In a season in which nothing was going quite right, something finally clicked for the Harvard women’s hockey team.

The Crimson (5-5-3, 5-2-2 ECAC) got a big win Dec. 17 in Hanover, N.H., taking down No. 3 Dartmouth (7-4-1, 6-2-1), 3-2. Sophomore Liza Ryabkina played the hero, netting the game-winner early in the third period.

“It was a hard-fought game, and we capitalized on our opportunities,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “The kids were ready to go. They played very alert, together hockey.”

Just three days after being upset on the road by Connecticut and falling out of the national polls for the first time in over six years, the Crimson came out firing against the Big Green.

Harvard had to fight through nearly three minutes of penalty kill early in the first frame, after defensemen Kathryn Farni and Kati Vaughn were called for hooking. But as soon as Dartmouth’s advantage expired, the Crimson struck.

Sophomore defenseman Leanna Coskren found tri-captain Sarah Vaillancourt on the left side of the ice, and the senior took care of the rest. Vaillancourt brought the puck through the Big Green zone and slid it past Dartmouth netminder Carli Clemis, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead.

With the tally, Vaillancourt became just the seventh player in Crimson history to record 200 career points.

The Big Green got even before the first period was over. Junior defenseman Jen Brawn was called for hooking at 16:35, and Dartmouth’s Maggie Kennedy capitalized on the power-play opportunity.

The second period brought more of the same back-and-forth play. The squads traded shots, with Harvard dealing the first blow.

At 6:04 in the second frame, sophomore Katharine Chute notched her second goal of the season to put the Crimson back ahead. Vaillancourt and tri-captain Kirsten Kester were credited with assists.

The recently reshuffled line of Kester, Chute, and Ryabkina accounted for three of Harvard’s seven points on the night, showing that the team can rely on its depth to win games.

“I think we had three balanced lines that can play all the time,” Stone said. “The kids worked hard.”

Just six minutes later, the Big Green came back to tie it up once again. Dartmouth sophomore Amanda Trunzo took a pass from Kennedy and slid it just inside the left post, knotting the score at 2-2 heading into the second intermission.

Despite injuries, line changes, and 12 games worth of frustration, the Crimson was determined to make its last period of 2008 a memorable one.

“We came out really wanting this win and really hungry,” sophomore forward Kate Buesser said.

The team didn’t waste much time in the final frame. Four minutes into the period, Ryabkina took a pass from freshman Whitney Kennedy and, with a strong wrist shot from inside the right circle, sent it soaring past Clemis for the go-ahead goal.

The assist was the first point of Kennedy’s young career.

“After [Ryabkina] scored, the bench was really ignited. Everyone was just flying,” Buesser said. “We just wanted it more than Dartmouth, and I think it showed.”

The Big Green peppered junior goaltender Christina Kessler with shots for the rest of the period and was even able to put one in the net, but the would-be equalizer was called back because of a high stick in front of the goal.

“We didn’t want to give up the early goals, but Kessler was tough down the stretch,” Stone said. “I do think we could still play better defensively all around, but we’re getting there.”

Kessler made a season-high 32 saves, including 16 in the third period alone, to preserve the lead. Clemis finished with 16 saves.

The win, Harvard’s first against a ranked team this season, sends the team home for winter break with a restored sense of confidence.

“I think this was huge for our team. We’ve been having kind of a rough start here,” Buesser said. “I think this is really going to set a tone for the new year.”

“Every win is a big one,” Stone said. We had a pretty tough schedule from the beginning of the season to this point—who we’ve played, injuries we’ve had, people being in and out of the lineup. The kids expected more of themselves last night, and they got it.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.