Crimson Upended at UConn

Photo by DSPics.com

Final	1	2	3	Final
Harvard (4-5-3, 4-2-2)	1	1	0	2
Connecticut (11-6-2, 4-4-0)	1	1	1	3

Scoring Summary
1st - 02:36	PP - Thibault, Dominique (Connecticut)
1st - 15:38	Sarah Wilson (Harvard)
2nd - 02:21	PP - Kate Buesser (Harvard)
2nd - 05:30	Thibault, Dominique (Connecticut)
3rd - 07:34	Weber, Monique (Connecticut)

Harvard	Connecticut
G: 2 Players (#17, #20 - 1) A: Sarah Vaillancourt - 2 Sh: Sarah Wilson - 7 Sv: Christina Kessler - 22	G: Thibault, Dominique - 2 A: Sydor, Jody - 2 Sh: Hollstein, Amy - 6 Sv: Wilson, Brittany - 29

TEAM STATISTICS	Harvard	Connecticut
Power Plays	1 for 6	1 for 6
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	8 (16)	7 (14)
Shots on Goal	31	25
Face Offs Won	34	30

full stats

Boxscore

STORRS, Conn. -- Sarah Wilson and Kate Buesser each netted goals and Sarah Vaillancourt recorded two assists, but the ninth-ranked Harvard women’s hockey team fell 3-2 in a non-conference contest at Connecticut Sunday afternoon. Crimson goaltender Christina Kessler made 22 stops for Harvard which falls to 4-5-3 on the year.

Harvard was whistled for a tripping penalty early in the first at 2:23, and the Huskies immediately capitalized on the ensuing power play. After winning a faceoff, Dominique Thibault scored on a wraparound, as she slipped the puck underneath Kessler’s pads and into the net at 2:36.

With 4:22 remaining in the opening frame, Vaillancourt took control of the puck in the neutral zone and skated hard into the UConn zone, eluding two defenders. Moving down the left side, Vaillancourt flipped a pass towards the right and found Wilson for a one-timer that made it through to the top of the net to knot the game.

In the final minute of the first, Kessler made two consecutive saves against UConn’s Amy Hollstein to keep the game tied at 1-1 entering the intermission. After the first 20 minutes, the Crimson held an 11-7 advantage in shots.

Harvard grabbed a 2-1 lead early in the second on its own power-play tally, coming from the stick of Buesser at 2:21. After Liza Ryabkina took a slap shot from the right point, the puck deflected off UConn goaltender Brittany Wilson and directly to Buesser. Buesser put the rebound home for her third goal of the year. Vaillancourt earned her second assist of the day and now has 199 points in her career on 86 goals and 113 assists.

The Crimson’s lead was short-lived however, as Thibault evened the contest on her second unassisted goal of the game. The UConn forward skated with the puck into the Crimson zone and fired it from the top of the slot to beat Kessler at the 5:30 mark.

With five minutes to go in the second and with UConn enjoying a power play, Kessler again came up big, stopping two shots by Michelle Binning on the doorstep. The Crimson and Huskies each recorded 22 shots and won 21 faceoffs after two periods of play.

The Huskies scored for the second time in the game immediately following a faceoff at 7:34 of the third on a tally by Monique Weber. Jennifer Chiasson earned an assist on the play after moving the puck to Weber from the faceoff circle, as UConn moved ahead, 3-2.

Harvard earned its fifth power play of the afternoon with 7:34 remaining on the clock and set up its unit on the UConn end of the ice. The Crimson managed one shot on goal, but the power play was negated 72 seconds later when Harvard was called for too many skaters on the ice.

With 1:19 to play, the Huskies were called for hooking, and with Kessler pulled to the bench, the Crimson had a 6-on-4 opportunity as Harvard searched for the equalizer. Jenny Brine got the only Crimson shot off in the final minute, but her attempt with 40 seconds left slid just inches to the right of the far post.

Harvard finished the game 1-for-6 on the power play and killed 5-of-6 extra-attacker chances by UConn. The Crimson also led the final count in shots, 31-25.

The Crimson will close out the first half of its season in an ECAC Hockey matchup at Dartmouth Wednesday, December 17 at 7 p.m.