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Sam and I stayed glued together after that. In fact, it was Sam who called Edith Fenton Tuckerman’s presence to my attention. We stopped to greet her and her husband Roger. Their daughter, Kat ’01, was hard at it in the squash match with Andover. We paused to watch a bit of the boys’ varsity basketball game against Hotchkiss and had dinner and a legal beer together (in fact, we had two) and attended the Dedication Ceremony side by side. I sincerely hope we didn’t bore Wizzie to death. We both got the biggest rush from the girls’ game against Choate. We felt our side had demonstrated superiority, but our two-goal lead disappeared and there we stood 2-2 for the whole third period—and thus did it end in regulation. We wondered if overtime would be allowed in view of the Dedication Ceremony to follow, but, in typical Odden form, there was never a doubt. There would be a five-minute, suddendeath overtime. The pulse went to warp speed with more near misses for Taft than for the Choate girls. And then in the last thirty seconds of play one of our girls made a rush and reached for that extra something that astounds us all. She found it—just. She managed to get around the Choate defense, but, wouldn’t you know, her shot missed the opposite goal post by inches. Our hearts sank. But then our girls made one more Herculean effort. There was a hardfought retrieve and a great pass and, this time, a shot that was not to be denied. What a moment—what a victory! The Taft girls all poured out of their bench and smothered our heroine in a heap of joyous wriggling bodies. My eyes filled with tears of joy. It was great stuff! It was staggering to witness what has been achieved in four decades through the burst in popularity of the sport, through the advances in devoted coaching, and through the pursuit of excellence from an early age. It is crystal clear to me that Sam Crocker’s and my experience
Tammy Shewchuck ’96 burns up the ice in the alumnae game. Tammy went on to play for Katey Stone ’84 at Harvard and then for the Canadian national team.
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Rafe de la Gueronniere ’70 at center ice
Old friends Whitey and Judy Frew P’71,75 and Dutton and Henry Long GP ’04,’04,’04
would be tough to duplicate today. We started our play lowermid year and somehow managed three years of varsity hockey. Forget that idea now. But, on the other hand, just look at what these brilliant young players—boys and girls— have achieved. It’s fantastic! Next came the dedication—all the more moving for the moments just gone
down. The last words out of Lance imparted the message that if our boys were to play with the same heart demonstrated by our girls, then they could expect similar results. Then, BOOM, on with the boys’ team and were they cranked. The pregame stuff was worth the price of admission. They were flying! Pucks Taft Bulletin
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