Ruggiero, Corriero Nominated for Top Award

Two members of the Harvard women’s hockey team have been named to the Top-10 finalists list for the 2004 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.

Co-captain Angela Ruggiero and junior Nicole Corriero are both candidates for women’s hockey’s most prestigious award, awarded to the sport’s most outstanding athlete.

Ruggiero has been nominated for the award in each of her four seasons. Last season, she was passed over for teammate and fellow co-captain Jennifer Botterill ’02-’03, the sport’s only two-time winner.

A staple of dependency for the Crimson throughout her collegiate career, Ruggiero has scored a point in each of the 18 games she has played for the Crimson this season for a total of 32, with a balanced number of goals and assists. She also anchors the nation’s top defense which allows just 1.10 goals per game on average.

This marks the first time Corriero has been named a Top-10 finalist, as well as the first time a Harvard skater without the reputation of national team experience has made the list.

Corriero currently leads the nation in scoring, averaging 2.30 points and 1.35 goals per game for a potent Crimson offense.

Harvard has produced three winners in the six-year history of the Kazmaier Memorial Award. In addition to Botterill—who won the award last season as well as in 2001—A.J. Mleczko took home women’s hockey’s top honors in 1999.

Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth are the only other schools who boast two players on the Top-10 list.

The three finalists for the award will be announced on March 15. The award winner will be announced on March 27, on the eve of the women’s hockey NCAA Championship in Providence, RI.