{shortcode-16dbeead4aba2776550a6865d25181a0a1ddc83d} Seeking a win after two weekends off, the Harvard women’s ice hockey team (2-3-1) delivered a 7-3 blowout over Holy Cross (0-13-2) in the Bright-Landry Hockey Center Tuesday night. The Crimson finished the night with strong performances across the board, with nine players scoring an assist or goal on the night and the top line clocking in 10 points total.

After an evenly matched opening to the game, Harvard took its lead quickly late in the first period, scoring twice, first off a goal from senior Bradley Fusco at 15:09, assisted by freshman Kate Glover and junior Kate Hallett and then from a shot from junior Kate Hughes with assists from senior Lexie Laing and freshman Kristi Della Rovere 1:30 later at 16:39. The pair of goals marked Hughes and Della Rovere’s first goals of the season.

“On the goal that I scored, we had possession in the offensive zone for [about] twenty seconds,” Hughes said. “We were just moving it around between [Della Rovere, Laing, and me] and Kristen [Della Rovere] made a really good pass to Lexie Laing, who shot it, hit the goalie, and I was just there for the rebound, coming in with speed.”

That critical chemistry, especially on the first line, carried the Crimson to four more goals in the first seven minutes of the second period, one apiece for freshmen Kaitlin Tse, freshman Keely Moy, sophomore Becca Gilmore, and Della Rovere.

“We’d especially been working on scoring in practice and getting pucks to the net, and tonight was a really good example of all the hard work we’ve put in,” Hughes noted. “Being back in a game setting, everyone was really excited, and things were just working our way.”

Holy Cross clawed back with two more goals, one halfway through the second period and the next early in the third period, but its efforts weren’t enough to give the Crimson a legitimate challenge. A Lexie Laing goal at 10:32 in the third period all but put away the game for the Crimson, with Holy Cross finding the back of the net once more late in the game.

“Overall, as a team, we used our systems and stuck to the game plan really well,” Della Rovere said. “We battled really hard from start to finish, and everyone gave it a hundred and ten percent. It just came down to passion, everyone wanted this win so bad, and we have a rivalry with Holy Cross.”

The final box score told the story of the night for the Crimson. Six players (Della Rovere, Laing, Hughes, Tse, Moy, and Gilmore) finished with two or more points on the night and three more recorded a point (Glover, Hallett, and Fusco). Harvard converted on one of its four power play opportunities, finished with 39 shots on goal, 18 more than Holy Cross, and won faceoffs by a 34-15 margin.

Up next for Harvard is a pair of matchups over Thanksgiving weekend against No. 1 Wisconsin, but the team noted that the dominant victory over Holy Cross helped the team gather its poise for this upcoming challenge.

“Wisconsin is a top team and tonight we were able to gain our confidence back,” Della Rovere said. “We have to go into Wisconsin knowing that we’re not an underdog, that we’ve got that confidence and we’ll make them respond to us.”