Sports Cube 101, "Fundamentals of Women's Ice Hockey"

Mid-season take-home examination #1 10 minutes

For 100 points, define the following: Women's ice hockey at Harvard

NOTE: Be extremely careful to remember that Harvard's women's ice hockey is a second-year Varsity sport with a 13-game schedule. Any attempt to pad your answer by discussing men's ice hockey or field hockey will result in a hopelessly poor score.

The following is a list of terms that may help you organize your answer:

Forwards: Led by Sara Fischer (last year, 7 goals-16 assists-23 points) and co-captain Firkins Reed (last year 5-7-12), the returnees are bolstered by a skilled contingent of freshmen, including Alex Lightfoot, Vicki Palmer, Rosemary Mahoney and Amy Spalding.

Defense: Julie Starr, an All-Ivy Honorable Mention player for the 1978-79 season, and co-captain Lauren Norton--who leads the team in points this year with two goals and an assist--give a young Harvard team an experienced edge. Alice Hill, Anna Jones and Sue Putnam (all upperclassmen) round out the corps of defensemen.

Goaltender: Freshman Katie Williams, the only netminder on the Harvard roster, never played hockey on skates until three weeks ago. Williams, who doubles as the varsity field hockey goalie, has performed admirably on the ice, showing steady improvement with every game.

Coach: First-year leader Rita Harder, a 1977 graduate of Brown, led the Bruins in scoring as a defenseman her senior year. The first woman to coach the team, Harder brings two years of experience behind the bench to Harvard.

Competition: Although more than 100 New England teams participate in league and collegiate competition, they have not been organized into divisions based on skill. That means Harvard--which didn't even have a club team three years ago--will be up against some formidible competitors.

High schoolers who play in city and area leagues--invariably the source of the most skilled players--tend to migrate to the University of New Hampshire, Colby College and Northeastern, three of the toughest New England teams. Harvard takes on Northeastern tonight and will challenge Colby on February 2.

Rules: Bodychecking in women's hockey is technically taboo--unless players are fighting to gain control of the puck--but referees ten to use their own discretion on checking calls. Stickchecking (including backchecking and forechecking) is permissible, however, and often proves to be the key to a strong defense. Other penalty calls are the same as in men's hockey.

Referees: Watching the officiating at a women's ice hockey game can be frustrating. Very frustrating. Because the special checking regulations change the flavor of the game, referees who are new to women's ice hockey often receive an unusually high number of catcalls from knowledgeable fans.

Record: 0-3. But the record doesn't tell the whole story. Both the B.U. game and the Yale game boiled down to third-period contests, and bad luck turned the tables on the icewomen in a skillfully played game against Brown.

Despite the robin's egg in the win column, women's ice hockey at Harvard is bound to look up as the young squad gains experience and as individual talent coagulates.

Completed examinations are due at Bright Hockey Center tonight at 7:30 before the Crimson faces off against Northeastern. Fifty bonus points for attending the match.