Icewomen Triumph, 4-0

Most of yesterday's women's hockey game looked like a slow-motion film--even the collisions seemed to take place at low speed.

Luckily for Harvard, that slow-motion movie had a happy ending.

The visiting Cantabs weren't nearly at top form last night but still managed to snooze to a 4-0 victory over Boston University at Brown Arena.

"We were out to lunch," said Harvard Coach John Dooley. "I think we "were still in exams for the first two periods--we need to shake off the cobwebs."

Except for an unofficial game against Skidmore last weekend, yesterday's contest was the Crimson's first since January 5th, and only its second in the last seven weeks.

The long layoff took its toll, but a strong third period was enough to boost Harvard (now 6-5) over B.U. (now 1-6).

After a scoreless first period, right wing Kelly Landry put the Crimson on the board with a rebound goal three minutes into the second stanza.

The one-goal difference masked a more telling margin--a 39 to 9 Harvard edge in shots on goal over the first two periods.

But the outstanding play of B.U. goalie Maria Dunn, "one of the finest goalies in women's hockey" according to Dooley, kept the hosts in the contest.

"We were a little bit slow but at least we came back toward the end," noted Tri-Captain Dinny Starr.

Come back is indeed what the Crimson did at least in moderation, in the third period.

After the lackluster beginning. Harvard finally started to demonstrate some solid stickwork in the third period, and the controlled passing made all the difference.

Nine minutes after play resumed, Genie Simmons and Christine Dooley skated down the left side of the ice, drawing Dunn out of the net. Dooley looped a pass across the ice to freshman Karen Carney who knocked the puck into the unguarded net.

"We had a good third period because we started to come alive, to concentrate," said Dooley. "Before we were moving the puck without thinking."

At 13:17, Starr skated alone up the middle of the ice and lined a knee-high puck past Dunn.

Just a little more than a minute later, Julie Sasner wrapped up the scoring, driving a shot into the net from the blue line with assists form Liz Ward and Landry.

Far tougher competition will be visiting Bright Center this weekend, when the Crimson plays host for a pair of crucial Ivy showdowns.

Friday night, the Cantaby face Yale, which defeated Harvard 3-2-in the first game of the season. Saturday, the Crimson entertains Brown, which is currently holding onto first place in the Ivy League.

"We can beat both of them, but we have a lot of work to do," predicted Dooley. "This will be the biggest weekend of Ivy League women's hockey--there's parity in the league this year and this is the first time that Harvard has had the opportunity to get on top at this point of the year."

The Cantabs, who are in second place with a 3-2 league record, have never captured an Ivy crown.