"Everyone has to pick it up now to fill [Asano's] shoes," Ruggiero said. "I get a lot of playing time so I'm going to have to step up but it's a team effort and we're playing three defensive lines now."
Ruggiero picked it up in the third period when she stepped in front of a Northeastern pass in the neutral zone and skated down the ice along with Botterill on a two-on-one breakaway. Ruggiero stickhandled expertly down the left wing, drawing Silva to her right before flipping the puck to her freshman counterpart for the easy score with 11:37 left in the game.
With a comfortable 4-1 lead, the Crimson padded its total from the bench. After relying on the first line for all three goals against UNH, Harvard showed off its depth against Northeastern--four goals came from defensemen and the team's second or third line.
"We hadn't been producing other than with the line of Mleczko, Botterill and Shewchuk," Stone said. "But there are some really good players on those other lines and they need to get a feel for each other and start capitalizing. It was nice to see them do that against a real good team. To score six goals against a team like Northeastern with a pretty decent goaltender is a successful evening for us. We just waited a little long before we got going."
The third line chipped in with 10:59 left in the game. Suurkask won a face-off in the offensive zone. Senior forward Jen Gerometta controlled the puck and passed it to Suurkask, who shot once before scoring on the rebound.
The Crimson rounded out the scoring in impressive fashion. Playing shorthanded, Mleczko won the puck in the neutral zone and passed to sophomore forward Angie Francisco on the right wing. Francisco skated in front of the net and blasted a shot past Silva for her third goal of the season. First Period Har--Ruggiero 1 (Suurkask) 5:46. Nor--Waldo 1 (Coen) 11:21. Second Period Har--Mleczko 1 (Shewchuk, Botteril) 9:05. Third Period Har--Walsh 1 (Suurkask, Ruggiero) 2:37. Har--Botteril 1 (Ruggiero, Mleczko) 8:23. Har--Suurkask 1 (Gerometta) 9:01. Har--Francisco 1 (Mleczko) 15:23