Corriero Goes Out With a Bang—or Five

HANOVER, N.H.—There are times when, sitting in the press box, you wish you were closer to the ice, closer to the action, and not at such a distance. But there are other times when, perched above the ice and the fans, you fully appreciate the bird’s eye view and the total picture of the ice that the press box affords you. Nicole Corriero’s five-goal performance in Harvard’s 6-3 victory over Dartmouth Saturday afternoon was one of those times.

“It was my last game probably in Thompson Arena, so I wanted to go out with a bang,” Corriero said.

What she hadn’t anticipated was causing both the Dartmouth women’s hockey team and their fan base to fall with such an audible thud.

Picture this: a Dartmouth crowd on its feet roaring in applause because just a moment ago Tiffany Hagge punched home a goal to put the Big Green back in the game with slightly over a minute left in the second period.

There’s a face-off. The Dartmouth crowd is still standing, still cheering. The crowd hasn’t realized that Harvard has gained control of the puck. It hasn’t noticed that Ashley Banfield has just found Nicole Corriero skating down the left side of the ice. With their team back in the hunt and the game knotted at three, the crowd doesn’t consider that Corriero has already notched two goals earlier that afternoon. And as two Dartmouth defenders move in to break up her drive, the crowd hasn’t thought much of the fact that Corriero continues to skate, inching ever closer to goalie Kate Lane, or that she maintains complete control of the puck.

Perhaps it’s because the Dartmouth faithful cannot see Corriero’s face. If they could, their clapping would not stop so abruptly when it happens. But for the moment, the crowd is still clapping, still hopeful, because it doesn’t realize that Nicole Corriero is now at point-blank range from Lane.

The Dartmouth players realize what’s about to happen. The defenders struggle to pull her down, to knock away her stick, to take away the puck. But they don’t. They can’t. Nicole Corriero is too strong, too determined. She’s in front of Lane now. The defenders won’t let her wind up for a shot. They prevent her from making much of move. But it doesn’t matter. Corriero decided some 13 seconds ago when the game became tied and the Dartmouth crowd came back to life that she was going to break that tie and end the applause.

“I was just trying to get the puck to the net,” Corriero said later. “You just throw it on the net sometimes and things drop in. I was just trying to get on net, get a whistle.”

“Next thing I knew I could see it peak into the top corner. I’m not sure how, though—I was being taken out of the play in the corner.”

Corriero skated on with the puck on a string. The defenders’ struggle and Lane’s angle took away any chance of a clear shot. But they hadn’t taken away her intent to score. Keeping her full force behind the stick, she propelled the puck forward, wedging against Lane before popping up, hitting off Corriero’s shoulder and bouncing into the net for the game-winning goal.

“She just gets it done,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “She’s got a nose for the net. She’s like Phil Esposito—he wasn’t pretty but he got it done. We’ve benefited from having Nikki Corriero in our program for four years. She had a great day and I was able to watch it.”

Corriero’s five-goal display might not come as much of a surprise. She leads Harvard in scoring and ranks first in the nation with 1.76 goals per game, ranks fourth in the nation with 2.52 points per game—tallying 37 goals and 16 assists for a total of 53 points on the season—and ties for first with 14 power-play goals.

It’s scary to think where Harvard might be without Corriero this season. The Crimson has mustered 86 goals this season, meaning that with her 53 points Corriero has played a role in about 62 percent—nearly two-thirds—of all of Harvard’s scoring this season.

The best players don’t only score consistently, but also step up during the biggest of games. Prior to Saturday’s victory, No.1 Minnesota was the only team to score five goals against Dartmouth. Corriero single-handedly matched that feat.

And she didn’t just prove her worth on the offensive end. Corriero was vital in killing a first-period 5-on-3 against the Big Green’s power play, ranked second in the nation entering the game. Earlier in the year, when Minnesota faced a similar 5-on-3, Dartmouth promptly scored two goals en route to handing the Golden Gophers their only loss this season.

All in all, the afternoon belonged to Corriero. With time winding down in the final minute of the game, Dartmouth pulled Lane for the extra attacker. Who should find a clear shot to the net from Harvard’s own zone but Corriero, who fired a laser into the back of the net for her fifth and final goal of the night.

And why not? She said she wanted to go out with a bang.

—Staff writer John R. Hein can be reached at hein@fas.harvard.edu.