Senior Night Delivers 400th Win for W. Hockey

In more ways than one, the clock was ticking for No. 6 Harvard as it took on Vermont at home on Saturday. But the Crimson—the team’s seniors especially—was poised and lethal with time running out, securing the 400th win in the history of the program and the outright ECAC title with a 7-1 dismissal of the Catamounts.

In the post-game ceremonies on Senior Day at the Bright Hockey Center, the crowd witnessed a bevy of farewells and coronations. During the game, they saw Harvard (20-6-3, 17-1-2 ECAC) use two last-second goals to demoralize Vermont (5-26-3, 3-17-0) and cruise to victory.

The Crimson’s five seniors—tri-captain Nicole Corriero, tri-captain Kat Sweet, Ashley Banfield, Ali Crum, and Sarah Holbrook—started and ended the game on the ice together, and bookended a storied four-year run with Harvard hockey.

“I have a lot of pride in the fact that those guys played for me,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “They’ve done a tremendous job, and they’ll be missed.”

In addition to the customary photo ops, the seniors were treated to the presentation of the ECAC trophy, which the team won a share of for a historic third-straight year.

“It was overall a great day for our seniors and our program,” Stone said.

Corriero led the way on offense with a five-point effort in her final regular-season game. A pair of goals brought her total to 49 on the year, within two of tying the Division I single-season record.

“When we’re moving the puck and playing unselfishly, that’s when we’re the most dominant,” Corriero said. “They move the puck to me in front of the net and I try to do the same. We’re just trying to use all of our weapons.”

The first notch was a perfect example of how Corriero’s skill and persistence have translated to personal and team success. Less than a minute remained in a first period in which the Crimson had done everything but score, launching 24 shots on goal and enjoying three power plays to no avail. Julie Chu handled the puck behind the net and blindly backhanded it out in front. The pass found a driving Corriero and she unleashed a screaming slapshot, lighting the lamp with 21 seconds left in the frame.

“It’s the never-quit mentality,” Stone said of the last-second marks. “Keep going at, keep going at it. We’re an average team when we step back, and we’re a really good team when we attack.

“That’s what we’re trying to do. When you score goals at the end of periods, it means you’re not sitting there waiting for the clock to run out, you’re going after it.”

Harvard’s seniors notched another end-of-period strike in the second to put the game out of reach. Holbrook picked out Crum amid a crowd in front of the crease and she potted her second goal of the year to bring the score to 5-1 with only 12 seconds on the clock.

“I think that was the highlight of our day for sure,” Stone said. “They’ve been really great teammates. They’ve played their role and they’ve done it with a smile on their faces.”

Sarah Vaillancourt registered a short-handed goal and three assists on the afternoon while linemate Julie Chu picked up a goal and two helpers. Junior Jennifer Raimondi and sophomore Caitlin Cahow also scored to help make Harvard only the fifth program in NCAA history to reach the 400-win milestone.

Vermont, however, is a program moving in a different direction. Saturday marked its final game as a member of the ECAC, since the school will be joining Hockey East next season. And it was the final collegiate appearance of senior netminder Kami Cote, who stopped 46 shots in a noble effort against an overwhelming Harvard attack.

The Catamounts did not qualify for the ECAC tournament, which begins this weekend. Harvard will meet Clarkson in a best-of-three series kicking off at home at 7 p.m. Friday night.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.