W. Hockey Seeks Revenge Against Dartmouth in Semifinals

Everyone who indulged in putting together a bracket this week for America's favorite office pool should be familiar with the concept that it is very difficult to beat a good team three times in the same season.

The No. 2 Harvard women's hockey team will try to prove that theory tomorrow when it takes on No. 6 Dartmouth in the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament. The Big Green (19-10-0, 17-7-0 ECAC) is the only team that has beaten the Crimson (21-4-3, 17-4-3) twice in conference play.

Dartmouth, which is the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, spoiled Harvard's home-opener Nov. 12 with a 5-4 overtime victory on the night the Crimson unveiled last season's national championship banner. Last month in Hanover, N.H., Dartmouth completed the sweep with a 5-3 victory.

"It's payback time," junior winger Kiirsten Suurkask said. "They have had our number lately. But we are a much better team now than when we played them in the regular season."

Since the loss at Dartmouth, Harvard has gone on a seven-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 40-16. Over that time, the Crimson has victories over No. 1 Brown (22-3-3, 19-2-3) and No. 5 Northeastern (22-8-3, 15-6-3)--the two teams in tomorrow's other semifinal.

Both games will be at Brown's Meehan Auditorium. The Bears, as the top seed, opted to take the first game at 4 p.m., with Harvard and Dartmouth taking the ice at 7 p.m. If the Crimson wins it will advance to the championship game on Sunday.

To get to the title game, Harvard will have to deal with an aggressive Dartmouth defense that held the Crimson at bay during the regular season. Led by rugged defenseman Correne Bredin, the Big Green has a strong defense that relies on a physical forecheck to keep the puck out of its own zone.

"Dartmouth forechecked really well and we did not respond as we could have," sophomore center Jen Botterill said. "But we have been fired up all week in practice and we feel ready for anything they throw at us."

Botterill (31 goals, 30 assists) and sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero (21 g, 32 a) both tallied a hat trick last Saturday in a 7-3 victory over No. 7 seed St. Lawrence in the quarterfinals. Harvard's talented offense leads the ECAC in scoring at 4.79 goals per game. It boasts four of the conference's top six scorers in junior winger Tammy Shewchuk (33 g, 39 a), Botterill, Ruggiero and junior center Angie Francisco (14 g, 36 a).

But the Crimson will need to be at its best against Big Green netminder Amy Ferguson, the reigning ECAC Rookie of the Week after making 30 saves to shut out No. 6 seed Providence for 85 minutes in a 1-0 double-overtime victory in the quarterfinal., Harvard outshot Dartmouth 40-24 but Ferguson made 37 saves to earn the victory.

"Their goalie is good, so we need to put a lot of shots on goal," Suurkask said. "We are a quick team and if we use our speed by moving our feet it will help us tremendously. Also, if we can stay out of the peanlty box and use our depth we'll be fine."

Perhaps the main reason Dartmouth has beaten Harvard twice is the emergence of the Big Green's offense. Bredin (10 g, 30 a) trails only Ruggiero for points by a defenseman. Freshman Carly Haggard (20 g, 17 a) and junior Jen Wiehn (18 g, 17 a) also pack some punch. Wiehn scored the overtime goal at Bright Hockey Center in November.

The catalyst of Dartmouth's offense is its forecheck. Wiehn's game-winner came on a breakaway after her aggressive teammates created a turnover in the neutral zone, giving Wiehn the puck and plenty of open ice to work with. This system will force the Crimson to break the puck out of the defensive zone quickly and crisply.

"The key is to have close support at all times," Botterill said. "We have been practicing different breakouts this week. When our team has the puck, we have to have someone close by to provide support with an easy passing option. That way, we'll be able to move the puck quickly up the ice."

More than just elimination is riding on this game. Two of the four bids to the AWCHA national championship tournament, which will be in Boston next weekend, have already been claimed. Brown, the ECAC regular season champion, and Minnesota-Duluth, the WCHA conference champion are already going to the frozen four.

Regardless of what happens this weekend, Harvard is one of the top candidates for an at-large bid. But winning the conference tournament would lock up an automatic bid and put the Crimson two wins away from repeating as national champs.