Brains Meet Brawn on the Ice

It is one of sport’s curious cliches, one that suggests brain use is a bad thing. Ask an athlete to explain a poor performance, and the response might well be, “I was thinking too much.”

There are times, of course, when an athlete must stop all the analysis and trust in his or her ability. But, if brainpower truly detracted from athletic power, the U.S. women’s hockey team would not be 60 minutes away from the gold-medal game.

These women are America’s best and brightest. Of the 20 on the squad, half hail from the Ivy League, including four from Harvard and three from Brown. The team’s leading scorer, 18-year-old Sarah Parsons, is bound for Dartmouth.

The U.S. plays Sweden in a semifinal tonight, with the Americans heavily favored to advance to a showdown against Canada for the gold. The U.S. needed a third-period comeback against Finland to complete pool play undefeated, and the Swedes rested top goaltender Kim Martin in their last game.

“This is their gold-medal game,” said three-time Olympian and Harvard graduate Angela Ruggiero. “They saved their goalie for us, so they think they can beat us.”

When the Olympic flame is extinguished, some athletes are rudely awakened. After four years of preparing for one moment, that moment is gone.

Everyone on the U.S. roster attended college. For those women there is an identity beyond sports.

“We’re very well rounded,” Ruggiero said. “Somebody asked me a question about Olympic shock after we’re done. I don’t think anybody on this team will have that.

“We’re using hockey, not only to get a good education but to get a life beyond hockey.”

In football, an athlete must choose either a top Division I program or an Ivy League education. In hockey, the Ivy League programs are nationally competitive.

Still, Minnesota won the last two NCAA championships in women’s hockey, Minnesota Duluth the previous three. New Hampshire sits atop the latest Division I poll, with Harvard the lone Ivy League representative in the top 10.

In addition, the Ivy League does not offer athletic scholarships, so top players there turn down free educations and spots on national contenders elsewhere. Kristin King, a Dartmouth graduate, said the Ivy League nonetheless offered top coaching, superb education, an invigorating atmosphere and unparalleled alumni connections.

“You can’t pass that up, even for however many scholarship opportunities you get,” King said.

With no women’s equivalent to the NHL, the players are keenly aware that their college experience could set them up for life off the ice.

“It’s where you’ll be happy and have the best growth experience,” three-time Olympian Tricia Dunn-Luoma said.

Dunn-Luoma graduated from New Hampshire. She said the Harvard women on the team didn’t lord it over everyone else, but a Harvard pedigree still leaves its owner ripe for ripping.

So, when Boston College recently beat Harvard in the classic Beanpot tournament, the Harvard women on the U.S. team heard all about it. And, maybe more than a couple of times, Dunn-Luoma made sure her teammates knew that her school was ranked No. 1.

“I’m a state-school girl,” she said with a smile.