No. 4 Harvard Rallies Past Clarkson, 4-3

No. 4 Harvard Rallies Past Clarkson, 4-3

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- *All-America forward Julie Chu figured in all four Harvard goals, sparking the fourth-ranked Crimson to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against unranked Clarkson Saturday afternoon at Bright Hockey Center.

The Crimson had fallen behind by two goals late in the second period before Harvard reeled off three straight goals in a span of 2:41 across the second and third periods. The Golden Knights forged a 3-3 tie early in the third before Chu set up Jenny Brine's game-winner midway through the final period of regulation.

The win gave Harvard a season sweep of its regular-season series with Clarkson, and, coupled with Dartmouth's overtime win against St. Lawrence Saturday, put the Crimson back in second place in the ECAC Hockey League standings. Harvard, which is tied with Colgate for second place, sits four points behind league-leading Dartmouth with six conference games remaining.

Harvard, which dropped a heartbreaking decision to St. Lawrence Friday night, struggled early against the Golden Knights, who limited the Crimson to just two first-period shots. The game remained scoreless until Clarkson's Katie Morrison tucked a loose puck past Harvard starting goaltender Brittany Martin from behind the cage at the 7:12 mark of the second period.

The Golden Knights made it 2-0 in similar fashion as freshman Britney Selina gathered a loose puck behind the Harvard goal before she skated in front and snapped a quick wrist shot that beat Martin at the 14:01 mark.

That goal seemed to spark Harvard, however, as the Crimson reeled off six shots in the last four minutes of the second period and finally got on the board with 28 seconds left in the frame when Chu's blast from the left point beat Clarkson goaltender Kira Hurley while Harvard was on the power play.

Sophomore forward Sarah Vaillancourt tied it just 21 seconds into the third period as she finished a terrific buildup from Chu and Katie Johnston to make it 2-2.

Harvard gained its first lead of the day at the 2:09 mark after Hurley made a save on Chu's blast from the right circle, but the rebound came right back to the U.S. Olympian, who was true on her second effort to make it 3-2.

Selina picked up her second goal of the game at the 4:31 mark, finding the cage from the high slot to make it 3-3. But the Crimson got the game-winner following an outstanding individual effort by Chu, who circled through the offensive zone before leaving the puck for defenseman Lindsay Weaver. Weaver's found Jenny Brine at the extended goal line, and Brine picked up her team-leading 21st goal of the year to give Harvard a 4-3 lead with 9:02 to play.

The Crimson killed a pair of two-minute penalties in the third period, and was able to maintain control of the puck in the closing minutes, denying Clarkson the opportunity to pull the goaltender until only three seconds remained.

Chu finished with two goals and two assists, extending her streak to 23 consecutive games with at least one point, and giving her 12 goals, 29 assists and 39 points in just 18 games this season. Johnston added a pair of assists to finish as Harvard's only other multiple-point scorer.

Freshman goaltender Christina Kessler, who came on early in the third period, made three saves to get credit for the win, while Martin finished with 12 saves for Harvard, which improved to 15-4-2 overall and 12-3-1 in the ECACHL.

Clarkson had a two-goal effort from Selina, while Hurley made 24 saves in the Golden Knight goal. Clarkson fell to 14-12-2 overall and 6-9-1 in the ECACHL.

The Crimson, which completed a string of five straight home games, begins a stretch of six straight on the road Friday, when Harvard meets Union in Schenectady, N.Y.