Of Harvard’s six goals in its ECAC championship victory over St. Lawrence, none was more well-received than senior Mina Pell’s goal at 10:50 of the third period. Not only was it Mina’s first goal this season, it also meant all four Harvard lines had scored. The achievement was indicative of Harvard’s complete team effort.
The dominant 6-1 victory came despite No. 2 Harvard (29-3-1) having played a two overtime game the day before and losing one of its top defensemen to injury.
“It was just a tremendous effort throughout the entire weekend for us,” Stone said. “It took us a long time to figure out how to win yesterday, and we did, and I was pleased with that effort. Then we turned around and played with a tremendous amount of energy and played a really smart team game today.”
Harvard scored two goals each period in the victory. Nicole Corriero assisted on three of Harvard’s first four goals. The Crimson outshot the Saints 52-12 in the victory.
St. Lawrence’s winless streak against Harvard was extended to eight (0-6-2). The Saints (27-9-1) will have a lot to work on before they rematch Harvard in the NCAA Frozen Four on Friday.
“From being undisciplined to our systems, to being undisciplined to take real bad penalties,” said St. Lawrence coach Paul Flanagan, listing what his team needed to improve. “The systems’ was a real frustrating aspect of our game today. We weren’t here mentally, and our systems got us to this point. Some players just have to do what got us here.”
Rachel Barrie could not work the magic of yesterday’s 4-2 win over Dartmouth. Flanagan hoped his team’s young defense with one senior, three juniors and two sophomores would learn from the experience.
Harvard was able to dominate the flow of the game with an aggressive two-three forecheck.
“I think this was our best game of the season,” said Angela Ruggiero, the tournament MVP. “From start to finish we were relentless. Our 2-3 forecheck, you have to be decisive on it. And no one let up. We were moving our feet the whole game, playing as a team. And defensively we were rock solid.”
Lauren McAuliffe struck first for Harvard at 2:25 of the first period when she tapped in a puck that Nicole Corriero kicked across the crease to her. McAuliffe also assisted on Harvard’s second goal, a putback by Julie Chu at 13:59.
Harvard’s third line earned the third Harvard goal on a three-on-one at 4:03 of the second period when Kat Sweet fed Carrie Schroyer for one-timer into the top left corner.
Ruggiero all but iced the game at 15:30 of the period when she deposited a feed from Corriero on a two-on-one into the top shelf. Julie Chu scored through Rachel Barrie’s five-hole at 2:11 of the third period to give the second line its goal and set the stage for Pell’s goal at 10:50.
Whitney Carbone scored the Saints lone goal 26 seconds later.
Harvard will rematch St. Lawrence on Friday without its leading scorer Gina Kingsbury. According to Harvard Julie Chu, there well be no let-down or overconfidence because of this day’s success, and the team will keep fine-tuning in practice throughout the week.
“Today we played really hard and earned those bounces, other times you play a really great game and lose,” Chu said. “Next weekend is a whole another game, and Rachel is a great goalie and they’re a great team.”
