Last year, the Harvard men's hockey team vaulted to national prominence with a cast of fabulous freshmen. This year, the women's team hopes to perform the same trick.

After a moderately successful 10-10-0 season, which included a huge win in the Beanpot tournament, Coach John Dooley and the Crimson hope to recover from the loss of four of the team's top six scorers. Two of those four, in particular, were major losses: Sandra Whyte (21 goals-18 assists-39 points) and Jen Minkus (8-14-22) bore much of the scoring load last year.

But junior Jo-anne Alissi, another of last year's top snipers (11-8-19), is back to lead what should be a much more coordinated offense.

"Last year, we had a situation in which Sandra was doing a lot of the scoring," says Alissi. "This year's team can't be that way. We're going to have to have a more balanced attack."

Joining Alissi on one wing is Stacy Kellogg, a freshman from Manchester, Conn.. Kellogg and Alissi are not total strangers to one another. Having played on the same club team in Connecticut and in summer leagues together, they have a good sense already of where each other will be on the ice.

Completing the first line is Kim Landry (3-9-12), the only senior on the team. She and Alissi (this year's co-captains) contribute leadership to a roster which desperately needs it: The team has seven freshmen.

Kellogg, for one, isn't too concerned about the relative youth of herself and her classmates. "Joey and Kim have been great in helping all of us out, both on the ice and in the classroom. Plus, we're all experienced hockey players, and we should be ready by the time the season starts."

Dooley is similarly upbeat. "It should be a fun year. This team seems to possess a great chemistry, and all of the freshmen have such upbeat attitudes, especially Holly Leitzes."

Leitzes, a recruit from Duxbury, adds a goal-scoring touch to what is already a solid defense.

Juniors Francie Walton (1-2-3) and Beth Messmore (0-1-1), along with sophomore Winkie Mleczko (1-3-4), have shown great improvement in preseason drills, says Dooley, who is keen on building his team "from the back up."

And it can't get much better for the team at the very back. Sophomore Erin Villiotte (8-10-0, 3.52 goals against-average, .903 save percentage) is back between the pipes for the Crimson this year, having established herself during the summer as one of the top contenders for the 1994 Olympic team.

Villiotte captained her boy's high school team in Shrewsbury, and she is well aware of her role as a leader on thisyear's team.

Alissi herself views Villiotte as "one of thetop goalies in the country," the kind of netminderthat a team can rely upon in goal.

Backing her up is Kiki Fair, another promisingfreshman who doesn't look to play much thisseason.

Villiotte says that Fair "seems to like it alot" in goal, and that she is comfortable with herrole as a backup on this year's team.

Empty Roster

One of Dooley's main concerns is the team'ssize. With only 19 players on his roster, Dooleycan barely put three different lines on the ice.

"Coach has really emphasized fitness andconditioning this year," says Alissi. "We aregoing to have to exhibit a lot of teamdetermination if we are going to finish gamesoff."

Dooley does believe that his team possesses thekind of winning spirit that is neccesary to copewith the potential fitness problem. "The mostimportant thing about this team is it's attitude.Combine that with our rapidly-developingchemistry, and we have the kind of team that mightsurprise some people this year."

The top teams in the ECAC that Harvard looks tosurprise are Providence, New Hampshire andNortheastern, teams that went a combined 4-0against the Crimson last year, outscoring them bya combined 20-6 margin. And the team opens itsregular season at Providence on November 22, agame that should answer a lot of the questionsraised about the team's potential.

Pre-Season Trip

Unlike in past years, the Crimson has arigorous pre-conference schedule, travelling forthe first time ever to Canada over Thanksgivingbreak. There, Harvard will pay powerhouses McGilland St. Laurent.

Harvard certainly needs this trip to begindeveloping its freshmen. Right now, the team isstill feeling itself out, but hopes are high.

Villiotte characterizes it as "a darkhorse teamthat may surprise a few people." Dooley believesthat winning the Ivy League is a manageable goal.

But so much will depend on how well thefreshmen develop, and the potential success of theteam rests largely upon their shoulders.Final scoring Statistics, 1991-92

Overall  ECAC  Ivy League

Name  GP  G  A  Pts  G  A  Pts  G  A  PtsSandra Whyte  18  21  18  39  19  13  32  12  9  21Jenn Minkus  20  8  14  22  7  12  19  4  4  8Joanne Alissi  20  11  8  19  7  6  13  4  6  10Beverly Stickles  20  3  11  14  3  9  12  2  7  9Ginny Simonds  20  7  5  12  6  4  10  2  3  5Kim Landry  20  3  9  12  2  8  10  0  5  5L. Messmore  20  5  4  9  4  4  8  3  2  5Winkie Mleczko  20  1  3  4  1  2  3  1  2  3Courtney Hurley  20  1  3  4  1  3  4  0  1  1Sara Simmons  20  3  0  3  3  0  3  2  0  2Francie Walton  20  1  2  6  1  2  3  1  1  2Laurie White  20  0  3  3  0  3  3  0  1  1Diana Clark  18  0  3  3  0  2  2  0  0  0Emily Buxton  19  0  2  2  0  1  1  0  0  0Allson Lozner  20  1  0  1  1  0  1  0  0  0Beth Messmore  20  0  1  1  0  1  1  0  0  0Kelly Flynn  20  0  1  1  0  1  1  0  0  0Sharon Johnston  18  0  1  1  0  1  1  0  0  0Erin Viollettes  17  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0Lexie Shear  6  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0Goaltending Statistics, 1991-92

Name  GP  GS  MP  GA  Svs  GAA  Sv%  W  L  T  ShoErin Viollette  17  17  903  53  491  3.52  .903  8  10  0  6ECAC  15  15  801  47  443  3.52  .904  7  9  0  5Ivy  9  9  499  27  191  3.25  .876  5  5  0  4Lexi Shear  6  2  178  6  43  2.02  .878  2  0  0  0ECAC  3  1  115  2  28  1.04  .933  1  0  0  0Ivy  1  0  45  0  3  0.00  1.000  0  0  0  0

Crimson File PhotoFRANCIE WALTON will provide experience tothe Crimson.