RIT Skates Past Icewomen, 3-0

The Harvard women's hockey team was shut out by the Tigers last night. The Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers, that is.

Fortunately, the 3-0 Tiger win in front of 65 fans at the Bright Hockey Center doesn't count in the Ivy League standings, but today's (2:00 p.m.) game with the other Tigers--those from Princeton--does.

RIT (6-6-1) proved its strength earlier in the week with a close 3-2 loss to Eastern powerhouse University of New Hampshire. The Crimson (7-4-1 overall, 3-1-1 Ivy League) faced the Wildcats in December and was clobbered, 10-0.

Harvard Coach John Dooley was not surprised by RIT's talent. "We played well but they are just one heck of a hockey team," he said.

Harvard hung close, however, as the teams skated to a scoreless tie through an uneventful first period. Harvard was the aggressor for the first few minutes but couldn't cash in on any of its opportunites. But it wasn't long before the Tigers took charge.

Crimson freshman goalie Gillian D'Souza began the second period, giving starter Jennifer White a rest before today's game. RIT took advantage of the young netminder and quickly gave the backup some of what Dooley termed "good" experience.

The teams traded power-play opportunities before the Tigers drew first blood. At 12:00 of the second stanza, the puck rolled out to RIT forward Wendi Stebitz 45 feet from the net. After flattening the rolling puck, Stebitz sent a slapshot to D'Souza's left to make the score 1-0.

The Crimson maintained its intensity, coming at RIT with a flurry of shots during the final minute of the second period after a Tiger penalty. But the second period onslaught was halted by the buzzer and goalie Julie Handzel held off the Crimson in the third.

The Tigers stormed out in the third period to put the game away. At 2:04 of the last period, RIT forward Bettijane Morgan sent linemate Cheryl Bourgeois a pass for a breakaway down the right wing. Bourgeois showed her appreciation by slipping a backhander by D'Souza, making the score 2-0.

After the Bourgeois goal, the Crimson once again tried to mount an attack. But Handzel thwarted Harvard by making some key saves. The Crimson continued to press until a goal by Turner with under eight minutes remaining completely dimmed any hopes for a comeback.

"I thought we were really sluggish at times and our offense especially didn't seem in sync," Co-Captain Johanna Neilson said. "But I guess they took us out of our game and we started to look towards Princeton. It was tough because we didn't have our normal shifts because we played everyone but it was great for the younger players, like Gillian, to get on the ice. We have several tough games coming up where they probably won't get much time."

Dooley was thrilled with the game and saw it as excellent preparation for today. "We met the goals we wanted to. We gave our regulars a tough skate and a good game to help them get their legs back after the exam break and we got everybody to play," said Dooley. "We tried some new combinations and found some that might work. Gillian had her best outing of the year. She was very strong in the net."

Princeton comes to Cambridge today sporting an impressive 7-1 win over a Dartmouth team that is touted as one of the Ivy League's best. Harvard skated to a 1-1 tie in Hanover in January and knows the Princeton Tigers will be as tough as RIT. Princeton is led by freshman sensation Mollie Marcoux, who leads the Ivy league in scoring.

"Princeton is going to be one of the biggest games we'll play all year," said Neilson. "I couldn't help thinking about the game today. I'm sure we will be better tomorrow when everyone's mind is on the same wavelength. We will be taking our regular shifts and our intensity will definitely pick up."

"I expect Princeton to come at us with all of their guns," Dooley said. "It will be a very high-pitched, emotional game. We will need to take advantage of our opportunities better and score some goals--hopefully early in the game."

The Crimson is hoping that today will prove to be a Tiger of a different color.