After taking a pass from Chute, Pucci ripped a hard one-timer from the outside edge of the right faceoff circle that Lahonen barely saw coming. The puck hit the top left corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.
“We’ve got to let the kids do what they do well, and [Pucci’s] so instinctive that we just kind of let her go a bit,” Stone said. “And all these kids, they like to be offensive—let’s let them be offensive. And it certainly gave us a lot of energy.”
With momentum squarely in its favor, the Crimson kept pushing, doubling its advantage just over two minutes later. A set of quick passes put the puck on the stick of tri-captain Kate Buesser, who launched a shot on net. Though Lahonen made the initial save, the puck bounced around in the crease, with senior Ashley Wheeler eventually pushing it over the goal line.
St. Lawrence cut the deficit back to one with 14:16 to play with a well-executed offensive play. Vanessa Emond brought the puck up the right side of the ice before crossing it in front of the net to Karell Emard. Emard knocked the puck past Bellamy, who fell into a split trying to make the save.
But 2-1 was as close as the Saints would get, as Bellamy and her defense locked down to shut St. Lawrence out for the remainder of the game.
The defense looked at its best on a late-game penalty kill, marking the third straight game that Harvard has been perfect with a man down.
“The [defenders] were just clearing everything out—made my job easy,” Bellamy said. “Anything that was out front, they were just taking care of sticks and bodies, and that made it easy for me.”
After dropping a tough road game at Rensselaer last weekend, the win gives the Crimson momentum as it embarks on a crucial conference homestand.
“We played great hockey last weekend too and unfortunately only won one, but I think the kids know they could have had that RPI game too,” Stone said. “We’ve got to play our best every night. There’s no backing up here—we’ve got to go forward and do the best we can.”
—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kliest@fas.harvard.edu.