Playoffs Or Not, W. Hockey Wins

Three weeks ago in Ithaca, the No. 1 Harvard women's hockey team took a convincing 3-0 lead into the third period and survived a late Cornell comeback for a 4-2 victory.

The same thing happened Saturday at Bright Hockey Center in the first round of the ECAC Tournament, only this time it was a little closer.

Top-seeded Harvard (29-1-0, 24-1-1 ECAC) used aggressive stickhandling throughout and timely defense in the final five minutes to outlast eighth-seeded Cornell (15-16-0, 14-12-0), 3-2. The win was the first playoff victory in school history and extended the nation's longest winning streak to 26 games.

"The kids were very hungry to win their first playoff game and we pinned them back right off the bat," said Coach Katey Stone. "When you get to the playoffs there aren't going to be a lot of blowouts. Records don't matter and you have to play hard or go home."

Sophomore winger Tammy Shewchuk's shorthanded goal gave Harvard a comfortable 3-0 lead 10:42 into the second period and turned out to be the eventual game winner.

After clearing from deep in the defensive zone on the penalty kill, Shewchuk followed the action and won the puck at the offensive blue line. She skated down QUARTERS MIAMI

Curto took the first set, 7-5. But plagued bysome untimely unforced errors, she dropped thesecond to Cortina, 6-3. In the final set, however,Curto was able to pull her game together, usingsuperior pace on her groundstrokes and serve toclose out the match, 6-4.

"In the first two sets I was making a lot ofmistakes and not doing my best, but in the third Ifelt like I was finally playing well," Curto said."This was an important match for me, because Ifigured out a way to win despite making a lot oferrors."

Unfortunately for Harvard, this was the onlysingles match that it would pull out.

At the No. 1 position, junior Vedica Jain hungtough with hard-hitting sophomore LioudmilaSkavronskaia. After dropping the first set 6-1,Jain managed to regroup, taking the second, 7-5,to even the match. But Skavronskaia's incrediblepower proved to be too much in the end, as Jainfinally fell in the third set, 6-1.

Fleur Broughton, playing in the No. 4 slot forHarvard, also took her opponent to the limit insingles competition. Facing sophomore AlannaBroderick, Broughton took the first set in atiebreaker. Broderick, however, quickly recovered,winning the final two sets, and the match, 6-2,6-1.

In the No. 2 position, Crimson sophomore SanazGhazal took on sophomore Katia Bogomolova.Although Ghazal battled throughout, Bogomolova wasable to handle her, winning the match in straightsets, 6-3, 6-3.

Harvard freshman Andrea Magyera played a veryclose match with freshman Marcy Hora at the No. 3slot, but also fell in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

At No.5, freshman Jenny Timoney was unable toget anything going for Harvard in her matchagainst junior Evqa Jimenez, as she fell 6-0, 6-0.

With the match already in hand, Miamivoluntarily defaulted in the No. 3 doubles match,but still played for the No. 1 and No. 2positions.

Despite playing only for pride at this point,Harvard remained focused and poised, playing itsbest tennis of the afternoon in the doubles round.

The main story was the surprising upset by theteam of Ghazal and Broughton over Skavronskaia andBroderick at the No. 1 position. The duo ofSkavronskaia and Broderick are ranked No. 35 inthe country, and figured to win without muchtrouble.

Ghazal and Broughton, however, fought thestrong Miami team for every point, keeping thematch even throughout. And when the Hurricanesforced a tiebreaker at 8-8, the Crimson duo didnot panic. Instead, playing with confidence andgreat poise they withstood Miami's superior powerto take the tiebreaker, 7-3 and the match, 9-8.

At No. 2 doubles, Jain and Magyera also gavethe Hurricanes a run for their money. Facing theteam of Bogomolova and Jimenez, Jain and Magyerajumped out to a 5-2 lead. Miami stormed back,however, winning six of the next seven games tosqueeze out an 8-6 victory.

Despite losing its seventh meet in nine tries,the Crimson remains confident.

Its poor record is more an indication of thehigh caliber of team that Harvard has beenplaying, than of the team's ability. Five of theNo. 66 Crimson's losses have come to teams rankedin the top 25.

With Ivy League matches still remaining andmost of the tougher meets out of the way, Harvardis looking forward to increased success and moreteam victories.

"We've been playing some really good teams,with very high rankings," Curto said. "Andalthough the overall team scores have not beengreat, we've played in some really close matches.So we are pretty confident as we move on to playour easier opponents, as well as our Ivy Leaguematches."CrimsonPaul S. GutmanSLAMMIN':Sophomore SANAZ GHAZALteamed with Fleur Broughton to win at No. 1doubles against the Hurricanes' LiudmilaSkavronskaia and Alanna Broderick on Saturday, butMiami won the meet.

Curto took the first set, 7-5. But plagued bysome untimely unforced errors, she dropped thesecond to Cortina, 6-3. In the final set, however,Curto was able to pull her game together, usingsuperior pace on her groundstrokes and serve toclose out the match, 6-4.

"In the first two sets I was making a lot ofmistakes and not doing my best, but in the third Ifelt like I was finally playing well," Curto said."This was an important match for me, because Ifigured out a way to win despite making a lot oferrors."

Unfortunately for Harvard, this was the onlysingles match that it would pull out.

At the No. 1 position, junior Vedica Jain hungtough with hard-hitting sophomore LioudmilaSkavronskaia. After dropping the first set 6-1,Jain managed to regroup, taking the second, 7-5,to even the match. But Skavronskaia's incrediblepower proved to be too much in the end, as Jainfinally fell in the third set, 6-1.

Fleur Broughton, playing in the No. 4 slot forHarvard, also took her opponent to the limit insingles competition. Facing sophomore AlannaBroderick, Broughton took the first set in atiebreaker. Broderick, however, quickly recovered,winning the final two sets, and the match, 6-2,6-1.

In the No. 2 position, Crimson sophomore SanazGhazal took on sophomore Katia Bogomolova.Although Ghazal battled throughout, Bogomolova wasable to handle her, winning the match in straightsets, 6-3, 6-3.

Harvard freshman Andrea Magyera played a veryclose match with freshman Marcy Hora at the No. 3slot, but also fell in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

At No.5, freshman Jenny Timoney was unable toget anything going for Harvard in her matchagainst junior Evqa Jimenez, as she fell 6-0, 6-0.

With the match already in hand, Miamivoluntarily defaulted in the No. 3 doubles match,but still played for the No. 1 and No. 2positions.

Despite playing only for pride at this point,Harvard remained focused and poised, playing itsbest tennis of the afternoon in the doubles round.

The main story was the surprising upset by theteam of Ghazal and Broughton over Skavronskaia andBroderick at the No. 1 position. The duo ofSkavronskaia and Broderick are ranked No. 35 inthe country, and figured to win without muchtrouble.

Ghazal and Broughton, however, fought thestrong Miami team for every point, keeping thematch even throughout. And when the Hurricanesforced a tiebreaker at 8-8, the Crimson duo didnot panic. Instead, playing with confidence andgreat poise they withstood Miami's superior powerto take the tiebreaker, 7-3 and the match, 9-8.

At No. 2 doubles, Jain and Magyera also gavethe Hurricanes a run for their money. Facing theteam of Bogomolova and Jimenez, Jain and Magyerajumped out to a 5-2 lead. Miami stormed back,however, winning six of the next seven games tosqueeze out an 8-6 victory.

Despite losing its seventh meet in nine tries,the Crimson remains confident.

Its poor record is more an indication of thehigh caliber of team that Harvard has beenplaying, than of the team's ability. Five of theNo. 66 Crimson's losses have come to teams rankedin the top 25.

With Ivy League matches still remaining andmost of the tougher meets out of the way, Harvardis looking forward to increased success and moreteam victories.

"We've been playing some really good teams,with very high rankings," Curto said. "Andalthough the overall team scores have not beengreat, we've played in some really close matches.So we are pretty confident as we move on to playour easier opponents, as well as our Ivy Leaguematches."CrimsonPaul S. GutmanSLAMMIN':Sophomore SANAZ GHAZALteamed with Fleur Broughton to win at No. 1doubles against the Hurricanes' LiudmilaSkavronskaia and Alanna Broderick on Saturday, butMiami won the meet.