Athlete of the Week: Jennifer Botterill `02

For nearly anyone else in college hockey, a hat trick would be a crowning career achievement.

But for Harvard junior captain Jennifer Botterill, three-goal games are becoming commonplace.

So commonplace, in fact, that after earning a hat trick in Friday night's game against Northeastern, Botterill actually thought it was only her first of the season.

But you can't blame her for forgetting a meaningless hat trick in a 9-1 win over Yale when her other hat tricks--like the one in the 1999 Beanpot final or the one in the National semifinals of that same year--have been so much more memorable.

After racking up another three-goal game on Saturday against Providence, Botterill added another several lines to her list of outstanding achievements--two hat tricks in one weekend, the ninth and tenth of her career, and the second and third of the season. That gives her at least three three-goal games in each of her three seasons--a hat trick of hat tricks of hat tricks.

Against Northeastern, all three of Botterill's goals were tallied in the third period of the Crimson's 6-3 win. The first came when Botterill ripped the puck inside the right post on the power play to give Harvard its first lead of the night. For the second goal, she one-timed a flawless pass from sophomore linemate Kalen Ingram, and added an empty-net score in the final minute for the finish.

She also delivered a creative pass off the boards that set senior forward Tammy Shewchuk free on a breakaway for Harvard's first goal.

"Our team has really started to come into its own this year, really shutting the door when we get a lead now in the third," Shewchuk said. "My linemates help me out so much. Jen knows where I am at all times. She makes my job easy."

The next evening in a 7-4 win over Providence, Botterill tallied the Crimson's only goal in the first period, then put two more on the board in the final three minutes of the second to turn a 3-2 Harvard deficit into a 4-3 Harvard lead. She also assisted on the Crimson's final goal, Ingram's second of the night.

"I think [Botterill's performance] is a testament to that entire line," Harvard Coach Katey Stone said. "Adding her game to that line is making it quite dominant."

Botterill has always been exceptional by human standards, but this season has been remarkable even for her. She now has 22 goals in 11 league games. No one else in the ECAC has more than 10 goals in conference play.

If Botterill can keep up her torrid pace, Harvard may well be headed back to Minnesota's Mariucci Arena to reclaim its national title.

If Botterill can make it that far, history foretells that she will not be stopped.