HOCKEY PREVIEW 2006-07: Leaders of the Pack

Jennifer Sifers was made for ice hockey. When most first grade girls were lacing up figure skates, Sifers just couldn’t make it work.

“My feet were too wide to fit,” she laughs.

Luckily for the Crimson, she found something more comfortable.

Following in her brothers’ blade marks, Sifers headed for the hockey rink at six years old. Since then, she’s taken home three ECAC titles and made three appearances at the NCAAs with the Crimson, impressing coaches and teammates alike with her athletic prowess and go-getter attitude.

“If there is one kid that you want to sell your house for, it’s Jennifer Sifers,” Harvard coach Katey Stone says. “She is the epitome of a company girl—she’ll do anything you want her to do, and she will do it the best that she can. I can’t say enough about her—she’ll do anything.”

Last year, that included sacrificing her speed to make up for the Crimson’s weaknesses on defense, as she dropped back to be on penalty kill as a defensive forward. Over the course of the season, she netted 11 goals and eight assists.

But Sifers will reclaim her position at center this season, moving from the defensive special teams unit to leading the offensive charge with her swiftness.

“[Sifers is] one of the fastest kids you are ever going to see in college hockey,” Stone says. “And now we will be able to put her back where she really belongs.”

A natural leader, Sifers is also stepping up as captain of the women’s hockey team, a role there was “no question” she would take, as Stone says. She had pinpointed Sifers as a potential captain when she was an incoming freshman.

Sifers’ leadership ability combined with that of co-captain Julie Chu, who is returning from a year on the United States Olympic team, is a defining factor in the Crimson’s success, especially when it comes to influencing younger teammates.

“[Sifers] and Julie Chu are such great friends, and they have this incredible mutual respect for each other,” Stone says. “That leadership alone—just those two, forgetting about the other seniors for a second, who are also great leaders—there is so much, we never have to deal with the younger kids.”

Not only does their friendship strengthen their unity as captains, but they also have complementary leadership styles that allow them to guide their teammates most effectively.

“[Chu’s] a really good verbal leader,” Sifers says. “I like to think that I’m more of a lead by example kind of captain, while she’s the more motivational kind of speaking. She sees the ice really well, and she can talk to other players very well.”

Chu’s experience with the Olympic team contributes to her leadership ability. After playing with the nation’s best, Chu’s example on the ice as well as the feedback she offers boosts the team’s intensity and improves the level of play.

“She is like having a fifth coach...on the ice because she knows the game so well, she articulates the game so well,” Stone says. “She’s like the grandma out there, it’s great.”

Because the Crimson coaching staff emphasizes constructive criticism among the players, friendships among the teammates have soothed any bitterness that could result. This attitude begins with the captains.

“You can be friends and teammates at the same time and not take anything personally, and then everything turns out being much better because people begin supporting each other much more,” Sifers says. “You want to make each other better and push each other on the ice, and that’s a lot easier when you’re friends.”

Chu and Sifers set a powerful example for the team in this way, encouraging one another to achieve their best just as they motivate their other teammates.

Although Chu, along with junior Caitlin Cahow and sophomore Sarah Vaillancourt, has been away from the team for a year, her transition back to Harvard has been considerably smooth.

“[The Olympians] have just added more, and it’s only been positive,” Sifers says. “They make practices better and even their criticism is better. It’s so great having three players with so much experience and at an international level. They bring a lot of intensity and hard work and things like that to the team and are really good examples to the underclassmen.”

Without the three Olympic players, the Crimson still managed to snag an ECAC title, coming back from an underdog position to beat Brown in the finals.

Sifers played a key role in this success story as she scored the game- and series-winning goal in double overtime against Clarkson in the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament. She sank the puck in the back of the net with a pinpoint slap shot that went over the goalie’s right shoulder.

“She ripped it. We call her Snipes, and its kind of a joke, but that was a snipe today—that last shot was a great shot,” said Stone following the win last year.

This year, though, Harvard is looking for more, and the returning Olympians will help the Crimson realize this dream.

“I have one year left, and I obviously want to do the best for myself and the best for the team,” Sifers says. “We’ve worked so hard ever since we’ve been here, and honestly that would be my wish: to get our team as well prepared as possible to go into the final game with as much confidence and as much talent to win.”

Eyeing the NCAA championship, Harvard will use the competition within the team to push every player to her maximum potential.

Although the Crimson is not No. 1, with the returning Olympic players and strong leadership from the captains, Harvard should not yet be discounted. After all, underdog status has not stopped it before. Surprising the rest of the country is something that Sifers has grown accostumed to in her four years with the Crimson.

“We definitely have the ability and the growing confidence to succeed, so we can only go up from here,” Sifers says. “Every year since I’ve been here we’ve been ranked kind of low and finished higher, and it’s better for our team to understand that we need to kind of work to win and prove to everyone else that we are better than we may initially seem.”