Harvard Rolls Past Cornell
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| Scoring Summary | |
|---|---|
| 2nd - 09:17 | Sarah Vaillancourt (Harvard) |
| 3rd - 00:50 | Rebecca Johnston (Cornell) |
| 3rd - 06:49 | Sarah Vaillancourt (Harvard) |
| 3rd - 09:29 | Sarah Vaillancourt (Harvard) |
| 3rd - 11:15 | SH - Jenny Brine (Harvard) |
| 3rd - 14:29 | Sarah Vaillancourt (Harvard) |
| 3rd - 18:33 | Rebecca Johnston (Cornell) |
| Harvard | Cornell |
|---|---|
|
G:
Sarah Vaillancourt - 4
A: Katharine Chute - 2 Sh: Sarah Vaillancourt - 7 Sv: Christina Kessler - 35 |
G:
Rebecca Johnston - 2
A: Catherine White - 2 Sh: Rebecca Johnston - 8 Sv: Amanda Mazzotta - 29 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Harvard | Cornell |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plays | 0 for 3 | 0 for 6 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 1 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 7 (14) | 4 (8) |
| Shots on Goal | 34 | 37 |
| Face Offs Won | 19 | 29 |
ITHACA, N.Y. - Sarah Vaillancourt scored four goals and collected an assist for her third hat trick this season and ninth of her career, as the Harvard women's hockey team topped Cornell, 5-2, Friday evening at Lynah Rink. With the victory, the Crimson clinches at least a share of the Ivy League title, the eighth in program history and second in two years.
Christina Kessler made a career-high 35 saves for Harvard, while Katharine Chute contributed two assists and Jenny Brine added a goal. The Crimson held Cornell scoreless on six Big Red power plays.
In a penalty-ridden first period, the Crimson killed off three Big Red chances with an extra attacker, while holding Cornell to only 11 total shots. The best early chance for Harvard (14-8-2, 13-4-2 ECAC Hockey, 8-2-0 Ivy) came midway through the opening stanza when Kathryn Farni accepted a bouncing puck from the right corner and wristed a shot on net. The puck bounced through Amanda Mazzotta's legs, but hit her left skate and rolled out of the crease before going into the cage. With 45 ticks left on the clock, Sarah Wilson weaved her way around two defenders before unleashing a shot from the right side of the slot, but Mazzotta hit it away with her glove. The Crimson mustered eight shots in the frame.
At 9:17 of the second, Cornell (11-11-4, 7-8-4, 3-5-1) controlled the puck in the Harvard zone, but Chute grabbed a shot that went wide and played it up the right boards to Vaillancourt. The Harvard senior co-captain made her way up the ice, eluding the defense before chipping a shot on net. Mazzotta stopped the puck, but the rebound went directly back to Vaillancourt who put it home to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead.
Through two, Cornell held a 20-18 lead overall in shots, but the Crimson out shot the Big Red a slight, 10-9, edge in the second.
In the opening seconds of the third, Cornell's Karle Overguard almost knotted the game as she slapped the puck from the left faceoff circle towards Kessler's left shoulder. The shot hit the left pipe, but bounced down and Kessler covered up. Less than 30 seconds later, the Big Red did get on the scoreboard when Rebecca Johnston took the puck from the left boards, moved around a Crimson player and slid the puck past Kessler's left pad. Catherine White was credited with an assist.
Liza Ryabkina almost regained the lead for Harvard, but her
backhand attempt on a breakaway was grabbed out of the air by
Mazzotta. Moments later, Amy Uber picked up a loose puck in
front, but her shot slid just wide to the left. The Crimson
kept pressing, and on the next shift, Vaillancourt hit the cross
bar on a wrister from the left circle.
Vaillancourt made her next shot, as she put the Crimson ahead, 2-1,
at 6:49. Farni made a long outlet pass to Vaillancourt at the
Crimson blue line, and Vaillancourt skated ahead of two Cornell
players, setting up a breakaway. Mazzotta came way out of the
net to try to steal the puck, but missed, freeing up the entire net
for Vaillancourt, who lifted the puck into the cage.
Less then four minutes later, Vaillancourt completed her hat trick with a wrist shot that deflected past Mazzotta at 9:29. Chute earned her second assist of the game on the goal, the 100th of Vaillancourt's collegiate career.
The Crimson added goal with a short-handed score by Jenny Brine on a pass from Vaillancourt at 11:15. Brine carried the puck from the right side and tipped a shot around Mazzotta to light the lamp. At 14:29, Vaillancourt tallied her fourth goal of the game and third of the period when she used a Cornell defender as a screen in front and wristed the puck into the back of the net. Cori Bassett picked up the assist on the play.
Johnston scored her second goal of the contest for Cornell with 1:27 to play to cap the scoring. The Big Red held a slight, 17-16, advantage in shots in the third period, and outshot the Crimson, 37-34, for the game.
Harvard now has eight Ivy League titles to its credit (1987, '88, '89, '99, 2003, '05, '08, '09).
The Crimson concludes the road portion of its regular-season schedule at Colgate Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest.
