Senior Jillian Dempsey completed a hat trick (and then some) with two goals in the third period at Bright Hockey Center as her No. 4 Harvard Crimson dismantled the visiting Providence Friars by an 8-1 score on Friday night. Senior Laura Bellamy fell just 10.1 seconds short of a 16-save shutout as he allowed a goal on a long shot by senior Jessica Vella in the slot.
The Crimson, which head up to Durham, N.H. to face the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, finished the contest with a 44-14 shots on goal advantage, including 12-2 in the third period.
With the victory, Harvard improves to 9-1-0 on the season and rides a six-game winning streak into Saturday afternoon's contest at New Hampshire. The Crimson also defeated Hockey East foe Northeastern, 3-1, at Matthews Arena on Nov. 27.
At 10:48, the Crimson upped their lead to 6-0 as senior Kelsey Romatoski scored her second of the contest and third of the season as she took a low wrist shot from the left point through heavy traffic in the slot. Sophomore Samantha Reber was camped out in front of PC junior keeper Nina Riley as the puck changed directions into the net.
Dempsey added her third and fourth goals of the contest at 11:10 and 16:01, finishing her first hat trick and third multi-goal game of the season, while also continuing her unprecedented point streak of 24 games.
Romatoski chipped in with two goals and added an assist, while junior Kailey Armstrong tallied assists on two of Dempsey's goals.