Women's Hockey Routs Union, 9-0

After allowing three goals in less than three-and-a-half minutes, Union looked to reset with a timeout. But the 30-second break in the action merely gave Harvard's top line a breather.

Off the very next faceoff, Crimson co-captain Jillian Dempsey intercepted a Dutchwoman pass and tore across the blueline before slapping a shot past the left pad of Union goaltender Shenae Lundberg. The senior forward notched her second goal of the game to put the Harvard women's ice hockey team up six en route to a 9-0 rout of Union Friday night in Schenectady, N.Y.

In its first game of the new year, the Crimson (10-1-1, 8-0-0 ECAC) enjoyed its largest margin of victory in a shutout since 2006. With the win, Harvard improved its all-time series record versus the Dutchwomen (5-10-3, 0-6-3 ECAC) to 19-0-0.

"I think we came out strong, we finished strong and got better with each period," Crimson coach Katey Stone said. "It was a complete game."

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, Harvard caught fire in the second frame, scoring five unanswered markers—four in the first six minutes of the period.

Sophomore defender Michelle Picard opened the second period onslaught with her first career goal. Picard threaded a wrister over the right shoulder of Lundberg from inside the circle.

"[Picard] just works her tail off all the time," Dempsey said. "It was really nice to see that pay off with a goal."

Picard and Dempsey finished the night with game-high +5 ratings. Less than a minute after Picard's marker, Dempsey scored from a similar location on the rink to extend her point streak to 26 games.

Two and a half minutes later, a cross-rink lead pass from senior defender Kelsey Romatoski to Dempsey set up the Crimson's fifth goal of the game. The pass created a 2-on-1 in which Dempsey slid the puck to junior Lyndsey Fry, who buried it top-shelf.

Fry's first goal of the game prompted Union's timeout, but it took only five seconds after the next faceoff for a Crimson player to find the back of the net--this time Dempsey with an assist credited to Fry.

"[Dempsey] is relentless; she hunts pucks down," Stone said. "She jumps into spaces; she has a great feel for what's going on. It was great to see her take some quick-release shots tonight."

Dempsey finished with a game-high five points. The Winthrop, Mass., native leads the NCAA in goals per game (1.33) and ranks second in points per game (2.5).

For the final tally of the second period, Dempsey and Fry connected once more. Fry poke-checked the puck away from Union's Rebecca Babiak and ahead to Dempsey, who spun around to feed Fry in the crease. Fry deked around Union back-up goalie Madeleine Dahl for her ninth goal of the season.

"The cool thing about [Dempsey] and I playing together is that it doesn't really matter who puts it away," said Fry, who ranks seventh in the nation with 1.73 points per game. "We've been good about finding each other, and we are able to see each other and make plays all over the ice."

The Crimson bookended the second period with a pair of two-goal frames.

The Crimson controlled the game from the start, outshooting the Dutchwomen, 12-3, in the first period.

Freshman forward Miye D'Oench struck first for Harvard just over eight minutes into the game. D'Oench collected a rebound from teammate Mary Parker and banked the puck off Lundberg's backside with a quick tap from behind the goal line.

With less than four minutes left in the first, sophomore forward Samantha Reber put the Crimson up two with a wrist shot that clanged off the post and into the back of the net. Reber stole the puck in the neutral zone and carried it past the opposing blueline for the unassisted mark.

The third period saw the first NCAA goal for freshman defender Abigail Harris, who snapped a quick shot from the faceoff circle between two Union defenders after carrying the puck into the offensive zone. Freshman third-string goaltender Molly Tissenbaum also made waves for the Crimson in the third period, making a couple key stops to preserve the shutout while Stone rested co-captain starter Laura Bellamy for the final frame.

"It's awesome when we're able to get everybody out on the ice in a game like this," Fry said. "It's so great to just roll the lines and have everybody playing. It makes it so much more fun as a team."

Romatoski made it 9-0 with less than six minutes left. By the final horn, Harvard had outshot the Dutchwomen, 42-13, and registered its fifth shutout of the season.

As she nears the midway point of her final NCAA regular season, Dempsey is pleased with the attitude and effort of her squad.

"We want to be the hardest-working team in the country. We don't want anybody to ever outwork us or outhustle us," Dempsey said. "That's huge because it doesn't take any talent or skill for that kind of play [tonight]; it's all about effort. The energy today was great."

--Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at mledecky@college.harvard.edu