Harvard Wins Fourth Straight

Photo by DSPics.com

Final	1	2	3	Final
Harvard (10-7-3;10-4-2 ECACH)	2	2	1	5
Rensselaer (12-12-3;7-7-2 ECACH)	0	1	3	4

Scoring Summary
1st - 08:22	SH - Anna McDonald (Harvard)
1st - 15:08	Sarah Vaillancourt (Harvard)
2nd - 12:28	Leanna Coskren (Harvard)
2nd - 14:17	Sarah Vaillancourt (Harvard)
2nd - 19:47	Alisa Harrison (Rensselaer)
3rd - 01:25	Melissa Boik (Rensselaer)
3rd - 03:49	Liza Ryabkina (Harvard)
3rd - 05:07	PP - Allison Wright (Rensselaer)
3rd - 18:04	Melissa Boik (Rensselaer)

Harvard	Rensselaer
G: Sarah Vaillancourt - 2 A: Jenny Brine - 2 Sh: Sarah Vaillancourt - 6 Sv: Christina Kessler - 15	G: Melissa Boik - 2 A: 4 Players (#5, #8, #11, #16 - 1) Sh: Melissa Boik - 5 Sv: Sonja Van der bliek - 22

TEAM STATISTICS	Harvard	Rensselaer
Power Plays	0 for 3	1 for 6
Shorthanded Goals	1	0
Penalties (min)	6 (12)	3 (6)
Shots on Goal	27	19
Face Offs Won	37	29

full stats

Boxscore

TROY, N.Y. - Sarah Vaillancourt scored twice and added an assist, and Jenny Brine collected two assists to propel the Harvard women's hockey team to a 5-4 victory at Rensselaer Saturday afternoon.  Anna McDonald, Leanna Coskren and Liza Ryabkina rounded out the scoring for the Crimson, while goaltender Christina Kessler made 15 saves. 

Harvard (10-7-3, 10-4-2 ECAC Hockey) was whistled for two consecutive penalties in the first 10 minutes of the opening frame, giving Rensselaer a 5-on-3 advantage for 58 seconds.  The Engineers mustered two shots on goal during the two-skater power play, but Kessler came up with both saves.  With 20 seconds remaining in the second infraction, McDonald stole the puck after the Engineers won a faceoff and skated in alone on the right side.  McDonald sized up Rensselaer's Sonja van der Bliek and wristed a shot just underneath the crossbar and over van der Bleik's shoulder for an unassisted short-handed goal at 8:22.

The Crimson extended its lead to 2-0 with 4:52 remaining in the first when Vaillancourt snapped a wrister from in front that deflected off van der Bliek and into the cage.  Jenny Brine, who was credited with the assist, controlled the puck behind the net and found a wide-open Vaillancourt standing just to the left of the goal. 

Midway through the second, Katharine Chute and Vaillancourt battled off Rensselaer defenders in the Engineers' zone and played the puck from the right to left circles.  Vaillancourt fed Coskren with a pass just to the right of the left faceoff circle, and the sophomore defender accepted the puck and shot it over van der Bliek, giving the Crimson a three-goal lead at 12:28.

Less than two minutes later, Vaillancourt made it a 4-0 game at 14:17 when she picked up a loose puck in front of the cage and trickled it home for her second goal of the day.  Brine and Kati Vaughn were credited with assists on the tally.

The Engineers got on the scoreboard in the final seconds of the second stanza when Alisa Harrison beat Kessler on an unassisted chance at 19:47.  Rensselaer (12-12-3, 7-7-2) caught Harvard in a line change and Harrison picked up the puck and skated through the defense and down the left side before sliding the puck past Kessler. 

Rensselaer opened up the third period with a score from the stick of Melissa Boik at 1:25.  Jill Vandegrift moved the puck towards the blue line and Boik blasted a slap shot to light the lamp and cut Harvard's lead to 4-2.  The Crimson, though, quickly responded as Ryabkina tallied a goal in transition at 3:49.  Randi Griffin and Amy Uber earned assists on the score, which gave Harvard its third three-goal of the afternoon.

After Harvard was whistled for two penalties within the span of 16 seconds, Rensselaer responded to the two-skater advantage with a power-play goal by Allison Wright.  Sierra Vadner and Boik played the puck from right to left point before finding Wright down low by the goal.  Wright took the pass and fired to make it a 5-3 contest at 5:07.   

Rensselaer pulled van der Bliek from the goal with 2:00 minutes to play, and after winning a faceoff in the Crimson zone, Boik notched her second goal of the game to pull the Engineers within one, 5-4, at 18:04.  The Crimson defense stood tall in the final moments of the defense to hold on for Harvard's fourth straight victory.

For the game, Harvard enjoyed a 27-19 lead in shots, including a 9-4 margin in the second period.  The Crimson killed 5-of-6 Rensselaer penalties and was 0-3 on its own power plays. 

Up next, the Crimson faces Boston University in the opening round of the Beanpot.  The game will be held at Northeastern's Matthews Arena Tuesday at 5 p.m.