ECACHL Athletes Earn Gold With Team Canada at Women's World Championship

Team Canada downed Team USA 5-1 last evening (April 10) at the Women's World Championship, giving seven ECAC Hockey League athletes gold medals and seven others silver medals. Harvard grad Angela Ruggiero was named to the All-Star team.

Canada scored three of its five goals in the second period, with Harvard graduate Jennifer Botterill tallying less than a minute into the period. The only other points for ECACHL athletes came from current Crimson forward Sarah Vaillancourt, who assisted on Canada's fourth goal of the game and then scored unassisted with just a few minutes left in the game.

"It was nice [to score the first goal], but what it was about was getting the team going," Botterill said. "It was a shot, but it hit something, and then went in. But I'll take it. I think it built momentum. People built off that every shift. Again, we were focused on playing the whole 60 minutes. Again, I'm really proud of the entire team and working together tonight."

Vaillancourt finished the tournament as one of the top 10 scorers with two goals and four assists for six points over five games. Team USA's Sarah Parson (currently at Dartmouth), was also a scoring leader, with three goals and three assists.

Canada reached the championship game after going 2-0 in the preliminary round with victories over Switzerland and Germany. The squad then picked up two more wins in the Qualifying Round, including a 5-4 overtime victory vs. the United States.

Team USA also went 2-0 in the preliminary round, downing both China and Kazakhstan. The squad then downed Finland in the qualifying round before falling to Canada en route to the gold medal game.

Yale's Denise Soesilo and Princeton alum Nikola Holmes also played at the World Championship as members of German National Team. Both forwards played in all four games for Germany, as the squad finished the tourney with a 1-3 record. The team's lone victory was a 3-0 win vs. Kazakhstan.

Overall, 15 ECACHL athletes competed at the World Championship, while Yale head coach Hilary Witt served as an assistant coach with Team USA.

ECACHL Selections to the U.S. National Team
Dartmouth (3)
Kristin King '02 (Fwd - Piqua, Ohio)
Sarah Parsons Fr. (Fwd. - Dover, Mass.)
Tiffany Hagge '06 (Fwd. - Minneapolis, Minn.)

Harvard (3)
Caitlin Cahow Jr. (Def. - Vinalhaven, Maine)
Julie Chu Sr. (Def. - Fairfield, Conn.)
Angela Ruggiero '04 (Def. - Harper Woods, Mich.)

Yale (2)
Helen Resor So. (Def. - Greenwich, Conn.)
Head Coach Hilary Witt (Asst. Coach with Team USA)

ECACHL Selections to the Canadian National Team
Dartmouth (3)
Gillian Apps Sr. (Fwd. - Unionville, Ont.)
Katie Weatherston Sr. (Fwd. - Thunder Bay, Ont.)

Harvard (2)
Jennifer Botterill' 03 (Fwd. - Winnipeg, Man.)
Sarah Vaillancourt So. (Fwd. - Sherbrooke, Que.)

St. Lawrence (2)
Annie Guay Sr. (Def. - Rouyn-Noranda, Que.)*
Gina Kingsbury '04 (Fwd. - Rouyn-Noranda, Que.)

ECACHL Selections to the German National Team
Princeton (1)
Nikola Holmes (Fwd.)

Yale (1)
Denise Soesilo (Fwd.)

*alternate