Rookie Samantha Reber, shown above in previous action, participated in the first line of forwards that quickly put the Crimson on board in the first period. Reber finished the game with two goals against UNH.

The student has become the master.

The Harvard women’s hockey team’s 5-2 victory over the University of New Hampshire on Friday night gave Crimson coach Katey Stone her second straight victory over her alma mater.

“Very strong game,” Stone said. “[We] came out ready to play tonight.”

Harvard (8-4, 6-2 ECAC) dominated the puck from the first whistle. The first line of forwards—which consisted of junior Jillian Dempsey, sophomore Lindsey Fry, and freshman Samantha Reber—was particularly effective at challenging the Wildcats (6-11-3, 0-6-2 Hockey East) and goaltender Moe Bradley, adding to the overall good play shown by the Crimson. Four minutes into the period, the first line efforts paid off. Junior defenseman and assistant captain Josephine Pucci fired the puck from the blue line toward Fry, who fired the puck at the UNH net. While Bradley made the initial save, Dempsey grabbed the rebound and stuffed it into the net.

“I just liked the pace of our game,” Stone said. “I thought our sense of urgency was good [Friday night].”

After Harvard drew first blood, UNH picked up its pace and gave the game a more back-and-forth feel, but the Wildcats were never able to significantly threaten the Crimson cage. As the period wore on, UNH’s attack wore off, and Harvard regained control.

With a little over a minute left in the frame, Crimson junior forward Kaitlin Spurling received the puck and skated it down to the left circle before sending it past Bradley to put Harvard up by two.

Seven minutes later, the Crimson had a three-goal lead when Reber knicked in a shot from classmate Sarah Edney 5:52 into the second period. Edney, a defenseman, had received the puck from Pucci, who had been directing play from the point.

“It was interesting because early on in our season, the defensemen were doing a lot of scoring,” Stone said. “They’re starting to pass it off to the forwards, which is good because it should be balanced.”

“It’s awesome to see everyone contributing,” Pucci added, “Getting more forwards scoring more goals—I think it’s a result of players getting more acclimated with each other.”

Three minutes later, Fry made it a four-goal advantage. The sophomore skated down the center lane of the ice before veering to the right circle, where she fired the puck past the unsuspecting Wildcat defense.

Fry’s goal proved to be a wake-up call to UNH, who again went on the offensive. This time it paid off. A scrum in front of the net caught all of Harvard’s skaters on one side of net, leaving Wildcat forward Nicole Gifford wide open on the other side.

UNH’s Kristina Lavole took notice and sent the puck behind the net to Emma Clark, who passed it to Gifford. While Crimson junior goaltender Laura Bellamy stopped Gifford’s first shot, Harvard was unable to clear the puck, which instead bounced back to Gifford. The forward put it away on her second attempt at 17:12 in the second frame.

Undeterred, the Crimson opened the third period with the same aggression it had shown all game.

“We responded well after that first goal,” said Bellamy, an assistant captain for the team.