PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Harvard freshman Carrie Schroyer needed just one shift yesterday to make her coach look like a genius.

With the Harvard women’s hockey team tied with Brown in the third period at Meehan Arena, coach Katey Stone chose to promote Schroyer from the third line to the first to replace ailing sophomore Nicole Corriero. On her first shift alongside captain Jennifer Botterill and freshman Julie Chu, Schroyer capitalized for her first collegiate goal, the game-winner in a 3-2 Harvard victory.

“I wasn’t really expecting it when coach pushed me up in the third period,” Schroyer said. “My first shift out there I got a perfect pass from Botterill and it was my first collegiate goal, so it was really exciting today. It was a great opportunity to play with Julie and Jen.”

The win over No. 7 Brown (4-4-2, 3-2 ECAC) could be enough to propel the No. 2 Crimson (7-1, 5-0) to the top of the national rankings since No. 1 Minnesota lost twice to No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth this weekend.

Schroyer created the scoring opportunity by speeding past two Bear defenders to get open in the often-packed Brown defensive zone. Botterill, carrying the puck to the left endline, turned and found Schroyer coming towards the net. Schroyer drilled the puck just inside the open near-side of the net to light the lamp.

“Carrie has a lot of legs—she’s a very smart positional player,” Stone said of her reasons for elevating Schroyer to the first line. “One thing Carrie does all the time is go to the net with her stick down and it certainly paid off.”

The payoff for Harvard’s effort was minimized by Brown goaltender Pam Dreyer, who made 48 saves in defeat.

“It could have been a 7-2 game had it not been for Pam Dreyer,” Stone said. “We had terrific looks at the net.”

With Dreyer in the net and four players in the defensive zone on any given Harvard attack, Brown was tough to crack defensively, but not impenetrable.

On the game’s first goal, Botterill created space for herself by passing to captain Anglea Ruggiero at the point, then receiving the puck back after Ruggiero had drawn the defense’s attention. Botterill tried to feed Corriero in front, but the puck deflected off a defender’s skate on net. Dreyer made the initial save but Corriero put the loose puck home.

That goal, which came with 10 seconds left in the period, haunted Brown in the end.

“We can’t expect to make mistakes like that and not have them capitalize on them,” said Brown coach Digit Murphy.

Harvard’s second goal was created more by Chu’s speed than Brown’s mistakes. Receiving a pass from captain Jamie Hagerman in the Brown zone, Chu saw a lane to the net down the right side and took off. Dreyer appeared to have stopped Chu’s initial shot but with Harvard players bearing down on her, the puck slipped over the goal line for a 2-1 Crimson lead.

While Dreyer made the most saves, Harvard sophomore Jessica Ruddock made the most impressive stop when she stuffed Brown captain Kim Insalaco on a red-line breakaway to keep the score 2-1 at the time.

Ruddock made 19 saves for the victory and kept her goals-against average to 1.37, the best mark in the nation among goaltenders that have played 400 minutes this season.

Both of Brown’s goals—the first tied the game 1-1 at 2:45 in the second period and the second tied the game 2-2 at 4:07 of the third period—were created off of Harvard mistakes. The Bear offense, which keeps one flyer in the neutral zone to cherry pick, was never a factor in the scoring.

The first Brown goal came from the Bears’ third line as winger Lindsey Glennon wrapped around the back of the net unchallenged for the initial shot, and winger Jenny Rice poked the puck home on the ensuing scramble.

Center Jessica Link, Brown’s leading scorer, netted the second Bear goal when a Harvard turnover, followed by a timely pass, sprung her free behind the Crimson defense inside the blue line. She cut across and skirted around Ruddock for the finish.

In the long run, Harvard will appreciate the close competition that Brown provided. The national championship will not be determined by measuring which teams beat squads like Cornell, Colgate and Connecticut by the most number of goals.

The top three teams in the nation have played each other even to the final minutes in all four of their meetings this season. Poise and experience in clutch situations could be crucial down the stretch.

“We’ve been winning games by a lot of goals,” Stone said. “It’s good to play games where you have to grind it out and find a way.”

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.