Crimson Scores Eight in Rout of UConn

New year, new opponent, same result for the Harvard women’s ice hockey team, as it started 2012 on the right note—eight times over.

The Crimson (9-4-0, 1-0-0 Ivy) looked to push its win streak to four as it traveled to UConn (3-12-4) Tuesday night. Harvard controlled the tempo from start to finish and ultimately won the game, 8-1. The eight Crimson goals scored Tuesday marked only the third time in the last five seasons that Harvard has scored eight-plus times in one game.

“I think the game went really well,” freshman forward Hillary Crowe said. “You could tell we were all ready to get back on the ice and finally play together. We had a tough week of practice, and so we were all really excited for this game. We were definitely happy with how we played.”

The scoring barrage began at the 9:09 mark in the first period after sophomore forward Gina McDonald received a quick pass from junior forward Kaitlin Spurling. McDonald wasted no time in netting the goal from the right side of the ice.

Less than four minutes later, Spurling sprinted down the ice once again, leaving the puck to the trailing Crowe. Crowe attempted a shot, but it was blocked by Connecticut goalie Nicole Pannicia. Sophomore forward Kalley Armstrong nabbed the rebound and immediately sent the puck back and into the goal for a 2-0 Crimson lead.

With 5:47 left in the first, sophomore Lyndsey Fry followed in her classmates’ footsteps,  advancing the lead to 3-0 with a shot from short range.

In the second period, Harvard continued its dominance, as Spurling found the back of the net, marking the first time this season she has recorded both an assist and a goal in a game.

“McDonald made a tight spin move, dropped the puck to Armstrong, who came up around the dot,” Spurling said. “I’ve been practicing coming down, getting close to the net, and having her find me. I just happened to be open, she fed me, and I just put it home. It was great to finally get that to work in a game.”

At the 6:50 mark of the same period, Connecticut’s Kayla Campero put in a goal for the home team. This would prove to be the only scratch on the scoreboard for UConn.

Junior forward Jillian Dempsey continued the Crimson’s offensive onslaught as she scored following a pass from freshman forward Samantha Reber.

After 17:58 of the second period had elapsed, freshman forward Hillary Crowe notched the third goal of her career.

“I was off to the side of the net, and I saw Dempsey passing it up to the point,” Crowe said. “I could tell [freshman defender Michelle] Picard was going to take a shot, so I moved to the front of the net. I wasn’t quite there though, so I stuck my stick out and it deflected into the net.”

Only thirty seconds later Fry put in her second goal of the night, marking her second multi-goal game of the season.

To cap off the night, McDonald added another goal to her tally, making her the second Harvard player with two goals on the night. McDonald received the puck from Fry—the teammate who also finished with multuple scores.

Many players attributed the night’s offensive successes to the close-knit nature of their line mates.

“I did pretty well, but overall, it was the team effort that really helped,” Spurling said. “My line, McDonald and Armstrong, did a great job. We’ve been clicking in practice, saying that this is our time and that we wanted to have a good start to the 2012 season. We played really well together tonight, and it was awesome to put some points up on the board to help the team out.”

Armstrong seconded Spurling’s thoughts, stressing the line’s emphasis on strong, assertive play.

“My line, our goal for the season has been to perform well offensively,” Armstrong explained. “We all tend to be pretty unselfish players, so I think we’re trying to work on not being afraid to shoot and put it away. It turned out well.”

To go along with the outburst on the offensive end, junior goalkeeper Laura Bellamy had 20 saves on the night.

“We came back from winter break and had three days of doubles to get our legs under us,” Spurling said. “It really brought us closer as a team. We wanted this opportunity to get pumped, and take all that energy, the dynamic that we gathered from that atmosphere, and use that positively. For the rest of the season, we’re going to play it goal by goal, day by day.”