The comment alluded to a powerful Ruggiero slapshot from the blue line, which Ferguson snatched out of the air to save Dartmouth’s season.

“I knew she was going high glove on me,” said Ferguson, who was a freshman at the time. “She’s the kind of player that needs to beat you with a pretty goal.”

So, three years later, Ruggiero beat her high blocker.

“I was happy to score on the upper corner,” she said.

Ruggiero could not recall the exact words of Ferguson’s quote, but the intent was not forgotten. Ferguson had implied that Ruggiero had given flashiness a higher priority than winning the game—which has never been the case.

The comment was particularly stinging because Dartmouth went on to earn a controversial spot in the national tournament over Harvard, and Ruggiero did not play another collegiate game for over two years due U.S. national commitments. When Harvard beat Dartmouth 9-2 in the first weekend of this season, Ruggiero acknowledged that the 2000 defeat was still weighing on her mind.

Karma Bites Back

It turns out that Dartmouth coach Judy Oberting has no one to blame but herself for Ferguson’s bulletin-board material from three years ago.

Oberting, in a playful charade, was the so-called reporter who elicited the insult from Ferguson at the postgame press conference.

The media that showed up to cover the ECAC semifinals at Brown’s Meehan Auditorium was largely a Harvard-focused contingent. So when the three Dartmouth players had little to say other than negative thoughts about Harvard—we proved we’re a better team, we have a better goalie, they’re a one-line team—the journalists had little more to ask, and an uncomfortable silence followed.

Oberting, who had been waiting her turn in back, suddenly stepped up and facetiously declared she was a reporter from the Valley News—a northern New England paper that often covers Dartmouth athletics. She proceeded to ask Ferguson how she ever managed to save Ruggiero’s shot.

Little did Oberting know, Ferguson’s response would not soon be forgotten.

Only Round Two

Dartmouth and Harvard don’t have another scheduled game this season, but another meeting or two in the ECAC tournament or NCAA championship is highly probable.

The two teams are on a collision course for the ECAC championship at Brown on March 16. If the NCAA seedings ultimately coincide with the team’s current rankings, the two teams could meet a fourth time in the national semifinals at Minnesota-Duluth on March 21.

With that in mind, Oberting looked at Friday’s 2-1 defeat as progress.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” she said. “We lost 9-2 last time, you know.”

“I don’t think they should be psyched to see us in the end,” she added.

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.