Harvard 10, Maine 2

Harvard opened up their weekend against Maine before its Saturday night showdown with UNH, blowing out the Black Bears 10-2 on Friday night at the Bright Hockey Center.

The Harvard women were looking for a "solid team effort" to sweep the weekend home-stand, hoping to get on a roll heading for the ECAC quarterfinals a mere two weeks away.

The first five minutes of Friday's game were split evenly between the two teams, with sloppy play on both sides and neither team controlling much of the play, but Crimson superiority was clearly evident before the first period was even halfway over.

Harvard's skillful dismantling of the Black Bears was sparked with two early first period goals scored by Shewchuck. The junior winger, who is the current points leader for the Crimson and the No. 2 scorer in the ECAC with 27 goals and 27 assists, followed up her two goals with five consecutive assists and was involved in all but three of Harvard's goals on the night.

Shewchuk's stellar performance was one of many for the Crimson. Ingram registered a hat trick and Botterill had a remarkable six assists on the evening.

Angela Ruggiero rifled a slapshot from the blue line with 6:23 left in the first period that beat Maine goaltender Amanda Cronin and found the back of the net with ease. The goal was Ruggiero's first of two on the night, but the long distance, shorthanded strike symbolized the end for the overmatched Black Bears.