Potsdam, NY - An overwhelming second period, in which Harvard University scored three times and enjoyed a 19-4 edge in shots, proved to be too much for the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team to overcome in a 3-1 loss to the Crimson in front of 306 fans Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.
The Golden Knights saw a five-game unbeaten streak come to an end with the loss, dropping to 14-5-3 overall and 5-4-1 in ECAC Hockey action. Harvard remained perfect in league play at 13-0, and moved to 16-1 overall.
After a mostly quiet first period in which the Knights out shot the third-ranked Crimson 10-4, Harvard began the second period with inspired play that belied its opening period performance. From the beginning, the majority of the action took place in the Clarkson defensive end as the Crimson peppered Clarkson freshman goalie Eve Grandmont-Berube (Drummondville, QUE) with numerous shots, most of them from in close. Harvard finally got on the scoreboard at the 8:21 mark when Sarah Vaillancourt scored her 11th goal of the season. She walked right into the slot and ended the scoreless tie with an unassisted marker.
After two penalties in quick succession, the Knights found themselves skating on a 5-on-3 power play. After a misfired shot went beyond the end line, the puck found its way out to the stick of sophomore Carlee Eusepi (Oakville, ONT), who blasted a shot from the point to tie the score up at 1-1 at 9:53. The goal was the first allowed by the Crimson is a 219 minutes, 29 second stretch. Assisting on the goal were Kim McKenney (Smiths Falls, ONT) and Genevieve Lavoie (Delson, QUE).
The offensive outburst continued two and a half minutes later when Randi Griffith scored her second goal of the season. Linemates Deborah Conway and Kate Buesser assisted. From the post, Conway sent a low pass to Griffith in the slot, who sent in a low shot to give Harvard a 2-1 lead.
In the waning moments, the Crimson picked up an insurance goal to conclude its dominating period. Vaillancourt gathered in the puck near center ice and skated over the blueline, then swiftly sent a pass to the stick of Sarah Wilson, who was streaking towards the net with just the goalie to beat. Wilson wristed a shot past Grandmont-Berube’s glove side to make the score 3-1. The goal was a tough one to take for the Clarkson faithful, as the tally came with just two-tenths of a second remaining in the period.
A handful of scoring chances occurred in the third period, but neither team was able to come up with another goal, making the final score by Harvard in the second period all the more valuable from a strategy standpoint.
Harvard finished the game with a 32-21 lead in shots, including its 19-4 stranglehold in the second period. Grandmont-Berube made 29 saves for the Knights, making four stops in the first, 16 in the second, and nine more in the third period. Christina Kessler made 20 saves for the Crimson, recording her 15th win of the season. The Knights went 1-for-6 on the power play and Harvard was scoreless in its two player-up advantages.
