W. Hockey Could Secure Top Playoff Seed With Sweep

The No. 4 Harvard women's hockey team looks to finish its regular season on a high note--and position itself for an NCAA tournament birth--as it travels to Maine (14-13-1, 9-12-1 ECAC) and No. 9 New Hampshire (17-14, 13-9) this weekend.

After a tough 3-2 loss to No. 8 Northeastern last Sunday, Harvard (19-8-0, 18-4-0) finds itself on the bubble for this month's NCAA Tournament. Only four teams will be selected to the inaugural women's frozen four in Minneapolis.

Harvard--winners of 11 of its last 13--can finish the regular season atop the ECAC with a sweep this weekend and a #1 Dartmouth loss to either Providence or Northeastern. A Harvard loss, however, and No. 5 St. Lawrence can climb ahead of the Crimson with a sweep of their own.

"Our agenda is that every game is a must-win," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. "That's the way we're conducting ourselves."

Stone said the team should and would make the NCAA's if the season ended today, and she thinks that Harvard could even afford to lose another game and still make the field.

However, the current standings have the Crimson in a perilous place--fighting for the fourth and final tourney spot. The lack of any automatic bids this year through the conference tournaments makes each game crucially important.

Barring a monumentous collapse, No. 1 Dartmouth is a lock. At least one--and probably both-- of the Minnesota schools figure to make the field as well.

That leaves Harvard and St. Lawrence fighting for the final spot. Brown, sixth in the polls, figures to have an outside shot, but the Crimson routed Brown in both matchups this season.

Harvard does not figure to benefit from any head-to-head comparisons. The Crimson split its season series with Dartmouth, lost early in the season to Minnesota, and was swept in consecutive games at Minnesota-Duluth.

Harvard is one slot ahead of the Saints in the polls, but the NCAA selection committee showed last year that it pays little attention to these national rankings. In a controversial decision, the committee left Harvard out of the tournament last year in favor of Minnesota, which was behind Harvard in the polls but ahead in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ratings.

Currently, Harvard is ranked fifth in both the RPI and Pair-Wise ratings--one spot behind St. Lawrence. The Saints and Crimson split their season-series, with the Saints winning most recently, 3-2.

On paper, the Crimson should have a relatively easy time with the Black Bears and Wildcats. Harvard swept the series at Bright last month, winning handily behind outstanding performances from forwards Jenn Botterill and Tammy Shewchuk.

However, while the Crimson has beaten its toughest opponents lately in Dartmouth and Brown, its two losses during its recent hot streak have been to Princeton and Northeastern, both schools Harvard figured to defeat.

Stone said superb goaltending by the opposition, rather than a mental letdown on Harvard's part, contributed to those two losses.

"Every once in a while you're going to, come across a hot goaltender, and those things are going to happen," Stone said.

The Black Bears posses the type of goaltending which could give the Crimson fits. Dawn Froats has allowed just under two goals per game this season and boasts an impressive 11-3-1 record and .920 save percentage.

Froats did not play in Harvard's 5-1 victory last month, and she has not lost a game since a 4-1 defeat to Brown February 3rd.

The Maine attack is paced by freshman forward Karen Droog, who has scored 20 goals and 12 assists on the season. Defenseman Kelly Nelson, with 24 points, also poses a threat on the offensive end.

Senior forward Michelle Thornton leads the New Hampshire offense. Thornton-- Patty Kazmaier finalist for national player of the year--leads the Wildcats in both goals (15) and assists (23). Her faceoff expertise makes her an even more valuable asset in clutch situations.

New Hampshire will also look to forward Kira Misikowetz and defenseman Kristen Thomas for offensive support. Thomas, second on the team with 14 goals, poses a dangerous scoring threat from the blue-line.

Harvard will again look to its dominating duo of Botterill and Shewchuk for offense. The Kazmaier finalists are one-two in scoring in conference play, with 55 and 53 points respectively--twenty points ahead of their nearest competition in third.

Botterill can capture the regular season goal and points scoring championship with a strong performance this weekend. She trails Wisconsin's Megan Hunter by only three goals and two points, while playing in seven fewer games.

Despite the Crimson's success in its last meeting against these schools, Stone says she expects nothing different from them this weekend.

"They're going to play very much the same," Stone said. "They're going to be very physical, and we need to get out there and set the pace and play our game."

"If we play Harvard hockey, it won't make any difference," Stone added.