The Harvard women’s hockey team has thoughts of progressing far in the 2003-2004 season, despite what preseason prognosticators might say.

Take the preseason rankings: Harvard was not picked as the team to beat this year, nationally or in the ECAC.

Originally picked as the fourth-best team in the league, Harvard now sits at No. 3 in the nation behind No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Dartmouth, and second in the ECAC behind pre-season favorite Dartmouth.

But the Crimson doesn’t mind one bit.

“This year there’s no pressure,” says co-captain Angela Ruggiero. “I think our team will play more relaxed, plus other teams won’t come in with the same energy as they will if they were facing the No. 1-ranked team.”

The Crimson can’t complain, either.

“I don’t think we deserved to be anything but number two [in the ECAC] right now,” says Harvard coach Katey Stone. “You have to earn something first. It’s such a nebulous process, the polling system, anyways, until you get down to playing games.”

Still, the Crimson has something to prove once the season starts.

The team returns from a successful but disappointing season, in which Harvard lost the National Championship in an epic 4-3 double-overtime loss to Minnesota-Duluth.

“I think kids feel like they have a lot to prove,” Stone says. “It’s nice to have been able to have such a great experience from last year’s national championship, to say “this is where you want to be. Now how are you going to get there, work back from that?””

Having graduated five talented seniors who guided the Crimson to the championship, including Jennifer Botterill ’02-’03, the all-time leading scorer in women’s Division I history, Harvard will have to rely on the depth of its bench and look to last year’s supporting cast to step up and play leading roles for the team.

“There’s no question we did lose five tremendous players, the best class we’ve graduated, as a whole, since I’ve been here at Harvard,” Stone says.

“However, I think we’ve done very well recruiting; I think our freshmen are all going to get to play, and that’s excellent for us,” she continues.

“This year we have an extreme amount of depth,” Ruggiero says. “In my years here, there’s always been a wider gap in the team. I think there are a number of players who could step up and play on the first or second lines, and they’ll have the opportunity this year to prove themselves.”

Tenacious “D”