"Alex and Vicki suffered through the growing pains. Now they're racing the rewards of success."

--Harvard women's ice hockey Coach John Dooley

* * *

The first time Vicki Palmer met Alex Lightfoot four years ago, the subject of women's hockey slipped into the Freshman Union conversation. And by the time that initial encounter was over each had grown a little wary of the other.

"All I wanted know was whether or not she was a right wing," Palmer recalls When I found out she wasn't everything was fine." And for Lightfoot a left wing the knowledge that Palmer would-be vying for a different position was all she needed

The two who later that year, would be come the freshman sensations of the Harvard squad of recall those early days with a burst of laughter. Those were disparaging days for the Harvard women's ice hockey team and its members. At the time, it seemed everyone was laughing

"We were pretty bad back then," Palmer says "But that really didn't matter We just loved to play the game of hockey."

And as the pair's love for the game grew, so did the stature of the Crimson team. The squad that had been one of the nation's lowliest teams became of the mightiest.

Now in its fifth year, the Harvard team has completed its rise from those early depths. And Palmer and Lightfoot have experienced it all.

"They are certainly a part of the heritage of Harvard women's hockey," Crimson Coach John Dooley says. "They've really been a part of the hockey program since the beginning."

The only four-year starters on this year's team. Co-Captains Palmer and Lightfoot are nearing the end of their Harvard careers. The two will play their final home game--and possibly their last ever--at 2 p.m. today in Bright Center against Princeton. If the Squad does not receive an invitation to next week's playoffs, today will be the last time the two share the ice.

"It's really depressing," Lightfoot says, "But I'm trying not to think about it because I'm not very good at endings."

"Alex is just really peppy, energetic and always happy. She's always smiling and talking and just never crabby. She's really the greatest."   Vicki Palmer

AT the Crimson recent Beanpot match with Northeastern some 500 Crimson faithfuls gathered to support their beloved icewomen. They witnessed a dramatic 2 1 upset championship victory which kept the Beanpot on campus for a second consecutive year.

"The next day," says Jennifer White, "Alex personally thanked every one who came to the game. I don't know how she does it, but she always knows everyone who's at the games. She insists she doesn't know any one, but really she knows everyone."