Milestones Mark Cahow's Weekend

Saturday’s home game against RPI doubled as Senior Day for the No. 1 Harvard women’s hockey team, and tri-captain Caitlin Cahow took it upon herself to celebrate in style.

In the Crimson’s 5-0 victory over the Engineers, Cahow put what teammate Sarah Vaillancourt called “the cherry on the sundae,” picking up two assists to give her an even 100 points for her career, placing her in a tie for 17th on Harvard’s all-time scoring list.

“It’s a great achievement and it’s made more so by the fact that every year women’s hockey and this league get better,” Cahow said. “It’s no longer the age of playing 25 games in the season and 15 will be ‘gimmes’.

“It’s great to be competing at the highest level of women’s hockey. It’s made easier by the fact that I play on a great team.”

The defenseman, who had also scored a goal in the previous night’s 4-0 win over Union, was alerted of the impending milestone before the contest against RPI. As someone who is more comfortable speaking of her team’s success than focusing on her own individual accomplishments, it was a relief to Cahow to reach the 100 point mark by the end of the first period in Saturday’s game.

“It was almost a curse because I was thinking about it a little too much in the game,” she said. “It’s a nice milestone but it’s good to have it in the past.”

More satisfying to Cahow was the fact that all four of the Crimson’s seniors were able to get on the ice on Saturday, including forward Laura Brady, who has been injured this season.

“[The personal achievement was] eclipsed in many ways by the fact that all four seniors were dressed for Senior Day,” Cahow said.

“To have all of us in the lineup was a huge thrill for me and a fulfillment of four years.”

But while Cahow and the Harvard team in general consistently preach not worrying about personal statistics, in Vaillancourt’s eyes Cahow’s individual feat tells a story deeper than the numbers.

“It shows how much she contributes to this team and to the game,” said Vaillancourt, a junior forward. “She’s—in my book—the best defenseman in the entire nation.

“Points are points but she’s so much more than that. If you watch Caitlin play she could not have any points and she would still be the best defensemen.”

Cahow has reached the century mark in points in a season that may be her finest campaign yet in a Crimson uniform. She is second in the nation among defenseman with 1.04 points per game, a testament to her versatility.

While Cahow has paved her way through the NCAA as a hard-nosed defender, she is a natural forward who plays up front for the United States Olympic team and she has found scoring success as part of Harvard’s second-ranked power play unit.

Cahow is tied for the NCAA lead with nine power play goals this season, a mark that has undoubtedly helped her case in the early stages of consideration for the Patty Kazmaier Award, an accolade given annually to the best college women’s hockey player.

“Whoever has been to games can see how much Caitlin basically controls the entire game,” Vaillancourt said. “She’s not just a defensive defenseman. She’s been playing everywhere.”

Cahow sees her personal success in the larger context of what her team has accomplished so far, and what it hopes to achieve before this season is over. The Crimson now stands at 22-1-0 overall, and remains the only team in the nation without multiple losses as the playoffs approach.

“There are a lot of teams out there who rely on individual players to get the job done,” Cahow said. “It is really 24 people on a mission this year [for Harvard]. I’m just doing my part to contribute to that team goal.”



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