Past Januaries Have Included Dominant Hockey Performances

After a quick Christmas break, Harvard winter athletes have returned to practices and competitions. Will any performances this month that rival these historic January feats?

January 17, 1933: Ian Baldwin Scores Six Goals vs. Brown

This January marks the 80th anniversary of the oldest Harvard men's hockey record on the books. Ian Baldwin '33 scored a single-game record six goals in a 15-3 shellacking of Brown way back when the Crimson practiced at the old Boston Garden. The record has been matched twice--once by Amory Hubbard '53 in 1951 vs. Williams and once by Bill Cleary '56 in 1954 vs. Providence. But given improved goaltending and increased parity since the 1950s, it is unlikely that a Harvard skater will break this record anytime soon.

January 2, 1994: Men's Swimming Upsets No. 5 Florida, 126-117

An unranked Crimson squad stunned the No. 5 Gators--a national swimming powerhouse that has more recently produced the likes of Ryan Lochte.  Florida apparently underestimated Harvard going into what was supposed to be a routine, midseason dual meet.

"They were expecting to roll over us," John Blaney '94 said of the Gator swimmers.

The Crimson, however, got the last jeah with a 126-117 win. Harvard swimmers have also produced some impressive January performances through the Iron Man challenge, a traditional men’s team honor in which one rookie swimmer who “best represents the ideals of Crimson swimming” must race in every event of a dual meet.

January 28, 2003: Harvard 17, Boston College 2

At the height of the Ruggiero-Botterill glory years, the Crimson set the record for the largest margin of victory in an NCAA women's hockey game by thumping the Eagles, 17-2. Jennifer Botterill '02-03 established single-game NCAA marks for points (10) and assists (7), and Julie Chu ’06-’07 recorded a hat trick with a game-high four goals. Perhaps more interestingly, fourth-liner Sarah Holbrook tallied her only three goals of the season (and more than half the goals that she would score in her four-year collegiate career) in the 60-minute romp. The win was the Crimson’s 12th in a 27-game unbeaten streak that ended in the 2003 ECAC final versus Dartmouth.

January 15, 2004: Hana Peljto Puts up 39 vs. Lafayette

In a 73-52 win over Lafayette, Hana Peljto '04 tied the Harvard women's basketball single-game points record set by Allison Feaster '98 with extraordinary ease. In the first half, Peljto attempted one more shot than the entire Leopards squad combined. After Peljto helped put the game well out of reach in the second half with one of her 16 field goals, Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith decided to rest Peljto with about a quarter of the game left to play.