Jennifer Sifers loves playing for the Harvard women’s hockey team. She loves her teammates. She loves her coach. And—here’s a shocker—she loves winning, something the No. 1 Crimson has done plenty of during a 22-2-1 season.

A freshman from Stratford, Conn., Sifers has immersed herself in the campus hockey culture. She’s keeping busy with her team’s pursuit of a national championship but still supports the men’s team.

So after Sifers and her teammates skate at Dartmouth tonight, she’ll eagerly check the result of the Harvard-Vermont men’s game…and hope like heck that the Crimson lost.

Huh?

No, really. Jennifer’s older brother, Jaime, is a sophomore defenseman for the Catamounts—and a darned good one at that—and she’s finding there are some things in life (though not many) that trump college hockey allegiances.

“I have to go with the family on that one,” she said, laughing. “I’ll be rooting for UVM, but it’s a tough call…Against any other team, I’d root for Harvard.”

This is shaping up to be an odd weekend for Jennifer, Jaime and their parents, Tuck and Thayer. The Harvard women play the Catamounts on Saturday, meaning that Jennifer will play a game at Vermont one day after Jaime plays at Harvard.

A curious circumstance, to be sure. The family, though, has devised a plan to divide and conquer. Dad will be at Jennifer’s game tonight. Mom, as well as a brother and sister, will be at Jaime’s.

Meanwhile, Jennifer and Jaime are doing their best to take advantage of the novelty. They’re hoping to see one another today, since Vermont has a morning skate at Bright Hockey Center right before the Harvard women.

“We’ve talked about three times this week, trying to coordinate it so we could see each other,” Jennifer said.

Of course, Jennifer and Jaime weren’t always this eager to see one another. “We didn’t really get along before high school,” admitted Jennifer, who, like her brother, boarded at The Taft School. “But then we had some alone time and we were able to get to know each other a little better. We’re very good friends now. It’s really awesome.”

They talk every week to check in on each other’s season and college life in general. In the fall, when the Catamounts began the season 0-11-2, Jaime’s dispatches from Burlington weren’t very encouraging. But they have adjusted to the style of first-year coach Kevin Sneddon ’92 and are riding a four-game win streak. Now, they’re That Team No One Wants to Draw in the Playoffs.

“The team’s definitely turned it around a little bit, so talking to him is so much better now,” Jennifer said. “He’s having a better overall experience.”

By any measure, her big brother is one of the best defensemen in the ECAC. An All-Rookie team selection last season, he has a vicious slap shot, mean streak, and rough-and-tumble 5’11, 210-pound build. He’s also a team captain in only his second collegiate season.

He certainly has a fan in his sister. “I love watching him play,” she said. “I’m not a defenseman, so I can’t really take his tips, but I wish I could do everything like he does.”