W. Hockey Faces Yale, Princeton

Will the real Harvard women's hockey team please stand up?

After suffering a pair of losses to less than stellar opponents in the first month of the season, it's hard to know whether it will be Jeckyl or Hyde suiting up for the No. 1 Crimson (6-2, 4-2 ECAC) on any given night.

With upcoming games against Ivy cellar-dweller Yale (1-8, 0-7 ECAC) and middle-of-the-road Princeton (4-3-2, 3-3-1 ECAC), however, it may not matter if half the team does not show up until the second period because neither game should be a problem for the Crimson.

With junior winger Tammy Shewchuk and sophomore center Jen Botterill away playing for the Canadian National team and unavailable to the Crimson, this weekend's pair relatively easy games may be a lucky break for the Crimson.

With 10 goals and 10 assists, Shewchuk leads the ECAC conference with 20 points, and Botterill isn't far behind with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points.

Without Shewchuk or Botterill in the lineup, there will be added pressure on junior forward Angie Francisco (7 goals, 13 assists) and sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero (5,8) to fill in for their missing teammates.

"Any time there are teammates missing the whole team needs to step up," Francisco said. "And it's the responsibility of the whole team to fill the void."

Fortunately for the Crimson, it may only take one goal to beat Yale tomorrow. With only six goals in nine games this season, the Bulldogs have yet to score more than a single goal in any game this season, and sport far-and-away the worst offense in the conference.

To put Yale's scoring woes in perspective, the second worst offensive team in the conference, Boston College, has 18 goals this season. At the Bulldogs' current pace, they will be lucky to score 18 goals all season.

If the Yale offense has any hope of burying the puck in the Crimson net, the Bulldogs will need a big game from junior forward Lisa Meyers.

With three goals and an assist for four points in nine games, Meyers is responsible for half of her team's scoring this season.

Along with sophomore forward Sara Wood--who is second on the team in scoring with a pair of goals--Meyers is the heart of the Bulldog attack.

Despite relying on just two players for the bulk of its offense production, neither Meyers nor Wood has cracked the top 75 in ECAC scoring.

Without much of a scoring threat up front and the second most goals allowed in the conference, most of Saturday's game will likely be played in the Yale zone and the Crimson should have an opportunity to run up the score.

After the Bulldogs, however, the Crimson should have a tougher fight on its hands Sunday against Princeton.

The Tigers showed signs of promise last weekend at the Princeton Invitational, exploding for 11 goals while going undefeated in three games.

However, Princeton will need its young guns to have equally impressive performances if the Tiger's roar is going to have much of bite against the Crimson.

With eight goals and eight assists, sophomore scoring sensation Andrea Kilbourne leads the Tigers with 16 points this season. Freshman phenom Nikola Holmes, however, is not far behind with five goals and four assists in nine games this year.

The Princeton's defensive core--anchored by junior defenseman Annamarie Holmes, Nikola's older sister--is an equally potent offensive threat.

With the ability to unload from the point, the older Holmes leads all defensemen in the conference with five goals and nine assists for 14 points.

Despite the prolific scoring of Kilbourne and the Holmes sisters, however, Princeton has seen very little production from the rest of the squad.

The Holmes sisters and Kilbourne have combined for 18 of the team's 26 goals this season, and outside of those three players, there isn't much depth. The Crimson should be able to capitalize on that weakness.

"The keys to win this weekend are pretty simple," Francisco said. "We need to play good team defense, not just rely on the defensemen, and we need to have the forwards put the puck in the net more than we did last weekend."