End of an Era: Jen Ahn

In a game whose complex litany of rules are understood by only a few, she plays a position virtually ignored by glamour categories like goals or points scored.

But if you have ever watched a field hockey game at Jordan Field—for four years the stomping grounds of tri-captain back Jen Ahn—you’d realize just how hard it is to overlook No. 14.

You would notice it because the opposing coaches and players are all imploring one another to keep an eye on her, yelling out the number on her jersey. You would see because she somehow manages to chase down and impact virtually every play made on the lengthy span of artificial turf.

Yet Ahn has never made her living in the limelight, the way a star quarterback, pitcher or even a field hockey forward would.

Named Harvard’s first-ever first-team All-American in 2003, she still toils in relative statistical obscurity, tackling opponents and blanketing the other team’s leading scorer with a success that few in the country can claim.

“She doesn’t have the goals or stats people want because she’s in the backfield,” fellow senior back Diana Bowen said, “but we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without her.”

This season Ahn served once again as the emotional and physical anchor of the best backfield in the Ivy League, allowing a conference-best 1.47 goals per game. She also notched 11 assists, the second-highest total on the team after senior forward Mina Pell.

The helpers brought her to 26 for her career, enough to tie for first in the all-time Harvard record books.

“She’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met,” Bowen said.

For those reasons, even if the casual observer doesn’t duly recognize her, the national field hockey community—let alone her own team—has done just that for years, bestowing upon her a wealth of awards and accolades to commemorate a distinguished, if less “glamorous,” career.

Sure, she may have scored only one goal, but you’d be foolish to think that to Jen Ahn and the Crimson, it even came close to mattering.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.