Harvard Thrashes Eagles, 5-0, in Beanpot Opener

Last year at the annual women’s Beanpot, it was Boston College goalie Molly Schaus who stole the show, stopping 40 shots en route to a 1-0 victory over Harvard for the championship.

This year, the roles were reversed as the Crimson’s own Liza Ryabkina took control of last night’s 32nd Beanpot opener. Scoring four goals, Ryabkina helped lift Harvard (13-5-4, 9-5-2 ECAC) over the defending champion Eagles (5-14-9, 4-8-4 WHEA) in a 5-0 shutout.

Scoreless in the first period, the Crimson got its first tally with 13 seconds left in a BC penalty. Less than two minutes before the second break, and with Harvard out-shooting the Eagles 33-12, Ryabkina converted a pass from senior Anna McDonald for the goal.

Even with Crimson junior Kate Buesser and freshman Jillian Dempsey taking the first four shots of the night, it wasn’t until Ryabkina put Harvard on the board that the Crimson began to take over the ice.

“One of the things I said to the kids after the first period was, ‘We’ve taken a lot of shots, now we need to get them through,’” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “BC did a good job of protecting their goaltender, then it was just a matter of learning from what they were doing and changing the point of attack.”

Only nine minutes into the third period, Ryabkina attacked again, picking off the rebound after Buesser hit Eagles freshman goalie Corinne Boyles in the wrist.

“Honestly I don’t know if we’ll run into a team as quick as them,” BC head coach Katie King said. “They come on you pretty quick so they make you make decisions quicker. That was something that took us a little time to get used to.”

Up 2-0, it took only two minutes until Crimson freshman Josephine Pucci got in on the action. With senior Randi Griffin winning a face-off on the Eagles side, Buesser shot a pass to Pucci who slapped it over Boyle’s right shoulder.

“Sometimes pucks don’t go where you want them to go and they bounce their own way, but on the bench we just kept talking about how we had to keep going harder and keep pressuring, keep doing all of those little things that we do well,” Ryabkina said. “Goals just came.”

The junior from Ukraine turned her words into action once again, rebounding her own shot and boosting Harvard’s lead to 4-0 a minute after Pucci’s point.

“One of the things Liza did so well tonight was protect the puck all over the ice, and that allowed her to do some of the things she wanted to do,” Stone said.

Using this control, Ryabkina struck for the last time with six minutes remaining on the clock to give Harvard its final 5-0 victory.

Ryabkina’s four goals marked the first time a Crimson player has scored four tallies in a game since Feb. 13 last year when Sarah Vaillancourt ’08-’09 notched four in a win at Cornell.

Ryabkina’s final goal was one of 51 total shots Harvard took against Boyles and BC.

Despite blocking 46, Boyles was no comparison to Schaus, who last year refused all 40 of the Crimson’s attempts.

“She’s never played in a Beanpot before,” King said. “She’s never experienced any of this, and I thought she really did come up with some big saves for us, especially in that first period, to get our kids into the game.”

Boyle wasn’t the only goalie making her debut in the Beanpot. Harvard’s Laura Bellamy, who took over for injured senior Christina Kessler earlier this season, stopped 15 Eagles shots, including a 5-on-3 BC power play.

“It’s tough when you play behind a kid like Kessler but she’s adjusted well,” Stone said. “She’s making the saves she needs to make, allowing us to do what we do well.”

With a win over BC, the Crimson faces off against rival Northeastern next Tuesday in the championship.

“This is a pressure packed tournament,” Stone said. “Everyone wants the Beanpot. We value the Beanpot at Harvard University, and to be able to play for a championship in early February is a great experience.”

—Staff writer Alex Sopko can be reached at sopko@fas.harvard.edu.