Icewomen Stop Yale, 5-0; White Grabs Hat Trick

The thrill of last week's highway robbery still hadn't worn off Sunday when the Harvard women's ice hockey squad ventured into the depths of New Haven.

And when the Crimson lined up for the opening face-off with the Bulldogs, many Crimson minds reverted back to Friday's emotionally draining upset--one that handed Harvard its second straight Beanpot championship--of Northeastern.

"We stole that game," Harvard Assistant Coach Bill MacDonald said, referring to the 2-1 Beanpot triumph. "The girls were still relishing that well into the first period against Yale."

But the icewomen managed to survive Sunday's dismal first period, put the Northeastern win out of their minds and explode for three second-period goals en route to their 5-0 demolition of the Elis at Ingalls Rink.

The win--the Crimson's sixth in its last seven games--raised the Harvard record to 10-6 overall and 5-4 in Ivy play. And while Princeton has a solid lock on this year's title, the victory keeps the icewomen in the race for an EAIAW playoff berth. Yale, meanwhile, fell to 3-12-1 overall and 0-7 in the Ivies.

Emotionally drained from Friday's Beanpot win, the Crimson opened the Yale game sluggishly, spending much of the time in its own zone. "We started off very badly," MacDonald said. "We were just flat and really didn't have our minds in the game."

But even the Crimson's four hapless shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes were enough to provide the only score the squad would need to record its second victory of the year over Yale. With just seven minutes gone. Harvard's Dinny Starr broke behind the Bulldog defense. The ensuing pass to teammate Jennifer White, who then beat Eli goalie Betsy Mason with a strong slapshot, was all Harvard needed to take its 1-0 lead.

With visions of the Northeastern game finally out of their minds, the icewomen put Yale away in the middle stanza. While Crimson goalie Chery! Tate, the Beanpot's MVP, stopped the Bulldog offense on one end of the ice. Harvard's second line of Alex Lightfoot, Starr and White kept Mason plenty busy on the other--scoring three unanswered goals.

Starr and Lightfoot smashed the second and third goals of the day past the Bulldogs junior netminder, and White added the fourth at 18:25, just five seconds into a Crimson power play.

Harvard closed out the day's scoring at the 7:17 mark of the third when White finished off her first hat trick of the year with a quick slapshot past the outstretched stick of Mason.

Lost in the offensive assault was the continued superb play of Tate, who has now recorded five shutouts in the last seven games. Tate stopped 19 Bulldog shots Sunday before giving way in the third period to Tracy Kimmell.

"Chery! is really playing as consistently right now as she ever has," MacDonald said. "We'll need that consistency to roll into the playoffs."

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson closes out its regular season this week with three games its first is today at Colby--The icewomen are vying with Cornell and Colby for the two remembering EAIAW bids.