Shewchuk and Botterill, both among the top five in the conference in scoring, are not the only Canadians on the Crimson roster. Senior goaltender Crystal Springer is from Flin Flon, Manitoba, and Harvard Coach Katey Stone calls her second forward line--consisting of juniors Kiirsten Suurkask and Tara Dunn and freshman Kalen Ingram--the "Canuck line."

But this contest won't be a patriotic rivalry for everyone on the Harvard team. Instead, it will be a reunion for sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero, who has a gold medal as a member of the 1998 U.S. Olympic Team. That year, Ruggiero was wearing stars and stripes when the National Team went on an exhibition tour against college teams.

"It's going to be weird because I know everyone on the team," said Ruggiero, who leads ECAC defensemen in scoring. "I'm going to go 100 percent because I know they can take it, and because I know Coach is going to be there watching me."

In this case, "Coach" is Ben Smith '68, who backed out of the running for the coaching vacancy for the Harvard men's hockey team last summer to prepare for the 2002 Olympics. Ruggiero's other coach--Stone--joined Smith over the summer at the U.S.A. Women's Hockey Festival in Lake Placid, N.Y., where they instructed Ruggiero and junior winger Angie Francisco, currently the leading scorer in the ECAC.

Francisco has joined Shewchuk and Botterill on Harvard's top line, which continues to dominate opponents. Francisco replaced A.J. Mleczko '99, who will be one of the Crimson's opponents tonight as a forward for Team U.S.A.

"It'll be a little strange to be in the visitor's locker room and on the visitor's bench at Bright, but I'll be comfortable because I'll see so many old faces," said Mleczko, who will play at the blueline tonight due to injuries. "It should be a lot of fun."

Mleczko, who returned to Cambridge last year after spending two years training with Smith and the national team for the 1998 Olympics, will be making her first appearance at Bright since helping to unveil the 1998-99 AWCHA National Championship banner last month.