Frozen Four Begins Tonight

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.--The No. 3 Harvard women's hockey team is just two wins away from claiming the inaugural Women's NCAA Frozen Four and its second national championship in three years at Minnesota's Mariucci Arena.

The Crimson's title hunt will continue tonight against No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs (26-5-4) are the only team in the tournament field--which also includes No.1 Dartmouth (26-3-1) and No. 4 St. Lawrence (23-7-3)--that Harvard (23-9-0) has yet to defeat this season.

The Bulldogs swept the Crimson by scores of 4-3 and 5-2 in their only weekend series of the season, but both teams have taken great strides since those December contests. Harvard is 15-3-0 in its last 18 games, while Duluth is 17-1-3 in its last 21.

"We're a different team than we were in December," said Harvard Coach Katie Stone. "But I'm sure [Duluth] feels the same way."

Tonight's semifinal will feature four of the nation's top five scorers between Harvard's duo of co-captain Jennifer Botterill and senior winger Tammy Shewchuk and Duluth's sophomore pair of Maria Rooth and Hanne Sikio. The game has the potential to turn into a shootout provided that the teams do not tighten up.

"I think both teams have a lot of offensive talent," Botterill said. "Although in the playoffs, teams do sometimes focus more on strengthening their defense. It will be a close game either way."

The Crimson, as usual, will have to take advantage of Duluth's defensive mistakes and prevent sloppy turnovers in their own end to come out on top. The Harvard defense has done a good job of clearing out rebounds in front of the net as of late, but last Sunday the team allowed three near-identical Dartmouth goals on screens and uncontested shots from the point.

"Hopefully, both teams will play good defense," Stone said. "There is a tremendous amount of talent on the ice. The team that pays the most attention to detail is going to win."

Duluth Coach Shannon Miller will convey similar lines of thought to her team. She is well aware of the dangers of giving Harvard's offense anything to work with, having coached Botterill and Shewchuk in the Canadian national program before she was axed after Canada's disappointing second-place finish in the 1998 Olympics.

On paper, Duluth has the far more experienced goaltender in sophomore Tuula Puputti of the Finnish national team. However, Crimson freshman netminder Jessica Ruddock has managed to win her share of big games before, including the Beanpot final and the win over Dartmouth in February.

Ruddock and the Crimson defense have kept the team in every game they have played this year, allowing more than three goals in a game only twice this season--four against Providence on Jan. 13 and four in the first meeting with Duluth. In the latter game, the Crimson gave up three goals--including the game-winner in the final minute--to blow a 3-1 third-period lead.

"We just got careless," said Stone of the first meeting with Duluth. "We didn't grind it out. We've learned though, back in December, that we have to be mentally tough."

Against a team with Duluth's depth, Harvard could not afford to play a two-period game. It was sophomore forward Joanne Eustace--Duluth's sixth-leading scorer--who notched the game-tying and game-winning goals that afternoon.

"We just didn't play consistently," Botterill said. We didn't play a solid 60 minutes."

The next day, Harvard looked to bounce back from a weekend split with junior Duluth-native Allison Kuusisto in net, but she was pulled after letting in three goals early in the first period. Since then, Ruddock has earned the start against every top-ten opponent that Harvard has faced.

"Prior to Christmas, we learned a lot about every kid on this team," Stone said. "[Ruddock] continued to earn her position as the season went on."

Kuusisto played a major role as Harvard's backup goaltender on the 1999 team that won the national championship in Minneapolis. When Crystal Springer '00 re-injured herself in the national semifinals against Brown, Kuusisto started the national championship game against New Hampshire, which Harvard won 6-5 in overtime.

"Allison Kuusisto has done some great things for Harvard hockey," Stone said. "She will be there if we need her."

A victory tonight could potentially place Harvard in a Sunday night rematch with Dartmouth in the NCAA final. The Big Green defeated the Crimson 3-1 in the ECAC final last Sunday. Harvard will hope to repeat the accomplishments of the 1999-2000 Minnesota team, which won the national title as a third seed and avenged a conference tournament loss along the way. Among the Frozen Four field, Harvard is the only program that has ever advanced as far as the national final.

The Patty Kazmaier Award--given to the most outstanding player of women's intercollegiate ice hockey--will be handed out at a USA Hockey award dinner tomorrow evening at the Radisson Hotel Metrodome. The three remaining finalists for the award are Botterill, Shewchuk and Minnesota senior defenseman Courtney Kennedy.

"I think [the dinner] will be great." Botterill said. "A bunch of us went down last year, since it was in Boston, and they've done a great job organizing it the last couple of years."

With Botterill and Shewchuk, the Crimson has two more Kazmaier finalists than any other school in the NCAA field. In the award's short three-year history, no team with a Kazmaier winner has ever failed to reach the national championship game.