W. Hockey Looks To Reload Front Lines

It’s hard to imagine Harvard’s offense without Jennifer Botterill ’02-’03 and Tammy Shewchuk ’00-’01, two of the top three scorers in the nation last year. This year, the Crimson faces the challenge of creating a new image for Harvard women’s hockey in the wake of the departures of two great stars.

Botterill and Shewchuk not only took Harvard into the NCAA Frozen Four, but left their marks in the record books as well. Botterill, who is taking a year off to play with the Canadian National Team, notched 45 goals and 36 assists for the Crimson last year, earning the 2001 Patty Kazmaier award. Shewchuk, who also plays for Canada, contributed 29 goals and 46 assists, passing A.J. Mleczko ’97-’99 as Harvard’s all-time leading scorer. She also broke school records for career goal and assist totals.

“I couldn’t be prouder of those kids,” said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. “The kids are great. They have worked so hard to get where they are and I have so much respect for them…. Jennifer is to me the best forward in the world. They continue to do the things they knew along that they could do.”

While Harvard’s graduates have gone on to great feats, the Crimson undergraduates are left to build a forward line without its top scorers from last year. This year, Harvard will need its five returning forwards, bolstered by four freshmen, to step up and fill in the holes left by Botterill and Shewchuk.

As Harvard’s leading returning scorer, junior Kalen Ingram will be a key player on the ice this year. As the fourth-leading scorer in the ECAC with 21 goals and 25 assists last year, Ingram has proven herself as one of the Crimson’s top assets on the ice.

Ingram began her athletic career at Harvard playing both field hockey and ice hockey . She found great success in field hockey, earning Second Team All-Ivy honors during her freshman year, but the wear and tear of playing two sports in back-to-back seasons left Ingram wanting more—or maybe less.

“I guess [ice] hockey has always been my first love,” Ingram said. “It was tough my freshman year, missing so much of the season. And I felt like I was missing out on more than ice hockey. Sports and academics was all I was experiencing.”

And with that, Ingram left Harvard field hockey to stick with the sport in which she has been a forward for 15 years.

And her dedication has paid off.

As one of the 18 members of the ECAC Northern Division All-Star Team, Ingram played against the U.S. Women’s National Team in Cornell two weeks ago.

As the season begins, Ingram says she is excited to see her teammates step up into their new roles.

“People from last year who might not have gotten a lot of ice time are going to get huge chances to play this year,” Ingram said. “I definitely see that Tracy [Catlin] and Lauren McAuliffe are going to benefit from increased playing time. They have the ability to score a ton of goals.”

Catlin, a junior, came up big for the Crimson last year, scoring two game-winning goals including the game-winner in a December contest against Brown. Last year, Catlin tallied 10 goals and registered six assists for Harvard.

“I just feel like nothing’s changed in terms of what’s expected of me,” Catlin said. “All of us are going to be called on a lot to keep playing hard and hustle a lot. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to play a lot and improve and work well together.”

Also looking to score are sophomore McAuliffe and senior Vanessa Bazzocchi, returning forwards who demonstrated their talent and ability to come through under pressure.

Ingram may be able to sympathize with sophomore Mina Pell, a veteran forward who will miss the first two games this season—at the very least—while playing for the field hockey team. In the meantime, freshman defender Emily Haigh will be joining the forwards so Harvard will have three complete lines in Pell’s absence.

“We’re definitely excited for her to come up so she can fill in for us,” Ingram said. “She’s going to be an awesome addition as well.”

Haigh combines with four incoming forwards in what looks to be a gifted freshman class that could make up for some of the scoring power lost in the class of 2001.

“It’s a great group of kids,” Stone said. “They’re extremely hard-working and they have a great attitude and they’ve come out flying and you know it’s always neat to have so many fresh faces. But they’ve made a good combination with our veterans and everyone is gelling pretty well together and on the right page. I’m excited. We’re going to continue the Harvard tradition of outworking people.”

Freshman Nicole Corriero demonstrated her ability to put the puck in the net in a scrimmage on Oct. 26 against the Toronto Junior Aeros. The talent of fellow freshmen Sarah Holbrook, Katherine Sweet and Ali Crum has also been promising in the early days of the season.

“Again, I’ve been presently surprised at the level of talent we’ve brought in,” Stone said. “That’s not a compliment on my part. But I think they’re more talented than I anticipated them being.”

With its forward lines dominated by newcomers, the Crimson is lucky to have a few games to adjust before facing the top teams in the nation.

Harvard opens its season with games against Colgate, Cornell and Vermont. Both Colgate and Vermont are newcomers to Division I.

The absence of Botterill and Shewchuk is a void that seems impossible to fill, but Harvard appears to be up for the challenge as the season opener approaches. Freshmen and veterans must learn to integrate playing styles and talents, and they seem determined to do so. The stage is set for a new Crimson offense.

“We’re still getting to know each other,” Ingram said. “It takes some time for lines to mesh and understand how the other people play. It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen now. The work ethic is there and everyone’s hustling. That’s all you really need to get the ball rolling.”