W. Hockey Gears for Huskies

The slide continues for the Harvard women's hockey team as it heads into tonight's game against Dartmouth in Hanover, NH.

Despite earning its first ever point against the Providence Friars Saturday, the Crimson (11-8-2, 4-5-2 ECAC) was held winless this weekend and head into Sunday's ECAC play-off opener against Northeastern with one win in its last five games.

"Our chances [against Northeastern] look really good," sophomore defender Holly Leitzes said. "We've played Northeastern three times, so we know what they're all about. We know their game plan. If everyone plays well, we should come out on top."

In Sunday's game, Harvard was defeated by Brown at Bright Hockey Center, 3-1.

"Brown was a little disappointing," sophomore forward Stacy Kellogg said. "We played hard, but Brown capitalized on our mistakes."

The Crimson drew first blood when freshman forward A.J. Mleczko scored at 7:41 of the second period, assisted by Kellogg and senior co-captain Joey Alissi. The Bears roared back, knotting the score less than two minutes later before taking the lead with a power play goal at 14:34. Brown sealed the victory with another goal at 14:28 of the third period.

Junior goalie Erin Villiotte turned aside 35 shots for the Crimson while Harvard mustered only 16 of their own.

In Saturday's contest against Providence, the Crimson tied the Friars, 3-3.

"We were outstanding on Saturday," Villiotte said. "It was the best game of the season. Everything finally came together. We played well Sunday--the same way we've played all season--but we just couldn't keep it up. We were tired from Saturday's game.

Harvard overcame two deficits before typing it with 44 seconds left in the third period and Villiotte out of the net. Kellogg scored the game-tying goal with assists from senior co-captains Francie Walton and Alissi.

The Crimson faced a 2-0 hole at the start of the third period, following second period Providence goals at 1:06 and 12:58. Harvard came back to get on the board at 5:46 of the third period when Alissi converted a feed from linemates Mleczko and Kellogg. The Friars took a 3-1 lead, breaking through at 10:04, but the Crimson pulled to within one at 12:17 when Alissi fired home a pass by Mleczko.

Villiotte made a personal best 51 saves while Harvard managed 17 shots on offense.