Chu, meanwhile is one of four players on the roster who has yet to play a year of college. The others include Wall, and two girls from Minnesota—Krissy Wendell, who is committed to University of Minnesota, and Natalie Darwitz, who is still a year away from college.
The team will have to grow up fast by the time the Olympics roll around. The tournament has expanded from six to eight teams this year. Play will consist of two four-team round-robin pools followed by semifinals and medal games. The gold medal game is set for Feb. 21. Although the U.S. and Canada are heavily favored to reach that game, 1998 Olympic bronze medalist Finland and 2001 World Championship bronze medalist Russia are expected to be among the other contenders.
“Finland has always been a pesky team, and I think they’re putting a little more support into it,” Smith said. “The team I keep waiting for is Russia. They’ve got hockey over there, so were just kind of waiting for the sport to gear up. I think they’re on the verge of being a contender.”
Coming to Harvard
When Ruggiero and Chu return from the Olympics, it will hardly be the first time the two have played together. Although Ruggiero is two years older, they won national championships together with the Connecticut Polar Bears select team and both attended the same high school, Choate Rosemary Hall. There they both played hockey, and both were goalies for the Choate women’s soccer team.
“We’re excited, Julie’s kind of following in my footsteps,” Ruggiero said. “She’s one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Everyone’s excited that she’s coming.”
Chu also considered Brown, Dartmouth and Princeton among her final choices. Knowing Ruggiero wasn’t a deciding factor in her decision to attend Harvard, as she had national team teammates and friends, such as Princeton’s Andrea Kilbourne and Annamarie Holmes, at other schools. Chu said she couldn’t quite pin down why she chose to attend Harvard.
“In the end, it was just a gut feeling, I guess,” she said.
As Chu enters college hockey and Ruggiero returns, the sport is more competitive than ever.
“I think the fact that women’s sports are growing in the Midwest shows that the popularity of the sport is growing and the level of the sport is rising,” Chu said. “Girls are getting involved when they’re just getting able to walk, and I think that’s great. I think that’s just going to improve the skill level. I’m looking forward to playing college hockey eventually.”
Ruggiero, who will have to pass up on a second round of potential Olympic Team endorsements to keep her college hockey eligibility, is excited about returning, but the departure of the Harvard Class of 2002 when she returns will be tough to take.
“I’m real excited that I kept my eligibility,” Ruggiero said. “I’m excited to take classes. It’ll be hard adjusting in terms of a lot of my friends will have graduated. But it’ll give me the opportunity to focus more on academics and hockey. I’m really excited to win another national championship.”
The Final Word
The playing schedule of the Harvard women’s hockey team will make it difficult for the Crimson to see any U.S. or Canada games in person this year. The U.S.-Canada game at Hamilton, Ontario in November—the same weekend when the Crimson plays at Toronto and Niagara—appears to be the team’s best chance.
Stone isn’t the least bit surprised by the continued success of her players.
“The kids are great,” Stone said. “They have worked so hard to get where they are and I have so much respect for them. And whether they’re wearing a Harvard jersey or they’re wearing a USA or Canada jersey, they’re probably the hardest-working kids on the ice because they were here. So I wish them every inch of great luck.”
And that goes for Harvard players of the past, present and future.