Women Take A Pair

The Harvard women's hockey team faced off against two very different opponents this weekend at the Bright Hockey Center--ECAC-leading Princeton and cellar-dweller Yale. The result, however, was the same each time: a Crimson victory.

The Crimson handed the Tigers their first ECAC loss of the season with a convincing 3-1 victory in a Saturday afternoon matinee performance.

"This was a big win," first-year coach Katey Stone said. "Princeton's a tremendous team."

"Princeton's one of the best teams in the league," co-captain Diana Clark said. "We showed that we could be a great team this year by beating them."

The Tigers, who were undefeated in three ECAC games, had defeated the Crimson in both meetings last year and were poised to continue their dominance Saturday.

The Crimson, however, had other plans.

Late in the first period the Crimson scored twice in a 13-second span.

Junior Stacey Kellogg tallied first, redirecting a shot by sophomore A.J. Mleckzo past the Tiger goalie to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead.

The fans had hardly settled down before Kellogg and Mleckzo teamed up again to put Harvard up 2-0. Mleckzo was credited with the goal, her 15th on the year.

"The two goals at the end of the first period really turned the game around," Stone said.

Princeton regained its poise and used its quickness to pressure the Crimson defense.

While the speedy Tigers worked themselves through the Crimson defenders several times, they couldn't get past senior goalie Erin Villiotte, who recorded 16 saves in the first stanza.

The Crimson increased its lead to 3-0 at 12:37 of the second period as the Mleckzo sisters, A.J. Mleckzo and co-captain Winkie Mleckzo, teamed up to score.

A.J. Mleckzo collected the puck along the boards and passed it to the point. There, Winkie Mleckzo blasted a low shot past the screened Tiger net-minder. The goal was Winkie's first on the year.

Harvard maintained its three-goal advantage through the second period and halfway through the third, rarely allowing the Tigers to establish themselves in the offensive zone.

"Our defense played really well," Clark said. "And our aggressive forechecking allowed us to stay in their zone for most of the game."

"Princeton is really quick," Stone said. "But we were beating them to the puck the whole game."

Although the Crimson finished with only 16 shots on the afternoon, it dictated the action throughout.

"We didn't take too many shots," Stone said. "But the ones we took really paid off."

Only a power-play goal by the Tiger's Kathy Issel with five minutes left in the game spoiled Villiotte's shutout bid. Villiotte ended the game with 34 saves.

"We played really well," Villiotte said. "We showed we can play with any team, including the ones that beat us last year."

With half a successful weekend under its belt, the Crimson headed into its game against Yale bent on dominating the inferior Elis squad.

The Crimson controlled the game throughout, winning the laugher 7-0.

Freshman Jen Bowdoin made her second start of the season and recorded her second shutout.

"I was kinda bored during the game," said Bowdoin, who faced a total of only 7 shots.

Bowdoin's counterpart in the Yale net couldn't say the same.

In the first period Yale goalie Laurie Belliveau managed to deny each of the Crimson's 23 shots to keep the game scoreless.

"Yale really has an amazing goal tender," Clark said. "But we knew that eventually she would get tired."

Harvard kept up the pressure in the second period and unior Holly Leitzes broke the scoreless tie with a power-play goal five minutes into the second frame.

The goal opened the floodgates, so to speak, and the Crimson went on to tally six more goals in the next two periods.

A.J. Mleckzo finished the game with two goals and two assists to raise her team-leading point total to 22.

Sophomore Colleen Malek tallied two goals for the Crimson and Winkie. Mleckzo added two assists.

The Crimson has very little time to savor its victorious weekend, however, as it plays host to a very strong Brown squad Tuesday evening.

The Bears won the Ivy League crown last season, going undefeated in 10 games. Harvard  3 Princeton  1

Harvard  7 Yale  0

Harvard  7 Yale  0