But Harvard did not just relentlessly pound the Dutchwomen into submission. The defense also rallied to cut down on the number of shots in their zone.

Strong defense in Ruggiero’s absence complemented solid goaltending. Freshman Emily Vitt posted a nine-save shutout in her collegiate debut between the pipes against the Dutchwomen.

Harvard 13 Union 0

In Friday night’s game, Sweet set the tone for the weekend, jamming the first Harvard goal of the season past Union netminder Lauren Carlson just 34 seconds into the game.

“We dumped the puck into the zone [after the faceoff] and started skating around them,” Sweet said. “We got the puck in front of the net and I just blocked it in.” Harvard stayed in control the rest of the game, never relenting on the offensive attack. The Crimson outshot Union 46-14.

“We never go into a game thinking that we’re going to completely dominate,” Sweet said following Saturday’s win. “But we were happy with the result.”

Corriero led the way with her record ten points, while Raimondi added three goals and an assist.

The freshmen picked up on things quickly and made an immediate impact in their collegiate debut. Sifers scored on a power play in the second period from classmate Cahow.

“We were playing the three freshmen forwards together,” Sweet said. “We knew they needed to get their first-game jitters over.”

As the game progressed, the Crimson recognized the flaws in its game and corrected them.

In the first period, Harvard failed to convert on two power-play tries.

But when the Crimson changed the strategy on the man advantage, Union’s defenders appeared confused and scoring opportunities began to translate into goals. Indeed, Harvard converted on four of its next five power plays.

“Coach [Katey Stone] really switched it up,” Sweet said. “We had many different tactics. We knew we could skate around them.”

Boe recorded the complete-game shutout in goal, stopping all 14 shots that the pressuring Dutchwomen offense sent her way.

“She kept her focus well,” Corriero said. “There were definitely some tricky plays that she remained focused for.”