The 1998-99 Harvard women's hockey team would make a strong case for Team of the Year at any school in any year. The list of accomplishments goes on and on: a 33-1 record, four First Team All-Americans, the ECAC Coach of the Year and the national championship.

After falling to Brown, 4-2, on Nov. 15, the Crimson started winning and never looked back. Harvard blew out ECAC doormats like Colby by scores of 15-0 and squeaked past contenders such as Northeastern in overtime, 7-6. No matter what the final score, the Crimson won 30 games in a row. Along the way, Harvard captured its first Beanpot championship since 1995, its first Ivy League title since 1988-89 and its first ECAC crown ever.

It would be pretty tough to script a more dramatic culmination to a season than the way this one ended at the American Women's College Hockey Association National Championship at the University of Minnesota's Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. In a wild third period, both Harvard and UNH, the defending national champions, scored three goals to force overtime in the title game. That only set the stage for Harvard to demonstrate that it was truly the best team in college women's hockey.

At 8:01 of the extra period, co-captain A.J. Mleczko won the puck in the left corner and raced past UNH's best defenseman, senior Nicki Luongo, along the goal line. Mleczko slid the puck under the diving glove of Wildcat junior goaltender Alicia Roberts, who set a school record with 48 saves. On the receiving end was freshman winger Jen Botterill, who slammed home the championship-winning goal.

"We had been in the zone for a while and our defensemen made a couple great plays to keep the puck in the zone," Mleczko said. "All I remember is coming out in front of the net and seeing Jen's stick and thinking, 'Thank God Bots is there.' As usual, she was in the perfect place at the perfect time."

It was a fitting end to the season--Mleczko, the ECAC Player of the Year, getting her 77th assist of the season on a pass to Botterill, the ECAC Rookie of the Year, who recorded her nation-high eighth game-winning goal of the season.

But those were only a few of the key players in the championship game. Sophomore center Angie Francisco recorded a hat trick. Sophomore winger Tammy Shewchuk, who led the country in goals, also assisted on Botterill's overtime goal. Co-captain Claudia Asano and freshman Angela Ruggiero, a First-Team All-American, were the defensemen who kept the puck in the offensive zone to set up Botterill's goal.

"It was a great game and UNH is a fantastic team," Mleczko said. "But, in retrospect, it would have been a crime had we not won with the talent that we had."

That talent began to gell immediately after the loss at Brown on the first homestand of the season against St. Lawrence and Cornell. ECAC Coach of the Year Katey Stone put Mleczko, Shewchuk and Botterill on the first line "just to see what would happen." The threesome tallied nine goals and 10 assists as a rejuvenatedCrimson offense spanked both the hapless Saintsand Big Red by the score of 7-2.

Mleczko, Shewchuk and Botterill went on tobecome the most feared line in the nation,combining for 307 points, each making the Ivy,ECAC and All-American First Teams. The Crimson topline appeared to be on a power play for the entireseason, keeping the puck in the offensive zone andcontinuing to generate scoring opportunities.

"I had no idea the three of us could developinto such an offensive line," Mleczko said. "Weworked so well together in the offensive zonecycling the puck and passing it around soquickly."

The nation's newest offensive juggernauttraveled to Durham, N.H. on Dec. 6 for its firstclassic confrontation of the season against UNH.The result was the most defensive-oriented contestof the four meetings between the two best teams inthe country. UNH took a 2-1 lead with 7:39 left inthe game, but back-to-back goals by Shewchuk andBotterill, coming within 52 seconds of each other,gave Harvard the 3-2 lead and the No. 1 rankingfor good.

The biggest scare of the season came Jan. 15when junior goaltender Crystal Springer broke hercollarbone, making her inactive for the next sixweeks. Springer, who finished fourth in the nationin both goals-against average (1.61) and savepercentage (.924), had anchored the team betweenthe pipes for the early season, but thatresponsibility fell on the inexperienced shouldersof freshman netminder Alison Kuusisto, who hadpreviously made just one start in her collegiatecareer.

Kuusisto gave up six goals in the first 30minutes of the Beanpot semifinal against hostNortheastern but settled down after that to recorda 2.11 goals-against average and a .900 savepercent-age. She turned in a perfect 9-0 recordduring Springer's absence.

Kuusisto's experience proved crucial in thepostseason when Springer reinjured her collarbonelate in the AWCHA semifinal game, a 5-3, redeemingvictory over Brown.

A few defensive lapses allowed UNH to tie thechampionship game at 5-5 and force overtime withtwo goals late in the third period, but Kuusistoremained calm under pressure. She covered the puckwhen she had to and guided the Crimson through apenalty kill in the extra period, keeping theWildcats at bay until her classmate Botterill camethrough on the other end of the ice.

Harvard developed a pair of experiencedreturning goaltenders, but it also had a soliddefense in front of them. Ruggiero, who finishedsixth in the nation in scoring from the blue line,provided an intimidating presence to opposingsnipers. She could also handle the puck wellenough to lead rushes down the ice, and the steadyforechecking of linemate Courtney Smith allowedthe Crimson to take gambles that often paid off.The line of Asano and junior defenseman ChristieMacKinnon did the dirty work to keep the puck outof the defensive zone.

With so much production from the top line, thequiet performances of a trio of sophomores seemslost in the mix. But Angie Francisco, KiirstenSuurkask and Tara Dunn combined for 110 points andprovided more than enough offensive depth on thesecond and third lines.

All that talent will skate into next seasonriding a 30-game winning streak and the momentumof one of the most dominating teams in collegehockey history. Harvard won five games inovertime--including victories over UNH in both theECAC and AWCHA championship games--and outscoredits opponents 218-62.

The Crimson will miss the leadership and talentof Mleczko and Asano next season, but there ismore than enough experience and ability to givethe women's hockey team another shot at being TheCrimson Team of the Year.CrimsonSeth H. Perlman