"There's nothing harder than just watching the game from the stands because you don't have control of the outcome anymore," Botterill said of her injury. "I did my best to encourage the team, but it was not fun at all. When you're away from it, you always want to make an impact when you come back, and that was a motivational factor in the Beanpot."

The Beanpot goal was one of many highlights for Botterill (31 goals, 31 assists), the ECAC Player of the Year. Playing with Shewchuk (34 g, 40 a), the conference's leading scorer, and Ingram (11 g, 19 a), a member of the ECAC All-Rookie Team, the Crimson had the highest-scoring top line in the conference for the second straight year. And Botterill believes her line can play even better next year.

"We had a team meeting at the end of the year where we regrouped and got excited about next season," Botterill said. "Once you establish yourself, everybody goes after you, and we're going to be ready for that next year. We are going to be on a mission."

All three top-liners and many other talented players will be back for that mission. Leading the pack are Ruggiero (21 g, 33 a), the country's highest-scoring defenseman; Francisco (14 g, 36 a), a vital piece of the power-play unit who will serve as tri-captain with Ruggiero and Botterill; and Hagerman (4 g, 11 a), who joined Ingram on the ECAC All-Rookie Team.

"We're excited to have the base of the team back for next year, though we'll miss Crystal Springer in goal and a lot of locker room leadership from the seniors," Ruggiero said.

Springer, who posted a 15-1 record during the 1998-99 championship run, had a .910 save percentage and a 2.13 goals-against average this past season in going 11-2-3.

"When we faced adversity last year we always came out on top," Ruggero added. "This year, we faced adversity, but sometimes we didn't win. So now we have the taste of victory but we also know that we can't take anything for granted."