Rising Up, Taking Over

Sarah Vaillancourt’s name was announced, and the skaters of the Harvard women’s hockey team rose in unison as they watched their teammate walk to the podium in the banquet hall of the Radisson Hotel Duluth-Harborview in Duluth, Minn.

The Crimson had just seen its season come to a disappointing end the night before after a 4-1 loss to Wisconsin in the semifinals of the NCAA Frozen Four, but the squad—for which cohesiveness and teamwork were synonymous with success—had come together one last time to cheer on Vaillancourt, a junior, as she accepted the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the top player in women’s college hockey.

Staying true to Harvard’s team mentality, a gracious and teary-eyed Vaillancourt remarked on the larger context of her achievement following her acceptance speech.

“I’m emotional because I know how this award is not just for me,” said Vaillancourt, who hails from Sherbrooke, Que. “I get emotional because I know how hard everyone has worked and how hard I have for this.”

That hard work resulted in an outstanding season for the Crimson, who attained the No. 1 spot in the national rankings on its way to winning the Beanpot and ECAC championships and returning to the Frozen Four. Without Vaillancourt, it is unlikely that any of that would have been possible.

After fellow Kazmaier winner Julie Chu ’06-07 graduated from Harvard, the burden of leading the Crimson’s offensive attack was placed squarely on Vaillancourt’s shoulders. For Vaillancourt to succeed in this endeavor, she would have to make significant adjustments to her game.

A dynamic goal scorer with superb stick-handling skills and a powerful shot, Vaillancourt benefited from the presence of Chu and others to create scoring opportunities and handle the defensive end of the game in her first two seasons with Harvard. Now in the driver’s seat, Vaillancourt had to expand her repertoire and accelerate her development as an all-around player.

Vaillancourt responded by turning in a transcendent season. She led Harvard with 26 goals and 36 assists and finished fifth in the nation with 1.82 points per game while tying for second with 1.06 assists per game.

“She’s relentless in her preparation, and she’s relentless in her performance,” head coach Katey Stone said. “She’s such a competitor.”

Vaillancourt’s defense also evolved, and the French-Canadian transformed herself into a threat everywhere on the ice.

“She’s learned to play in all three zones,” Stone said. “She’s become a very comprehensive player...She’s elevated her development on all levels.”

The transition into becoming a more complete player did not diminish Vaillancourt’s uncanny scoring prowess, and she did not hesitate to take matters into her own hands when the situation called for it.

More than once Vaillancourt displayed her ability to dominate entire games to the point that Harvard’s opposition was rendered helpless. In a two-game road trip in which the Crimson shut out Connecticut, 2-0, before beating Providence, 4-1, Vaillancourt racked up two goals and three assists, having a hand in all but one of Harvard’s goals.

Vaillancourt was also fourth in the NCAA with seven game-winning goals, including one on Feb. 22 with the Crimson’s perfect conference record on the line at Colgate. With just over two minutes left in regulation, Harvard and the Raiders were deadlocked in a 2-2 tie, and the Crimson found itself with its back to the wall facing a 4-on-3 penalty kill. The situation looked bleak, and Vaillancourt sensed that something needed to be done. So she did it.

Vaillancourt tracked down the puck in her own zone and sprinted down the length of the ice, carving through the Colgate defense before positioning herself in front of the net. After executing a knee-buckling deke on Raiders goalie Lisa Plenderleith, Vaillancourt slipped the puck in the net and gave Harvard the victory.

“On the 4-on-3, I knew we had to get a goal really soon,” Vaillancourt said. “I ended up racing to the puck and went on a breakaway and beat the goalie.”

In a season full of moments like this for Vaillancourt, it was more than fitting that she receive the Kazmaier trophy and become the sixth Crimson player to take home the accolade in the award’s 11-year history.

“We have that banner at the Bright [Hockey Center] and there [are] a few Harvard names on it,” Vaillancourt said following the award presentation. “Everyone dreams one day to be recognized as that player. I have to admit I’ve looked at that banner a few times.”

Vaillancourt need look no more. Her place in the Harvard women’s hockey team’s history is set, and now she can move on to build on the legacy that her extraordinary season created.

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