Crimson Takes Union by Ten Goal Margin

When Sarah Vaillancourt made her much-anticipated return to Bright Hockey Center on Saturday in No. 7 Harvard’s season-opener after a year-long absence to participate in the Olympics, the question was: will Sarah Vaillancourt notch a hat trick?

Yesterday, when the Crimson (2-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC) took to the ice against conference doormat Union (2-4-0, 0-2-0) the question was: how quickly will Sarah Vaillancourt notch a hat trick?

The answer, amazingly, was less than 21 minutes.

Fresh off a three-goal, eight-point effort in an 11-0 drubbing of Rensselaer the day before, the sophomore winger poured in four scores in a 10-0 dissection of the Dutchwomen, tallying her third a mere 59 seconds into the second period.

Vaillancourt showed off her skills on her first goal, which came at 6:30 of the first period and gave the team a 2-0 lead. Vaillancourt took a lead pass in stride from co-captain Julie Chu on the left side, used her breakaway speed to accelerate past the defense, and pinpointed a wrister top shelf over goalie Alex Zirbel’s left shoulder. She beat Zirbel again at the 9:56 mark with a lethal slapshot, and completed the trifecta by finishing a rebound down low.

Harvard had no trouble dispatching Union, grabbing a lead just 19 seconds into the game and coasting from there. Thirteen different players factored in the scoring, and seven recorded multiple points.

The other offensive star was senior Katie Johnston, who logged a hat trick of her own—the first of her career—with the quick strike to open the scoring in the first, a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with sophomore Sarah Wilson later in the period, and a scorching wrister in the third.

“It feels good,” Johnston said of the hat trick. “We have a lot of speed on our line, great hands, so it just kind of clicked today.”

Linemates Wilson and senior co-captain Jennifer Sifers assisted on both of Johnston’s first two goals.

“It was great to see the second [line] really light it up,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “K-Jo had a good day, and it’s nice to see the spread-out scoring.”

The Crimson had not recorded back-to-back slaughters of this ilk since the 30-win 2003-04 squad bested the Dutchwomen by 13-0 and 11-0 counts in Schenectady three years ago, a series the team’s seniors could recollect.

“I was playing soccer, so I wasn’t on the ice,” Johnston said. “But I do remember when everyone got a lot of points that year.”

Sophomore netminder Brittany Martin preserved her season-long clean sheet during her two periods of action, making 10 saves and picking up the fourth win of her young career in the process.

“Martin’s coming along great,” Stone said. “She’s doing great. Again, not easy games to play in, and she’s keeping her focus and doing everything she’s asked to do.”

The contest also featured the varsity debut of junior walk-on Kristin Toretta, currently number two on the depth chart, who spelled Martin for the third period and made two stops in her 20 minutes of shutout work.

“Great to have Kristin Toretta in the net,” Stone said, “And be tested, and do a good job.”

Things weren’t as smooth for Union between the pipes. After Zirbel was touched for four goals on 15 shots in the opening frame, the Dutchwomen subbed in sophomore Danielle Kimble. Kimble managed to fare better, allowing six goals on 49 shots, as compared to Zirbel’s permission of four goals on 15.

Chu, in her second game back from her own year-long layoff, tallied a goal and three assists. Junior Caitlin Cahow bagged three assists, and sophomore Jenny Brine had two. Seniors Liza Solley and Lindsay Weaver registered their first goals of the season in the final period.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.