“[It was a] hard fought game, very fast,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “I’m very happy and proud of how our kids played. The Beanpot means a tremendous amount to our program and to be able to keep it back in Cambridge for a seventh year is something that makes me feel very satisfied.”

As with last week—when the Crimson did not get on the board for the first ten minutes of action—Harvard could not find the back of the net until almost thirteen minutes into the contest.

“I thought it was a pretty good ten minutes, and all of a sudden we go a man down and they score that goal,” BC coach Tom Mutch. “We feel like the way we need to play is mistake free.”

Harvard’s first chance to score ended up eventually leading to its first goal. With seven and a half minutes left in the first, Vaillancourt took a pass streaking down the ice on a penalty kill for the Crimson and had only the goalie to beat. She was denied when her quick shot was deflected by BC goalie Alison Quandt and knocked off the upper post.

After the puck bounced around in the Harvard offensive zone for half a minute, freshman Laura Brady found it on the left and managed to get it up and over Quandt into the opposite side of the net, marking her second goal of the season.

“Generally, it takes a little time to figure out what an opponent is going to give you and to start to exploit their weaknesses,” Stone said.

Less than two minutes later, tri-captain Nicole Corriero took her usual path to scoring, notching her 44th goal by rushing in from the left side in front of the net and then backhanding it into the open net from the right. In total, she had two goals and one assist and took home the Beanpot MVP—which was won last year by Angela Ruggiero ’02-’04.

“I was looking at the list of some of the past award winners,” Corriero said. “It’s just an honor to win such an award that such famous hockey players in the past have won.”

Vaillancourt extended the onslaught at the end of the first period by scoring goal number 15 on the season, tapping in the rebound sophomore Caitlin Cahow took from the top of the point. Vaillancourt’s return to the ice for the Crimson after missing the last three games to play for the Hockey Canada U-22 team proved to be dramatic as she finished with a goal and three assists.

The Crimson’s domination of the Eagles was most clear when both squads’ special teams were on the ice, when BC managed a feeble six shots on its seven power plays. The Eagles only managed to break through after the game was out of reach when Sarah Feldman scored during a 5-3 advantage. Harvard, on the other hand, scored twice on its six advantages and once while shorthanded.

The Crimson responded quickly to the only sign of life from the Eagles with its own goal. During a two-on-one breakaway, Corriero dumped it off for senior Ashley Banfield—who beat Quandt with one fake for her sixth score of the season and tying a career high in goals.

“We are right where I want us to be,” Stone said. “I think we have some of our best hockey ahead of us.”

BC’s best chance to get in the game came with ten minutes left in the second frame when Feldman blocked Cahow’s pass and found herself one-on-one against Harvard goalie Ali Boe. Boe stuck her left leg out as Feldman mad her move to deny BC the goal.

Boe registered 16 saves in the win—and 32 over the course of the two Beanpot games—to earn the Joe Bertagena Award that is given to the top goalie of the tournament. As a team, the Crimson has given up only two goals in its last four games.

Late in the second period, sophomore Liza Solley had a shorthanded breakaway, but was taken down by Cristin Stuart and crashed hard into the boards. After lying on the ice for a few minutes, she limped off with help from her teammates. Although she returned to the sidelines after changing into street clothes to watch the end of the game, Solley will not play in this weekend’s competition, according to Stone.

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.