Athletes of the Week: Jennifer Botterill `02 and Tammy Shewchuk `01

So many times this season, Harvard junior co-captain Jennifer Botterill and senior winger Tammy Shewchuk elevated their play in the clutch to lead the Crimson to victory. It was only a matter of time before they would be doing the same consistently at the international level.

Shewchuk and Botterill scored Canada's second and third goal, respectively, in Sunday night's 3-2 win over the United States in the gold medal game of the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship. Botterill, who led the tournament with eight goals in five games, was named tournament MVP.

"Tammy and I are both on cloud nine," Botterill said. "We're definitely enjoying the moment. It's pretty special."

Shewchuk's goal at the game's halfway mark turned a 1-1 stalemate into a 2-1 Canadian lead. Her score would be the difference in the game up until the final minutes.

Positioned at the left edge of the crease, Shewchuk kept sight of the puck as linemate Kelly Bechard miraculously threaded the puck through three hockey sticks. Unlike the majority of the American forwards, Shewchuk and her Canadian teammates finished their chances on Sunday.

"[The Americans] were strong defensively," Botterill said. "There were just a few chances where we buried it when we had a few people open."

The U.S. team would try in vain to match Shewchuk's score, but Canadian goaltender Kim St. Pierre of McGill University would not allow it.

"I think the U.S. actually played very well, just once and while they had lapses, just like our team had lapses as well, but fortunately for us St. Pierre was a rock in the net," Shewchuk said. "She didn't let anything by no matter what came to her. It was a great game for women's hockey."

Then in the final four minutes of the game-just when the U.S. began to get desperate-Botterill came through with the goal that crushed the Americans comeback hopes. Positioned wide open on the left of the crease, Botterill accurately deflected a point pass from Therese Brisson into the open part of the net.

"Jen is very deserving of the [MVP] award," said Shewchuk, who tallied five goals and four assists in five games last week. "Coming in first in the scoring race in a world tournament is something fantastic. She definitely led our team to victory last night. We needed that goal. When it comes down to it, that's what determines an MVP."

It was a proud day for Harvard Coach Katey Stone and the Harvard women's ice hockey program. U.S. defenseman A.J. Mleczko `97-99 led the tournament with a plus-minus of 17. Her power-play goal with 1:19 left made it one goal for each member of the top line from the 1999 National Championship Team. As one astute online observer put it, the final score on Sunday was Harvard 3, Rest of the World 2.

"We had a very special team that year," Mleczko said last November. "It was an amazing year which we'll all look back on fondly. We'll always carry special friendships from that team."

Botterill and Shewchuk may have played their last game together at Harvard, but their combined impact will fuel the Canadian national team and strengthen their Crimson legacy for years to come.