“Those are hard games to play,” Stone said. “For goaltenders, it’s a lot easier when you get a lot of shots, and so she needed to mentally stay locked in. I thought she did a real good job, because they had a couple good chances down the stretch, and she’s playing solid. She’s doing what she needs to do, and everybody in front of her is working and doing their jobs, and that’s what it’s all about.”

With its offense unable to help, Union’s defense broke down at the hands of a trio of Harvard freshmen. Elizabeth Parker started the play by securing the puck and sending it to Kalley Armstrong. Armstrong hooked the puck to an open Gina McDonald in front of the goal. McDonald cashed in on the play for the first goal of her college career.

“Whenever someone gets her first collegiate goal, it’s always a big deal, and she works so hard that we were all just so excited for her,” Ryabkina said.

The game’s third goal, which came 17 minutes into second period, also gave Parker her first assist as a college athlete.

With the outcome secured, tri-captain Kate Buesser added her own flair to the game’s final goal, which came six minutes into the third period. Seemingly heading away from the goal, Buesser fired a quick shot past an unsuspecting Gallagher to set the margin at four goals.

The forward’s goal was the final touch on what was a dominating weekend for the Crimson.

“It’s obviously awesome to win, especially when it’s alumnae weekend and everybody’s back,” Romatoski said.

But three Harvard hockey alumnae were probably not as pleased as the rest with the Crimson’s easy win over the Dutchwomen. Those three were Union coaches Asano, Ali Boe ’06, and Julie Chu ’06-’07.

Chu, an Olympic medalist and winner of the Patty Kazmaier award, was honored in between periods along with Harvard’s other Olympic alumnae.

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.