W. Hockey Falls to No. 5 in Polls Despite Weekend Sweep in H-Y-P's

The Harvard women's hockey team swept its ECAC competition last week, taking the H-Y-P games with ease.

The Crimson (5-3-0, 5-1-0 ECAC) shutout the Tigers (2-5-1, 2-5-0) at Bright Hockey Center, netting four goals on the afternoon. Harvard wasted no time securing another victory, returning to on the ice the next day and crushing the hapless Bulldogs (1-7-0, 1-7-0), by a 10-2 margin.

While the Crimson played strongly last week, it still dropped a spot to No. 5 in the most recent USCHO.com poll. Harvard was passed up by now-No. 4 St. Lawrence (6-2-2, 5-0-1), which gave No. 1 Dartmouth (8-0-1, 8-0-1) its first scare of the season in an overtime tie.

St. Lawrence 2, Dartmouth 2

St. Lawrence took the ECAC-leading Big Green to an extra period on Sunday to get the point in the standings, almost ending Dartmouth's 10-game unbeaten streak.

The Saints--who are in third place in the ECAC-- skated into the second period with a two-goal lead, surging ahead of the top-ranked Big Green on the strong play of sophomore forward Amanda Sargeant.

Sargeant put in the first St. Lawrence goal and assisted on the second. Dartmouth cut the deficit in half with a goal at 5:39 in the second period. The Big Green netted the equalizer 50 seconds later, and held on to get the draw.

Dartmouth, which has put up goose eggs in the loss column since the end of March, had an easy time with Cornell the night before.

Dartmouth 9, Cornell 3

The Big Green dominated Ivy League rival Cornell (3-5-0, 3-5-0), getting a hat trick from senior forward Jennifer Wiehn, and pushing the Big Red into a tie for sixth place in the conference.

Wiehn scored her 50th goal in a Big Green uniform against the Big Red, including the eventual game-winner in the second period. She got help from classmate Kim McCullough, who scored twice and earned ECAC Player of the Week honors.

New Hampshire 4, Niagara 3 (Game 1)

New Hampshire 3, Niagara 2 (Game 2)

No. 8 New Hampshire (9-2-0, 6-2-0) trails only Dartmouth in the division, and continued its strong play by taking two against ECAC cellar-dweller Niagara (5-7-0, 1-7-0).

New Hampshire 3, Niagara 2 (Game 2)

The skidding Purple Eagles allowed New Hampshire to get on the board just one minute into the game on Friday. Wildcats' junior forward Kira Misikowetz scored twice to secure the victory for UNH, forcing lowly Niagara to look ahead to the teams' next contest the following night.

The Purple Eagles fared no better in the rematch, however. Wildcat forward Kristen Thomas recorded two assists, and netminder Jen Huggon stopped 35 Niagara shots to secure the sweep.

Brown 4, Princeton 0

Although the Bears hold sixth place in the ECAC, they rank behind only Dartmouth nationally. Brown (5-1-0, 3-1-0) cruised past the Tigers, 4-0, at home on Sunday.

Princeton was the victim of Bears' goalie Pam Dreyer's second shutout on the season.

Brown scored the eventual game-winner only two minutes into the first period, as senior forward Melissa Rennison beat Princeton netminder Sarah Ahlquist unassisted.

The Bears have only played five conference games thus far, four less than first-place Dartmouth, so Brown should move up in the standings in the next few weeks.

Providence 9, Vermont 0 (Game 1)

Providence 6, Vermont 0 (Game 2)

The Friars (7-2-1, 3-2-1) dominated the Catamounts in a non-conference doubleheader, leaving them in sole possession of fifth place in the ECAC.

Providence 6, Vermont 0 (Game 2)

Vermont (2-2-0, 2-0-0 ECAC Division III) was no match for the Friars, who had several players with multi-goal performances.

Freshman Darlene Stephenson led the way, tallying two goals and two assists as part of the 51-shot Providence barrage.

The Friars exploded for five goals in the second period, three of which came in the same minute. Junior forward Kim Mathias put a pair in the net in just 15 seconds, as Providence skated away with the victory.

Providence came out the next afternoon and shutout out the Catamounts again, registering its fourth win in a row.

Another freshman led the way for the Friars, as forward Sarah Youlen had one goal and one assist, including the game-winning score in the first. The Catamounts allowed five goals in one period for the second day in a row, as Providence exploded for multiple scores in the third.