AMOR PERFECT UNION: Women’s Hockey Deserves Its Props

Last week, I covered one of the most exciting live sporting events I have ever witnessed and certainly the greatest I have seen a Harvard team involved in during my short time here.

It was ripe with ingredients for a classic game: two of the top 10 teams in the country, three Olympians, as many overtimes, and one winning shot. Not to mention a storyline about history, adversity, and revenge. And all of this taking place during the first round of the Boston area’s storied hockey tournament, the Beanpot.

So, naturally, the crowd was going nuts, right?

Umm…not exactly. The game I was covering was a part of the women’s Beanpot between Harvard and Boston College. It was a rematch of last year’s final, in which the Golden Eagles ended the Crimson’s streak of seven consecutive Beanpot titles.

The contest featured breathtaking twists and turns, from Harvard barraging the net in the second period to erase a 2-0 deficit, to BC taking the lead in the third period only for Harvard to strike back 12 seconds later, to both teams battling through three brutal overtimes with each missed scoring opportunity extending their agony, to the Eagles’ Anna McDonald finally scoring the winning goal over 114 minutes after the opening faceoff, having practiced for only four days since being cleared to play following a serious groin injury. It was the longest game in NCAA women’s history, but it didn’t get boring for a second.

In fact, it got so intense that the student writers in the press box used every ounce of their energy to try to retain proper journalistic objectivity, and still failed miserably. Muffled cheers and muttered encouragement directed towards the two teams were commonplace among us sportswriters by the end, and I couldn’t help but yell out in pain and disbelief when McDonald ended my school’s chances at reclaiming its spot at the top of Beantown’s hockey hierarchy.

But the crowd had opted to show up the night before instead, to see a comparatively dull men’s game between the same two schools in which BC easily downed the Crimson, 3-1, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. The game that I saw took place at the Eagles’ Conte Forum, a nice venue but far from the big stage reserved for the men, and the 723 people in attendance could hardly be called a crowd, especially when you consider that Harvard’s band made up a significant proportion of that 723—and they pretty much had to be there.

How does this make any sense?

Take gender out of the equation for a second. Who would you rather watch play? The No. 6 team in the country which has a legitimate chance at progressing far into the NCAA Tournament and possibly even winning a national championship or a sub-.500 team that lost its national ranking early on in the season? A team boasting three of the top six scorers in its league, or a team that doesn’t even have one player cracking the top 10?

But while the choice is obvious when you ignore the sex of the athletes in question, once gender is reintroduced into the conversation, the fact remains that the majority of sports fans would rather watch a mediocre men’s team than a very good women’s squad.

I can already hear the typical rationale used by these fans:

“The level of play is so much higher in men’s hockey.”

“The guys’ team would definitely beat the girls’ team, Olympians or not.”

“There’s no checking in women’s hockey!”

While there may be some truth to statements such as these (especially the one about the prohibition of checking in women’s hockey, a rule I’d immediately revoke if by some amazing (terrible?) fluke I was put in charge of these things), I’d still rather watch the Harvard women play any day.

Even in a loss they played an exciting brand of hockey, launching 76 shots that would have assured the team victory against almost anyone but BC’s phenomenal freshman goaltender Molly Schaus, who played the game of her life.

Against lesser opponents, it is not unusual to see the Crimson women approach or exceed double-digit scores, and no matter whom they play against, they always put on a show. Did I mention there are three Olympians on the team?

So I beseech you, casual Harvard fans and Crimson Crazies alike, if you want to see world-class athletes, fast-paced action, and hard-hitting checks into the boards (okay, I’m still working on that one), go check out a women’s hockey game. For starters, Harvard returns to BC to face Northeastern in the Beanpot’s consolation game at 5 p.m. tonight.

You won’t be disappointed.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.