What are the chances that two historic hockey moments would occur on the same date in February exactly 25 years apart and involve players from Providence College, Brown University and Colby College in Maine?
And make that female players.
If you answered slim and none, you would be wrong.
On Feb. 17, 1998, exactly 25 years ago last Friday, the U.S. women’s ice hockey team — bolstered by seven players with ties to Providence College and two from Brown — won the first women’s hockey gold medal in Winter Olympics history. The Americans defeated archival Canada, 3-1, at Nagano, Japan.
The seeds of that 1998 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team may have been sown exactly 25 years earlier. On Feb. 17, 1973, the Pembroke Pandas, as the women’s hockey team at Brown was known at the time, traveled to Waterville, Maine, to play Colby, a fledging women’s team that had organized only the year before. Colby touts that contest as the first women’s intercollegiate hockey game in the nation.
More about that in a moment.
First, ask any player from the ’98 U.S. team if the gold medal game feels like it occurred a quarter of a century ago, and you will probably get a response like this from Sara DeCosta-Hayes: “No, not at all. It’s completely crazy all these years have passed.”Now a mother of of three high-school hockey players in Rhode Island, in 1998 Sara DeCosta was a Providence College sophomore from Warwick and one of two U.S. goalkeepers. Sarah Teuting, who played for Dartmouth and was in the crease for the gold medal showdown, was the other.
Cammi Granato, the U.S. captain, played for PC, as did Chris Bailey, Laurie Baker, Vicki Movessian, and Alana Blahoski. Lisa Brown-Miller graduated from PC in 1988 and a decade later earned a spot on the Olympic team.
Brown alum Katie King, a hockey and softball star for the Bears, was a scoring threat at forward while Brown’s Tara Mounsey, who, like DeCosta, had played boys hockey in high school in Concord, N.H., was a strong defender.
Becky Kellar, another hockey-softball star for Brown, skated for the Canadians.
How intense was the U.S.-Canada rivalry? Think Red Sox-Yankees. Celtics-Lakers. Bruins-Canadiens. PC-URI.
“The greatest rivalry,” DeCosta-Hayes said. And Canada held the edge. No matter the tournament locale, the U.S. and Canada always seemed to be in the final, and Canada always won. Until Nagano.
The Americans dominated the preliminary round — they outscored five opponents 33-7 — and shocked Canada in the preliminary round finale, 7-4. In that game the U.S. women rallied from a 4-1 deficit with six third-period goals.
“It was a wild game,” DeCosta-Hayes told me. “I don’t know where it came from. That comeback, scoring so many goals in the third period. It helped drive us to the gold-medal game. That big upset definitely gave our team a lot more confidence.”
The gold medal game at 6 o’clock on a Tuesday evening was intense from the start. The first period was scoreless. Gretchen Ulion of the U.S. scored a power play goal early in the second period and Shelley Looney made it 2-0 halfway through the third on a power play. Canadian star Danielle Goyette scored with 4:01 to play.
History was getting set to repeat itself with a Canadian comeback, right? Not this time.
“I don’t remember being nervous in the last 4 minutes. We had all the confidence in the world at that point, and Sandra’s goal solidified that,” King Crowley wrote in an email. “We believed in each other, and I personally don’t remember feeling nervous in those last few minutes,”
Sandra Whyte, who had assisted on the first two goals, scored on an empty net at 19:52. Ben Smith, the U.S. coach from Northeastern University, signaled the King line to return to the ice with those eight seconds remaining so they could ignite the celebration.
“We were so excited as we knew we won! I don’t remember feeling exhausted at all. More elated,” King Crowley said. “I didn’t really know if I would be able to stand when I got out there but certainly was able to throw everything in the air when we won, or maybe a few seconds before that buzzer went off. It was amazing!”
“We were flying. We were on a high. Then we got that empty net goal, and it started to sink in. It was amazing to take it all in. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the moment,” DeCosta-Hayes said.
“When the buzzer sounded, everybody was all over the place. We’re on the ice going crazy, crying,” she said. “I looked into the stands and could see all our siblings running down to the glass and trying to climb over onto the ice. Security guards chasing them. A couple got onto the ice. The moms were crying. The dads were hooting and hollering and high-fiving. We were all so excited. It was so emotional. The experience of a lifetime to share with our family and friends. It’s really hard to fully describe.”
Hometown fundraisers helped families defray the expense of flying to Japan and staying in hotels.
“I’m forever grateful to Rhode Island that my family was able to go,” DeCosta-Hayes said.
King Crowley wrote: “The celebration with my teammates was one I will never forget. Just being able to celebrate with them, amazing! Overall, the best part about that team and those memories are the people. My teammates, the staff, everyone involved in our program. It was truly an amazing ride and I am grateful to be a part of it.”
It all occurred 25 years ago, but the memories are so vivid it could have been 25 hours ago. Today, DeCosta-Hayes runs the Rhode Island Sting girls hockey club with Vicki Movessian Lamoriello, sells real estate, and plays forward in the Old Men’s Hockey League in Pawtucket — she is the only woman — and Hockey Night in Newport at St. George’s School. Cammi Granato played women’s professional hockey and is assistant general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. Lisa Brown-Miller coached at Princeton and Aquinas College in Michigan. Laurie Baker worked as assistant athletics director at Concord Academy in Massachusetts. Alana Blahoski has coached for USA Hockey.
Katie King Crowley is in her 16th season as head coach of women’s hockey at Boston College. Tara Mounsey is a nurse practitioner at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston.
That 1998 gold medal team is planning a 25th reunion in June.
“Best of friends that still stay in touch! There is truly nothing like that bond we have!” King Crowley wrote.
Now, about that Brown-Colby game. In 1972-73 the Pembroke Pandas were still playing just a few games a season against clubs, Canadian colleges in Montreal tournaments and Cornell. Colby was just getting started. Two male students volunteered as coaches, and Frank Stephenson, an All-America goalie for Colby in 1962 and a college administrator a decade later, served as advisor.
Doug McMillan was the link between the two schools. He played hockey for Colby, graduating in 1972. His sister Allison was a junior at Brown in 1972-73. Thus, Colby-Brown came to be.
The game, scheduled for a Saturday at 12:30, attracted an enthusiastic crowd to Alfond Arena. Alli McMillan scored both goals for Brown. Colby sophomore Sue Conant broke a 2-2 tie when she knocked in a rebound with 1:30 to play in the third period. She had learned to skate on a frozen cranberry bog near her hometown of Pembroke, Mass., had never seen a hockey game until she got to Colby in the fall of 1971 and had never played a team sport. But, when the call for “girls” to play hockey went out, she shaved the toe picks off her figure skates and decided to try.
“It was quite a game and still an exciting memory,” she wrote in a email. “Coach (Rick Drake ’75) had talked about being in front of the net, so I was there to get the rebound.”
From that modest beginning, the Pandas became the Bears and a power in women’s college hockey. Brown’s Unsung Hero Award is named for Alli McMillan Nickel of Providence.
Colby’s Jockettes became the Mules and have enjoyed success in Division III. Brown and Colby played each other almost every season through 1999, by which time Brown enjoyed a significant competitive advantage. The Bears led the series 19-8 when it ended.
The current Colby coach, Holley Tyng, was a teammate of Sara DeCosta at Providence College. Members of that 1973 team returned to campus in January for a celebration and alumnae game in the stunning three-year-old Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center. Sue Conant Cook, a long way from that cranberry bog where she learned to skate, was there.
“When we were on campus for the 50th Anniversary Celebration, we kept thinking back to 50 years ago, when we were just going out to have fun and enjoy a competitive experience, never dreaming of a 50-year reunion!”
Mike Szostak can be reached at mszostak@ripr.org