Junior goaltender Christina Kessler sealed the 2-1 victory over Colgate on Saturday, posting 25 saves, including a denied penalty shot from the Raiders’ Hannah Milan. With the win, Harvard returns to the national rankings at No. 9 and sits just one point

When the Harvard women’s hockey team rolled into Hamilton, N.Y. on Saturday, its afternoon contest with Colgate had all the makings of a trap game.

The fatigued Crimson was playing its sixth game in two weeks and the Raiders—while stuck in the middle of the pack in the ECAC standings—held an impressive 12-4-1 record at home.

But Harvard (15-8-3, 14-4-2 ECAC) is dominating its conference opponents right now, and the team used that momentum to barely sneak out of Hamilton victorious, beating Colgate (17-11-3, 11-6-3), 2-1.

“It was a good hockey game,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “Our kids played with a lot of heart and grit...We didn’t have as much energy as we normally do but we fought through it.”

With the game tied at one and only three minutes left in the third period, senior forward Sarah Wilson swooped in to save the day for Harvard.

After Raiders goalie Kimberly Sass turned away a shot by sophomore center Anna McDonald, Wilson hammered the rebound under Sass and into the net to give the Crimson a lead it would not relinquish.

“It was a huge goal for us,” Harvard tri-captain Jenny Brine said. “It gave us confidence in the last three minutes. We basically killed their momentum.”

The goal was timely in more ways than one.

The Crimson’s second forward line of Wilson, McDonald, and sophomore Kate Buesser had been struggling to score of late, and the tally provided the trio with a needed confidence boost.

“That line’s been playing so well,” Stone said. “They’ve had good chances, but they haven’t gotten the results that they wanted. They were fired up.”

Following Wilson’s tally—her 11th of the season—Harvard clamped down on defense, and junior goalie Christina Kessler extended her recent stretch of stellar play, shutting down the Raiders for the remainder of the game. Kessler made 25 saves on the afternoon in another outstanding performance.

The netminder has allowed just five goals in her last six games, coming closer to her form of last year, in which she set the NCAA single-season shutouts record.

“She’s playing the way a goalie of her caliber should play,” Stone said. “She’s doing her part. She’s taking responsibility.”

Kessler made her most important contribution of the game after junior Kathryn Farni took down Colgate’s Hannah Milan on a breakaway at 11:27 in the third and with the score tied. Milan was awarded a penalty shot, but Kessler was ready for her, denying the attempt and preventing the Raiders from taking the lead.

“[Kessler is] doing a great job of being focused,” Brine said. “She’s played unbelievable in these last few games.”

Brine got the Crimson on the board in the first period with a goal 17:18 into the game. Sophomore Katharine Chute fired a shot that Sass deflected to the right side of the net. Brine sent the rebound top shelf over Sass’ shoulder, giving Harvard an early 1-0 lead.

Conspicuously absent from the scoring sheet was tri-captain Sarah Vaillancourt, but not for lack of effort. Vaillancourt took 10 shots, but after a stretch in which she had a hand in 18 of the Crimson’s 19 goals, it was time for Harvard’s other stars to shine.

Brine, Wilson, and Kessler came up big, ensuring that the Crimson controls its own destiny as it stares down the end of the regular season. Harvard is just one point behind No. 7 St. Lawrence in the ECAC standings—with a game against the Saints coming up this weekend—and has re-entered the national rankings at No. 9.

“We’re in a good spot,” Stone said. “We’re right where we want to be. Its all up to us.”

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.