W. Hockey To Face No. 1 Dartmouth

Calling it a hockey game trivializes its importance.

The Harvard-Dartmouth rivalry in women's hockey has become more than a game, more than a grudge, more than a battle for number-one. It is now a demon that Harvard must vanquish.

"The loss to Dartmouth was a dissappointing end to the season last year," said co-captain Jennifer Botterill. "We are on a mission this year and have a lot to prove."

A win tomorrow would be arguably Harvard's biggest win since the 1999 national championship game.

"It would be a huge step for us," Botterill admits. "They've been ranked number one almost all year and are the team to beat. It's a huge rivalry."

But from the moment the No. 6 Crimson (16-7-0, 15-3-0 ECAC) and No. 1 Big Green (19-1-1, 16-1-1) touch the ice tomorrow all the memories from last year will once again be center-stage. It is something most of the players try to put out of their minds.

"It is best to leave the past where it's at," said senior forward Tara Dunn. "It's over with. We can't change it now and we're just trying to look forward."

The past Harvard is desperately trying to forget started in the most unlikely of settings.

It was the home opener last season and the night the Crimson raised its 1999 AWCHA national championship banner to the rafters.

The then No. 1 Crimson was riding a 33-game winning-streak, and that night No. 7 Dartmouth was suppose to be number 34. There was no warning anything would be different.

Harvard had sent Dartmouth packing for the season in the team's last meeting with a 8-1 rout in the 1999 ECAC semifinals. Needless to say, the night did not unfold as Harvard had intended, and the Big Green upset the Crimson 5-4 in an overtime thriller.

"It was really dissappointing to lose the opener that year coming off the national championship," Dunn said. "For all the returning players, it let us know that winning a second title would not be as easy."

Unbeknownst to anyone in the crowd that night, a changing of the guard was taking place.

Dartmouth would go on to defeat the Crimson in February before a highly anticipated rematch in the 2000 ECAC semifinals pitted the two teams together again.

Trailing 2-1 late, Harvard freshman Kalen Ingram tied the game with six seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. For two seasons, the Crimson had lived a charmed existence in close games, always pulling out a victory when the chips were on the table. To the Crimson's suprise, however, it did not continue in the 2000 playoffs and Harvard went down 3-2 in OT.

The Crimson went from being the No. 2 team in the country, four games away from a second consecutive national championship, to a team pondering an extended summer vacation.

"At times you stop and think about it," Botterill said. "But right now we are just trying to focus on this game. It just makes you more motivated and gives you extra incentive."

Dartmouth made its name in college hockey as a giant killer. At the time, Harvard was the giant.

Now the roles are reversed. Dartmouth is currently the best team in the nation and Harvard is the upstart looking for the upset.

"We are definitely the underdog," Botterill said. "It is a great position to be in knowing that we have nothing to lose."

The Crimson fell to its lowest position in the national rankings in three seasons after last Sunday's 3-1 loss to Princeton. It was Harvard's first loss to an unranked opponent in three years. But the Crimson rebounded like a champion, claiming its third consecutive Beanpot title with a 4-3 OT victory over No. 9 Northeastern Tuesday.

"We are feeling very confident after the big win Tuesday," Botterill said.

Harvard is taking nothing for granted, however, giving Dartmouth the respect the country's top team deserves.

"They are a solid team all around with an effective forecheck" Dunn said. "Our goal is just to minimize our mistakes."

All three lines skated well in the Beanpot final and Harvard's big players made the big plays. Senior forward Kiirsten Suurkask scored her first goal in 17 games to tie the Beanpot final 3-3, and Botterill pocketed the overtime winner.

The Crimson will need that kind of performance again tomorrow if it is finally going to snap the Big Green's winning streak. Harvard came close last November.

"We lost a close one earlier in the year and we are just looking for a great game this time around," Botterill said. "Dartmouth always gets up for it when they play us and we do to."

A goal from senior forward Tammy Shewchuk brought the Crimson to within one late in the third in that game, but Dartmouth hung on to win it 5-4.

Harvard could only muster 12 shots through the first 40 minutes and registered a season low fours shots in the second period.

But the Crimson is now a different team from the one that lost by a goal last November. At the time, Harvard had only skated together as a team for four days. Due to commitments with Team Canada, Botterill and Shewchuk were just joining the lineup.

Since then the Crimson has come together as a team and has also seen key changes to its lineup. Co-captain Angie Francisco, who normally centers the team's second line, is out due to illness, and freshman goaltender Jessica Ruddock has since earned her spot as the team's top-goaltender.

"We are definitely in a better position now," Dunn said. "We are smoother now and are all a lot more confident with our roles. We're missing Angie, but coming off the Beanpot we have a lot of confidence."

Ruddock was not between the pipes the last time the Crimson faced Dartmouth and her 2.20 GAA and .906 save percentage may be the extra help Harvard needs to put itself over the top.

This is Dartmouth's first return to Cambridge since its November 1999 upset of the then defending national champions and Harvard's final game against the country's number one team before a likely playoff showdown.

It is also the Crimson's last chance to make a statement and prove to itself, Dartmouth and the league that Harvard hockey is back on top.

"We need to prove to ourselves and the league that we can win," Dunn said. "There is no doubt in our mind, but we need to show everyone else."