W. Hockey Goes Out Strong to Salute its Seniors

When the Harvard women's hockey team closed out its 2000-01 season with an emotional 3-2 win over top rival Dartmouth at Minneapolis in the consolation game of the inaugural Women's Frozen Four, the victory on the ice that day was an afterthought. The team's reflections were focussed entirely on the players it was losing that day.

"A lot of great players finished their careers today at Harvard," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone at the conclusion of the season. "It's not really about us winning the game today. We started to get good when these seniors and Tammy Shewchuk came to Harvard."

This year's senior class graduates as the winningest in the history of Harvard women's hockey. While this year's team (24-10-0, 20-4-0 ECAC) could not repeat the feats of the 1999 National Championship squad, the accomplishments this season-a third consecutive Beanpot title, a second-place finish at ECACs, and a third-place finish at the first NCAA women's ice hockey tournament-made it a special year nonetheless.

There was serious doubt at beginning of the season as to whether this year's team could make it back to Minneapolis, once All-World defenseman Angela Ruggiero `02-04 announced that she was taking the year off to train for the Olympics with the U.S. National Team.

When the season opened, the Crimson had just 11 forwards and defensemen available, as Shewchuk and junior co-captain Jennifer Botterill were both playing with the Canadian National Team, and freshman Mina Pell was still scoring goals for the Crimson field hockey team on the same weekend. Nevertheless, Harvard still hung close in defeat with a pair of nationally-ranked teams in spite of the reduced roster, proving that the Crimson could not be taken lightly no matter who was on the ice.

While the Crimson's fifth consecutive defeat to then-No. 1 Dartmouth on Nov. 18 in Botterill's first game back was a setback, momentum turned back in Harvard's favor the next weekend, when Shewchuk passed A.J. Mleczko `97-`99 as the Crimson's all-time leading goal scorer. She would also break Mleczko's school records for assists and points before the end of the season.

"Tammy has really become a complete player," Stone said. "She plays both ends of the ice and she's become very unselfish, so [the record] means much more than it would have before."

That weekend also marked the first career shutout of freshman Jessica Ruddock, who would go on to become the Crimson's No. 1 goaltender for the rest of the season.

The Crimson's next big win came a week later against then-No. 2 Brown on the strength of a game-winning goal from sophomore second-line winger Tracy Catlin. It was also the first day that Stone decided to make senior Tara Dunn the Crimson's fifth defenseman. That switch would continue to pay off throughout the season.

After dropping a pair of games at then-No.5 Minn.-Duluth and its 2001 opener against then-No. 4 St. Lawrence, Harvard stood at 8-6-0 overall, and the team's NCAA hopes were looking dim. But then Botterill's play took off. The Crimson reeled off seven victories in a row, including a stretch in which Botterill netted hat tricks against the three traditional women's ice hockey powers-Northeastern, Providence, and New Hampshire.

A disappointing loss to Princeton ended the Crimson win streak, but Harvard would bounce back with two of its biggest victories of the season the following week: a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win over Northeastern in the Beanpot Championship, and a 3-2 triumph over then-No.1 Dartmouth. It was the Crimson's first victory over the Big Green in five tries. In both games, senior Kiirsten Suurkask netted the game-tying goals, and Botterill netted the game-winners. It was the third consecutive year that Botterill had scored in overtime to defeat Northeastern en route to the Beanpot title.

When the ECAC playoffs rolled around, Tammy Shewchuk fast became the Crimson's go-to player. In the quarterfinals, Providence made a serious bid to bring Harvard's season to a premature end, but Shewchuk would not be denied, scoring a hat trick and assisting on sophomore linemate Kalen Ingram's game-winner in overtime.

In the ECAC semifinals, Harvard avenged an earlier defeat to St. Lawrence in dominant fashion, rolling to a 7-1 victory that essentially locked up a Crimson NCAA berth. But Harvard's title hopes were stymied by Dartmouth in a 3-1 defeat the next day in front of a league-record crowd of 2,592. During the course of the weekend, Shewchuk scored her 300th career point, and Botterill broke the collegiate hockey record for consecutive games with at least one point.

Harvard drew No. 2 Minn.-Duluth in the national semifinals in Minneapolis. In front of 2,099 fans at Mariucci Arena, the Crimson played the Bulldogs to a 1-1 draw through two periods before Minn.-Duluth exploited a series Crimson defensive zone breakdowns early in third period and held on for a 6-3 win.

St. Lawrence had shocked Dartmouth in the first NCAA semifinal, setting up the fourth Crimson-Big Green meeting of the season in the consolation game. Shewchuk scored the 152nd and final goal of her Harvard career, and Ingram lit the lamp twice to allow the Crimson seniors to go out triumphantly.

Shewchuk closed out her career with 307 points. She, along with Botterill, was one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the most outstanding player in women's college ice hockey. Shewchuk made both the ECAC and the NCAA All-Tournament Teams, and was the only Crimson representative on either team.

"When I look back on my career, I won't remember any of the 300-whatever points, but I will remember every one of my teammates, especially the people that played with me this year," Shewchuk said. "I'll remember the bus rides, the joking, and all the awesome people I got to play with day in and day out."

Botterill, the 2001 Kazmaier Award winner, will take the next year off to play with Shewchuk on the Canadian Olympic Team. Botterill and Shewchuk led the Canadians to a 3-2 victory over Ruggiero and the United States team in the Women's Ice Hockey World Championships in the weeks following the Frozen Four. Botterill was named tournament MVP.

At the end of the season, Dunn was presented with the Joe Bertagna Award, given to the Harvard player who has shown the most improvement through the course of the season. Dunn was integral to the team, whether she was asked to play on the blueline or up front. She assisted on Shewchuk's game-tying, power-play goal in the second period against Minn.-Duluth.

Sophomore Jamie Hagerman will serve as the team's captain next season. While next year's team might be lacking in superstar power, Harvard can be competitive with anyone on the ice, as it proved in the early games this season.

In 2002-03, Botterill, Ruggiero, and a new U.S. National Team recruit Julie Chu all intend to suit up for the Crimson. During the last post-Olympic season, Harvard rolled to a national title. The Crimson's most dominant season in history might still be yet to come.