Any thoughts of starting the new year on the right foot disappeared for the Harvard women’s hockey team last Friday night when No. 10 Princeton handed the Crimson its second-straight loss, a disappointing 6-3 defeat at Hobey Baker Rink. Harvard (14-2-1, 6-2-0 ECAC) bounced back yesterday, topping Yale 5-1 at Ingalls Rink.

The Crimson was plagued by time spent in the box during both contests, suffering the effects of 28 penalty minutes against the Tigers—including 22 single-handedly garnered by co-captain Angela Ruggiero—and 14 more against the Bulldogs.

Both co-captain Lauren McAuliffe and sophomore Julie Chu posted two goals and three assists over the weekend, while Ruggiero extended her point streak to 17 games, tallying at least one score in every game thus far this season.

Friday’s loss marked the first time Harvard has lost twice in a row since the 2001-2002 season and dropped the Crimson into third place in the ECAC standings behind Dartmouth and Brown.

Harvard 5, Yale 1

Trailing 1-0 after a slow start, the Crimson rallied late in the first period and came out swinging in the second, rattling off five unanswered goals against the Bulldogs (7-9-3, 4-5-0 ECAC) en route to a comfortable victory in a refreshing performance after Friday night’s game.

McAuliffe led the way with four points, scoring one goal and three assists in Harvard’s furious second period strike.

“We stuck to our own game plan and didn’t let what they were doing affect our style of hockey,” McAuliffe said.

Similar to Princeton’s strategy, Yale tried to shadow Ruggiero and play a physical game, but the Crimson would not be fazed.

Much of the credit for Harvard’s five goals belonged to the third line, consisting of junior winger Kat Sweet, sophomore center Carrie Schroyer and freshman winger Lisa Solley.

“Our third line played well and was definitely a part of the difference in the game,” said junior forward Nicole Corriero. “The Sweet-Schroyer-Solley line was making a lot of things happen and sparked the other lines. We started coming on late in the first period, then in the first shift of the second we put one home.”

The Crimson started that first shift on the man-advantage and Chu knocked in the first of her two power play goals of the period just 45 seconds into play.

Though the third line helped generate the Harvard attack early on in the game, the shift did not post a score until the third period, when Sweet and Solley assisted on a Ruggiero goal to put the exclamation point on the Crimson’s victory.

Corriero showcased her own skills at the offensive end, notching a goal and two assists in the second period against Bulldogs goaltender Sarah Love, who posted 37 saves in the loss.

On the defensive end, Harvard provided more aid than had been offered the night before to sophomore goalie Ali Boe, who responded by posting a solid 18 saves and allowing one lone goal mid-first period.