Boston College may have an improved women’s hockey team this year, but the Eagles still aren’t anywhere close to beating the Crimson.

BC has yet to win a Beanpot title. If there was any game where the Eagles would be likely to step it up, this was it. But it didn’t pan out.

The Eagles, who took both No. 5 Dartmouth and No. 3 Niagara to overtime in defeats earlier this year, has yet to finish a game within five goals of Harvard this season.

The 5-0 Harvard win on Dec. 4 and the 7-2 defeat in the Beanpot final last night are actually close games compared to the previous three seasons, in which the Crimson outscored the Eagles by a whopping 63-5 in six games.

“I don’t know why we match up so well against them, but we seem to have their number, so to speak,” said Harvard Coach Katey Stone.

The universal hope among Division One coaches is that with a women’s Hockey East league just a few years away, BC might better support its women’s hockey program, and BU might actually give any support to its women’s hockey program. Only then will the women’s Beanpot be a true four-team tournament.

Cat Scratch Fever

Harvard forward Tracy Catlin, the Beanpot MVP, netted two goals and added two assists despite battling illness all evening.

“For her to be able to play that way and score two goals, I was certainly pleased with her tenaciousness,” Stone said. “Early on I didn’t think she would make it tonight.”

Following the game, Catlin humbly said she didn’t even feel like she deserved the award. She listed several teammates as more deserving: sophomore Lauren McAuliffe, who scored the Beanpot semifinal game-winner; freshman Nicole Corriero, who set up McAuliffe’s winner; freshman Kat Sweet, who scored a goal in each Beanpot victory; senior goaltender Alison Kuusisto and junior defensemen Pamela Van Reesema, who helped limit a high-powered Northeastern offense to three goals and kept BC off the scoreboard for the first two periods.

A Welcome Distraction

Last night’s 8:15 p.m. start time gave the Crimson plenty of time to watch the 1 p.m. game between the U.S. and German Olympic teams on MSNBC.

“We’re very focused on what we’re doing, but certainly listening from afar and cheering from afar,” Stone said. “It’s an exciting time in women’s hockey, period. It’s a great time to be hockey player. There’s a lot going on.”

The U.S. won comfortably, 10-0, and Harvard alumnus A.J. Mlezcko’97-’99 and incoming freshman Julie Chu ’06 each scored late in the game [see related story, Page 11].

MSNBC also did a quick between-period feature on U.S. defenseman Angela Ruggiero ’02-’04, which included interviews with her and former roommate and Canadian rival Jennifer Botterill ’02-’03. The feature also recycled video clips from a two-year old Oxygen.com feature that showed the pair walking out of Sever Hall and eating at Leverett Dining Hall.