W. Hockey Cruises to Win in Providence

By finishing the weekend with two wins, the No. 2 Harvard women’s hockey team stated its case to be No. 1 in the land.

After a Crimson win and a loss by No. 1 New Hampshire the night before, Harvard (11-0-0, 9-0-0 ECAC) skated past Providence (6-8-2, 4-2-1 Hockey East) by a 4-1 count on Saturday night in Providence, R.I. The triumph extended the squad’s perfect season-opening string to 11 games, matching a run by the Crimson’s 2003-04 team.

Tri-captain Caitlin Cahow, juniors Sarah Vaillancourt and Jenny Brine, and freshman Liza Ryabkina all scored as Harvard pushed its season goal total to 40 from 10 different players.

“It was a tough game from the beginning—Providence has skilled players who can move with the puck,” Cahow said. “It certainly wasn’t 60 full minutes of Harvard hockey, but we came out with a good win.”

After Friday night’s tight win over No. 10 Connecticut, in which just two of 42 total shots on net got past Huskies goalie Jennie Bellonio, a four-goal total came as a bit of a relief for the Crimson. Harvard outshot the Friars, 32-18.

“We did a better job of shooting off the pass,” Cahow said. “Tonight was about better shot selection and getting lots of shots off.”

Cahow got her team on the board with less than four minutes left in the first period, with assists coming from Vaillancourt and Ryabkina.

“Sarah Vaillancourt was rushing the puck up the ice in transition,” Cahow said. “She gave me a pass into space and I was able to quick one-time it into the net.”

Cahow, with five goals and 11 points, ranks third in the country in defenseman scoring.

Vaillancourt added a score at the 7:53 mark of the second period off of crisp passes from Brine and Ryabkina to give Harvard a 2-0 lead.

Providence cut that lead in half at 13:03, as forward Katy Beach took a pass at close range and managed to sneak it past Crimson sophomore goalie Christina Kessler.

Less than a minute later, a penalty on the Friars gave Harvard a prime power-play opportunity and it took Vaillancourt and Brine just 10 seconds to find Ryabkina for the freshman’s fourth goal of the season.

The final insurance goal came at the end of the busy second period when Brine scored unassisted.

With the win, Kessler’s individual record in goal improved to a nation’s-best 10-0-0, while maintaining her leads in save percentage and goals-against average.

“It felt great to win and to finally have a 10-game win streak,” Kessler said.

On the season, she has also helped the Crimson kill an impressive 44 of 49 power plays.

“[The defense] played a very strategic game and didn’t allow many shots through,” Kessler said. “If we play like that every game it’s going to make my job easier and generate confidence in the [offensive] zone. Everything starts from the D zone.”

Next up for Harvard is a game against New Hampshire, with which it will likely swap rankings today, in Durham, N.H. on Friday night.

“We’ll be facing a great team on a big sheet of ice—that really caters to our style of play,” Cahow said of the Whittemore Center rink. “We’re a very fast, hardworking team with a lot a skill and a lot of speed...We’re pretty excited.”

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Compton can be reached at compton@fas.harvard.edu.