HEINSIGHT: Simply Unstoppable: The Case for Corriero

Kazmaier this.

Less than a week after USA Hockey left Nicole Corriero off its list of three finalists for women’s hockey’s most prestigious award, she once again made the case for why she should have been included on that list.

Saying Corriero put on a show Saturday night at Bright Hockey Center would be the understatement of the year. The Crimson tri-captain not only figured on every one of Harvard’s five goals, she scored the first four—three on the power play—to keep the Crimson in the game and force overtime against a relentless Mercyhurst squad.

Then, in triple overtime, Corriero set up linemate Julie Chu for the game-winner.

These four goals set a record for most goals scored in an NCAA tournament game. It also stretched her record for goals scored in a single season to 58, continuing to obliterate the old mark of 51 set by Tammy Shewchuk ’01 in 1999.

The assist on the game-winning goal gave Corriero her 30th assist on the year and her 88th point on the season, good for second in the nation with 2.59 points per game.

What’s more, Corriero scored her goals and set up the game winner on Mercyhurst’s Desirae Clark. Clark was honored as a fellow Top-10 Kazmaier finalist, boasting a nation’s-best 1.25 goals-against average and the nation’s second best save percentage (94.0 percent).

And last Saturday, Clark had the night of her life. She posted 78 saves on 83 Harvard shots through six periods, keeping the Lakers competitive and always seeming to be at the right place at the right time to mute Harvard’s offensive arsenal—every weapon except for Corriero.

With each drive to the net, she had every fan in attendance on the edge of his or her seat. And with every tally, she had them chanting “Scor-ri-er-o.”

All season long, Corriero proved she could score consistently—tallying at least one point in 32 of Harvard’s 34 games. Saturday night, her performance demonstrated she can come up big in the clutch, though this too is consistent with her play all season long—she leads the nation with 11 game-winning goals and 23 power-play goals.

She was instrumental on the penalty kill. And while members of each team exchanged hits and joined in the scuffles, Corriero took the blows, bore the bruises, and skated away, wisely choosing get her revenge on the scoreboard.

Her performance one more thread in the broader argument she has woven all season long. But Saturday night, she tied it with a bow.

On March 11, The Toronto Star reported Canadian women’s national team scout Wally Kozak’s criticizing Corriero’s skating abilities—giving her a rating of 1.5 on a scale of 0.5 to 5—and indicated that this was one of the primary reasons she has been left off the roster. The Toronto Star also quoted Kozak as saying that, “she would have to literally learn to skate” in order to be considered for Team Canada’s roster.

Maybe Kozak undervalues the importance of scoring. Maybe those ratings don’t take into account the fact that Corriero routinely skates—and scores—while carrying the weight of three defenders on her back.

Or maybe, like many in the hockey world, Kozak simply under-appreciates her efforts.

Luckily for Harvard, the fact that this NCAA tournament likely marks the final games of Corriero’s career means she’s that much more intent on team play—because with winning, she extends her playing career for another day.

Corriero plans to attend law school after graduating from Harvard. This season has done nothing short of fully preparing her for a legal career. After all, one important lesson in the legal world is that even the most convincing of arguments, supported by irrefutable evidence, does not always sway the jury to your cause.

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is women’s hockey’s equivalent of the Hobey Baker Award and the Heisman Trophy, recognizing “the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in women’s intercollegiate varsity ice hockey each season.” It’s hard to believe that this season, Harvard’s No. 9 has not been the most outstanding player.

Corriero has said that she herself could not in good conscience remove any of the final three Kazmaier finalists—Natalie Darwitz, Caroline Oullette, and Krissy Wendell—in order to put herself on the final list.

And in truth, each of the three has had an amazing season in her own respective way.

But their cases have been made and USA Hockey has already made its verdict.

Saturday night simply reminded us of the case for Corriero.

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