By BRENDA LEE

Contributing WRITER

Even though Niagara entered Sunday’s game against the Harvard women’s hockey team with a national ranking, history remained on the Crimson’s side.

Captain Jamie Hagerman’s short-handed goal in the second period proved to be the game-winner in the Crimson’s 4-2 triumph over No. 6 Niagara on Sunday. Harvard evened its record to 4-4-1 as it continued its history of domination over the Purple Eagles, who dropped to 11-3-0.

Harvard has won all seven meetings between the two teams.

The game-winning goal came as a result of Harvard’s aggressive checking in the neutral zone. Niagara was caught with players too high up, and Hagerman jumped on the puck for a partial breakaway.

“[Junior] Kalen [Ingram], [freshman] Kat [Sweet], and I were pressing the puck really hard,” Hagerman said. “Kat and Kalen were able to push the puck up, and I cut off one of their defenders and went in on the breakaway and scored.”

Earning assists on the goal were Ingram, who assisted on each of Harvard’s four goals, and freshman Nicole Corriero, who scored one goal herself as well as notching two assists in the game.

Hagerman’s goal came in the fourteenth minute of a high-scoring second period, during which five of the six goals of the game were tallied.

The scoring began at 16:01 into the first period when Harvard sophomore Lauren McAuliffe used a power play opportunity to score her second goal of the season.

Harvard worked the puck around, and Hagerman took at shot from the right point, which McAuliffe was able to deflect into the goal.

“She was in the perfect position,” Hagerman said.

Just 18 seconds into the start of the second period, Niagara responded with junior Valerie Hall’s goal, tying the the game at one.

Corriero scored her 10th goal of the season in the eighth minute of the busy second period to give the Crimson the lead for good.

Coming out of the left offensive corner, Corriero dodged the Purple Eagle defense and got a shot off. Ingram and Corriero then pressured the goalie off the rebound, as Corriero scored from her knees.