Friends, Family Bid Good-Bye to Crimson Seniors

On the far end of the ice across from the Harvard side, two posters remained taped to the glass until an event staff member asked them to be taken down with 1:30 in the second period. The signs read “Laurs—UR DEFS our FAVS” and “Hey 23—you’re too sexy for your TRAU,” both allusions to co-captain Lauren McAuliffe.

After politely removing the signs from the glass, Shannon Barker, Louisa Canham and Tricia Tubridy—roommates of McAuliffe—kept the signs propped up on the bleachers for the remainder of the game in support of their friend and classmate on Senior Day.

“She loves hockey. She’s really gonna miss it, and we’re really gonna miss her,” said women’s basketball co-captain Tubridy.

Early on in the third period, a larger poster filled with pictures of the Crimson captain and reading “CULLY” at the top was displayed by McAuliffe’s younger brother.

After the game, similar posters for Mina Pell and Angela Ruggiero were also present.

The victory over Princeton allowed for a smile to shine through the nostalgic emotions McAuliffe felt after the game.

“Like I said before—I’m a crier, an emotional kid. I had a lot of family here. My mom and dad are both crying, I’m crying,” she said. “[But] it’s a nice way to go out, with an ECAC title...we’ll take it.”

Ruggiero summed up the uncertain emotions of a senior class ready to lead its team into the playoffs.

“We have two more games next weekend so you’re going through your routine thinking, ‘OK, this might be the last time I do this, last time I do that,’ and then you’re in the back of your head [thinking] we’ll be in the playoffs and we have home ice guaranteed,” she said. “I feel like next weekend will be like, ‘this is the last time we do this in our locker room,’ or do this certain warm-up on home ice.”

“Save some tears for next weekend,” McAuliffe added.

PELL AND I

For Mina Pell and Princeton’s Lisa Rasmussen, yesterday marked what is most likely the last hockey game they will play in together.

The two seniors have known each other since about age two—or, as Lisa’s big brother Will, also a Crimson editor said—since “whenever it’s possible to know somebody.”

The Pells and Rasmussens are old-neighborhood friends from Washington D.C., where the families live about 10 minutes apart.

Both Mina and Lisa attended Beauvoir Elementary School and co-captained the women’s ice hockey team at National Cathedral.

In addition, Pell and Rasmussen played field hockey and lacrosse together in high school and co-captained the Little Capitols, an all-women’s club team.

After the game, the Crimson stayed on the ice to receive the ECAC regular-season title trophy from the commissioner as Princeton skated into the locker room. But one Tiger stayed behind in search of her long-time friend.

Rasmussen caught Pell’s attention and the two embraced near center ice before taking a picture as a keepsake more than 20 years in the making.

After showering, the two competitors met up again.

“It was nice to begin my hockey life with Lisa and end it there,” Pell said.

“Hopefully it’s not the last time we’ll face each other,” Rasmussen added. “We still have the ECAC tournament and NCAAs.”

HOW THEY STAND

In the ECAC playoffs, No. 3 Harvard seeds highest and faces off against Cornell.

After sweeping Union this weekend, No. 4 St. Lawrence captured the second seed and will take on Colgate, while No. 2 Dartmouth, which finished third in conference play, meets Yale.

With yesterday’s Brown win over Yale and the Crimson victory over Princeton, the Bears capture home-ice advantage for the quarterfinals against the Tigers.

Nationally, No. 5 Wisconsin narrowly escaped from lowly Bemidji State, 2-1, to keep its Frozen Four hopes alive, as No. 1 Minnesota downed St. Cloud State 7-5.

—Staff writer John R. Hein can be reached at hein@fas.harvard.edu.