As self-effacing and humble as she is stellar between the pipes, sophomore Ali Boe lacks the dazzle off the ice sometimes needed to make people notice her dazzle on it.

And that’s fine with her.

“She’s a sleeping giant,” Harvard women’s hockey coach Katey Stone says of Boe, the starting goalie. “I don’t care if anybody else notices. We notice, and that’s all that matters.”

On the other hand, make no mistake about Boe’s 2003-2004 starting debut—as an arrival on the scene, it could not possibly have been more conspicuous.

A sophomore from Edina, Minn., Boe came to Cambridge this season unlikely to beat out heralded recruit and incoming freshman Emily Vitt for the starting job.

For three months, Vitt and Boe battled it out, splitting action. After an exhibition game against rival Dartmouth—ranked No. 2 at the time—on Oct. 22 in which Boe played the first half and Vitt finished the game, coaches and teammates were still undecided on their preference.

“It’s really going to take some time,” Stone said after the game. “Maybe they’ll go head-to-head all year.”

The indecision wasn’t for any uncertainty in the goalies’ play. Both were great. Boe was spectacular.

“Boe played awesomely,” co-captain Angela Ruggiero said. “That’s just a testament to how intense that rivalry is going to be between goalies.”

By late December, Boe had wrested control over the starting job. After several dominant performances in a row—including a 3-0 shutout against Providence on Nov. 12, the first time the Friars had been blanked in school history—she led the nation with a 0.66 goals against average and a .961 save percentage. On Dec. 12-13, she guided the Crimson to a 2-2 tie and a 7-2 win against No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth in a rematch of the 2003 National Championship, making a phenomenal 59 saves.

The early winter of 2004 presented its share of rough stretches—including a 6-3 loss at Princeton—for Boe and Harvard, but both recovered in time for the important stretch. From that Jan. 30 loss until the Frozen Four, Boe posted a 1.17 GAA against the nation’s best teams, including a 0.62 average in the last eight games. She capped that run with a dominant performance against St. Lawrence in the NCAA semifinals, allowing one goal in a 2-1 win.

“I wasn’t surprised,” junior winger Nicole Corriero said of Boe’s season accomplishments. “But she’s definitely exceeded my expectations.”

Exceeding expectations—the hallmark of a breakout.

—Staff writer Alex McPhillips can be reached at rmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.