W. Hockey Heads South Looking Ahead to Playoffs

The No. 2 Harvard women's hockey team begins the last month of the season with its final road trip outside New England. The Crimson travels to New Jersey to take on Princeton tonight at Hobey Baker Rink, and tomorrow it will close out the regular season at the Yale Whale in New Haven, Conn.

Harvard (18-4-3, 15-4-3 ECAC) needs two points to clinch home ice in the first round of the playoffs, which would be at Bright Hockey Center next weekend. If the Crimson wins in the first round, it would advance to the semifinals in nearby Providence.

Harvard jumped two spots in the conference standings into second place with convincing victories over No. 4 New Hampshire, 6-4, and last-place Maine, 10-2.

Junior winger Tammy Shewchuk (34 goals, 36 assists), the ECAC Player of the Week, and sophomore center Jen Botterill (24 g, 29 a) each scored 11 points on the weekend. Their linemate, freshman winger Kalen Ingram (9 g, 14 a), contributed four goals and two assists to earn ECAC Rookie of the Week honors.

The Crimson has won four games in a row, three of them coming against ranked teams. But Princeton will be a dangerous opponent tonight because the Tigers are playing with their season on the line.

Last weekend Princeton (11-11- 5, 9-10-3) upset No. 8 Providence in Rhode Island, 2-1, to keep its postseason hopes alive. The Tigers are in ninth place, one point behind Niagara for the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Purple Eagles have already completed their conference schedule. A a Princeton victory this weekend, combined with a Cornell loss, would guarantee the Tigers eighth place. But Princeton will have to beat one of the two best teams in the country, either Harvard tonight or No. 1 Brown tomorrow, to make the playoffs.

Princeton's young offense is starting to reach its potential. The Tigers scored twice against Providence goaltender Sara DeCosta, who leads the conference in save percentage (.947) and shut out Harvard at Bright last month.

Sophomore Andrea Kilbourne (18 g, 19 a), who is tied for eighth in the conference in scoring, and freshman Nikola Holmes (12 g, 13 a), fifth among ECAC rookies in scoring, provided the goals against DeCosta. Princeton's third offensive threat is blueliner Annamarie Holmes (11 g, 18 a), who is Nikola's older sister and the third-highest defenseman scorer in the conference.

The biggest challenge tomorrow against Yale (6-20-1, 2-19-1) will be making the long trip late tonight from Princeton to New Haven for a 3 p.m. face-off. The Elis are on a four-game losing skid and can finish the season in no higher than 11th place.