Julie Chu was held pointless in consecutive games for the first time this season. Freshman Sarah Vaillancourt was held out of the action on Saturday following an altercation with an official the night before that earned her a misconduct penalty.

The defense, far from peak performance, was more compact than the night before, but junior goaltender Ali Boe lost the shutout bid on an unassisted power-play goal by Christine Bailkowski early in the final period.

“We’re trying to clean some things up,” Stone said. “Boe does a good job. I felt, bad but by the same token it’s not about the shutout, it’s about the win.”

Sophomore Katie Johnston provided the game-winner with a poke amid a melee in the crease that gave the Crimson a 2-0 edge early in the middle period.

HARVARD 5, CLARKSON 0

When Corriero deflected a Banfield slapshot into the back of the net early in the third period, the feeling in the air at Bright was one of relief more than exhilaration.

“From here on out,” Corriero said. “It’s not about goals. It’s just about playing Harvard hockey.”

The weight and tension of Corriero’s record-hunt was lifted, and Harvard could presumably continue its dominating February form.

The crispness and efficiency that characterized the Crimson’s recent play were conspicuously absent from the later periods of its series-opening shutout of the Golden Knights.

“You have to get the record over with,” Stone said. “You want to just get it finished so there’s a sense of release and you can focus in on what’s most important—team play.”

Corriero’s record-tying goal was her second of the contest. With the record within reach on Friday night, it took Corriero only 28 seconds to get on the board. Vaillancourt gained possession behind the net and fed Corriero, poised at the left post. She managed to jam the puck past McDonald to put Harvard in the lead for good.

Corriero’s early strike was the harbinger of an explosive first period for the Crimson. Kat Sweet notched a pair of goals sandwiched around a power-play score from Vaillancourt, each one courtesy of Johnston, giving Harvard a 4-0 advantage before the game was 20 minutes old.

“We didn’t come out real hard against them last time we played them,” Stone said. “So we tried to make a concerted effort today. And some things bounced for us right away.”

On the first of Sweet’s goals, she took a pass from Johnston and zig-zagged in front of the net before beating McDonald with a backhander to push the lead to 2-0. Eight minutes later, Johnston took on three defenders before flicking the puck on net. The rebound kicked out to a charging Sweet for the easy follow-up.

The big early lead masked the Crimson’s struggles later on.