AOTW: Vaillancourt Balances Nation's Best

As the Harvard women’s hockey team entered a home-away set against then-No. 10 Connecticut and Providence this weekend, it found itself at a crossroads.

The Crimson—ranked second in the nation at the time—was rapidly gaining ground in the polls on then-No. 1 New Hampshire, and a sweep combined with at least one Wildcats loss would have been enough to put Harvard over the top.

Thanks to junior forward Sarah Vaillancourt, the Crimson (11-0-0, 9-0-0 ECAC) crossed the threshold and established itself as the premier team in the nation.

Vaillancourt racked up five points and had a hand in all but one of Harvard’s scores this weekend, putting up a goal and an assist in Friday’s 2-0 win over the Huskies, and then scoring once while adding two more assists in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over the Friars.

Vaillancourt did whatever it took to give her team the edge, whether it meant creating her own scoring opportunities, feeding a teammate with a nifty pass, or simply being in the right place at the right time.

On Friday, the Crimson was thwarted time and time again by Connecticut goalie Jennie Bellonio, who made 40 saves in the game. But with both teams scoreless and 7:07 left in the third period, junior Jenny Brine fired a slapshot towards the net after receiving a pass from freshman Liza Ryabkina. Bellonio made the save, but Vaillancourt swooped in for the rebound, slamming the puck home to put Harvard on the board with what would be the game-winning goal.

“It was a huge effort from Liza and Jenny,” Vaillancourt said. “I was just there for the rebound.”

Vaillancourt then helped the Crimson add some insurance when she began a sequence that ended in a Brine score.

In Saturday’s contest against Providence, Vaillancourt was the catalyst for the Harvard offense once again.

Towards the end of the first period, Vaillancourt displayed her passing ability, dishing the puck to senior tri-captain Caitlin Cahow for the Crimson’s first goal of the game.

“Sarah Vaillancourt was rushing the puck up the ice in transition,” Cahow said. “She gave me a pass into space and I was able to quick one-time it into the net.”

Vaillancourt added a score of her own in the second period to cushion the Harvard advantage and would pick up two more assists by the end of the game.

The two victories, combined with a UNH loss to No. 6 Mercyhurst on Friday, pushed the Crimson into the No.1 spot in the national rankings.

One of the main reasons that Harvard has become the best team in the country is that Vaillancourt has arguably become the best player in the nation.

She ranks third in points per game with 2.27, and the two players above her—Wayne State’s Melissa Boal and Sam Poyton—play on a team with few other scoring options and have padded their stats in blowouts against lesser squads such as Northeastern and Union while the Warriors are 0-4 against top-10 teams.

Vaillancourt has earned her gaudy numbers on an undefeated Crimson team that plays in a tough division and features an array of scoring threats—Harvard has seven players with at least seven points—and has established herself as a complete player and the undisputed leader of the Crimson offense.

In seasons past Vaillancourt was able to rely on her outstanding scoring ability while others fed her the puck, but the graduation of former co-captain Julie Chu ’07 has put Vaillancourt in the driver’s seat, and the Canadian native has responded.

Vaillancourt—who is second in the country with 1.45 assists per game—has added a team-first element to her fast-paced, gun-slinging style of play. Rather than charging the net every time she touches the puck, Vaillancourt has created opportunities for her teammates—especially Harvard’s young crop of speedy scorers that includes Ryabkina and rookie Katharine Chute—while showing off remarkable selectivity when looking for her own chances to score, leading the team with a .184 shot percentage.

But while Vaillancourt has succeeded in every aspect of her game this season, the battle is far from over. She has led the Crimson to the top spot in the nation, and now it is on her to lead Harvard in defending it as well.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.