Sifers Siblings Cross Paths

Jennifer Sifers loves playing for the Harvard women’s hockey team. She loves her teammates. She loves her coach. And—here’s a shocker—she loves winning, something the No. 1 Crimson has done plenty of during a 22-2-1 season.

A freshman from Stratford, Conn., Sifers has immersed herself in the campus hockey culture. She’s keeping busy with her team’s pursuit of a national championship but still supports the men’s team.

So after Sifers and her teammates skate at Dartmouth tonight, she’ll eagerly check the result of the Harvard-Vermont men’s game…and hope like heck that the Crimson lost.

Huh?

No, really. Jennifer’s older brother, Jaime, is a sophomore defenseman for the Catamounts—and a darned good one at that—and she’s finding there are some things in life (though not many) that trump college hockey allegiances.

“I have to go with the family on that one,” she said, laughing. “I’ll be rooting for UVM, but it’s a tough call…Against any other team, I’d root for Harvard.”

This is shaping up to be an odd weekend for Jennifer, Jaime and their parents, Tuck and Thayer. The Harvard women play the Catamounts on Saturday, meaning that Jennifer will play a game at Vermont one day after Jaime plays at Harvard.

A curious circumstance, to be sure. The family, though, has devised a plan to divide and conquer. Dad will be at Jennifer’s game tonight. Mom, as well as a brother and sister, will be at Jaime’s.

Meanwhile, Jennifer and Jaime are doing their best to take advantage of the novelty. They’re hoping to see one another today, since Vermont has a morning skate at Bright Hockey Center right before the Harvard women.

“We’ve talked about three times this week, trying to coordinate it so we could see each other,” Jennifer said.

Of course, Jennifer and Jaime weren’t always this eager to see one another. “We didn’t really get along before high school,” admitted Jennifer, who, like her brother, boarded at The Taft School. “But then we had some alone time and we were able to get to know each other a little better. We’re very good friends now. It’s really awesome.”

They talk every week to check in on each other’s season and college life in general. In the fall, when the Catamounts began the season 0-11-2, Jaime’s dispatches from Burlington weren’t very encouraging. But they have adjusted to the style of first-year coach Kevin Sneddon ’92 and are riding a four-game win streak. Now, they’re That Team No One Wants to Draw in the Playoffs.

“The team’s definitely turned it around a little bit, so talking to him is so much better now,” Jennifer said. “He’s having a better overall experience.”

By any measure, her big brother is one of the best defensemen in the ECAC. An All-Rookie team selection last season, he has a vicious slap shot, mean streak, and rough-and-tumble 5’11, 210-pound build. He’s also a team captain in only his second collegiate season.

He certainly has a fan in his sister. “I love watching him play,” she said. “I’m not a defenseman, so I can’t really take his tips, but I wish I could do everything like he does.”

The siblings have a little competition going—we’ll call it the Sifers Scoring Cup—to see who ends the season with the most points. Jaime’s ahead, 16-13.

“If I don’t pull ahead, he’s going to kill me because I’m a forward,” laughed Jennifer. “I’m hoping to pass him, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen.”

Still, she could end the year with both the family scoring title and a national championship. After all, she’s playing on a team that includes Angela Ruggiero, widely regarded as the best defenseman in women’s hockey, anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

“Jaime’s actually watched her play before,” Jennifer said.

And?

“He told me she could probably teach a few guys on his team a thing or two.”

So here’s the big question: What if Jennifer Sifers was named general manager of a hockey club and had to draft a defenseman. Who would it be: her star brother, or her all-world teammate?

“It’s a tough call, but I think I have to go with family again,” she said. “But if it was any women’s hockey player, forward or defenseman, I’d go with Angela.”

—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu.