Early in the second period, freshman Lyndsey Fry and Ryabkina scored back-to-back goals to put the Crimson up, 3-1, and the Bulldogs were again able to even up the score.
Harvard would not even allow Yale the final say on its own ice. When Bulldog junior Aleca Hughes brought her team within one with two minutes left to play, it seemed that Yale would finish the game with only a one-goal loss.
But with 15 seconds left in regulation, Buesser and classmate Katharine Chute scored on an empty net to put the final margin at two.
HARVARD 4, BROWN 0
The results were the same, but the games were completely different.
In October, the Bears (2-16-3, 1-10-3) kept the game competitive, and the Crimson got through with a two-goal win. But on Friday, the margin better reflected the difference between the ECAC’s second- and second-to-last place teams.
“One thing was being able to come out fast,” Buesser said. “We were able to knock them on their heels. We kept up that tempo and got a lot of scoring opportunities.”
Ryabkina struck first, rebounding a missed shot by Dempsey and stuffing the puck into the net.
“We’ve been working on shooting: getting low, getting rebounds,” the tri-captain said.
Ryabkina’s goal also marked the first goal the team had scored with its new powerplay strategy.
“We switched our powerplays this past week,” Ryabkina said. “We did a good job capitalizing on the opportunities.”
But while Ryabkina scored the game-winner in the first ten minutes of ice time, Harvard didn’t hit its stride until the second period when it scored three goals in 15 minutes.
Sophomore Josephine Pucci and freshman Marissa Gedman scored on even strength goals while Buesser tallied the final goal on a powerplay at 15:40.
“The goals weren’t easy goals,” Ryabkina said. “That’s just sort of how our team is.”
Meanwhile, on the other end of the ice, sophomore goaltender Laura Bellamy secured her second straight shut out. Bellamy saw more action than she had in the Crimson’s previous matchup against Union—25 shots as opposed to 10—but her success was identical.
“She’s played very consistently,” Buesser said. “That’s exactly what we want from her.”
—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.