Playoff Positioning Begins for W. Hockey Against UNH

With four games left in the regular season, the Harvard women's hockey team actually looks better in the national picture than it does in the ECAC.

The Crimson (16-4-3, 13-4-3 ECAC) moved up to No. 2 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll this week. After falling to No. 5 Dartmouth for the second time this season two weekends ago, Harvard won its second-straight Beanpot title by beating No. 7 Northeastern in overtime, 4-3, then upset No. 1 Brown in Providence last Saturday, 2-1.

The Crimson now trails the first-place Bears by four points in the ECAC standings. Despite winning both games last week, however, Harvard fell to fourth place in the conference, one point behind No. 4 New Hampshire, which the Crimson will host Saturday night in Bright Hockey Center at 7 p.m.

Six teams are within eight points of Brown in the conference standings. The ECAC regular-season champion gets an automatic bid to the four-team American Women's College Hockey Alliance national championship tournament.

If the regular-season champ does not win the ECAC Tournament, the postseason winner will receive another automatic bid. With all the upsets that have taken place already this season, however, winning in the playoffs is no guarantee to any team.

In addition, another automatic bid will go to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Tournament champion, which will likely be either No. 3 Minnesota (26-5-1, 19-2-1 WCHA) or No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth (21-3-3, 19-1-2). The Gophers and the Bulldogs are expected to face each other in the WCHA championship game in Bloomington, Minn., on Mar. 4.

That means there could only be one at-large bid available, with many teams for the selection committee to choose from. One of those teams could be the loser of the WCHA championship game, although it's unlikely that two teams from the west will make the final four.

In the ECAC, the six teams contending for the regular-season title all have a shot at an automatic or at-large bid.

Brown (17-3-3, 15-2-3 ECAC) has been in first place for several weeks, but the Bears' lead has dwindled to one point. To make matters worse, junior captain Tara Mounsey (14 goals, 10 assists), the team's leading scorer and a Patty Kazmaier Award nominee for the second straight year, damaged her ACL last weekend and could be out for the rest of the season.

That puts even more pressure on senior goaltender Ali Brewer (1.44 goals-against average, .939 save percentage) to produce shutouts, which is exactly what she did against No. 8 Providence last Sunday in Brown's first game without Mounsey.

Dartmouth (17-9-0, 16-6-0) is still in second place despite losing at UNH on Sunday. But the Big Green's chance to win the regular-season title is slim. Dartmouth has only two games left in the regular season--most teams have four games left--and both games are against ranked opponents, Northeastern and Providence.

UNH (22-7-0, 15-5-0) stole third place from Harvard because it played two conference games last weekend and came away with four points in the standings. The Wildacts are 6-1 in February, including victories over Minnesota-Duluth and Dartmouth.

With the return of Samm Holmes (24 g, 18 a) UNH's quartet of senior forwards is back at full force. That foursome includes Carisa Zaban (33 g, 34 a), the conference's leading scorer, Tina Carrabba (17 g, 18 a)and Melissa McKenzie (16 g, 19 a).

Harvard trails UNH by one point in the standings. The Crimson has four of the ECAC's top seven scorers--junior forwards Tammy Shewchuk (27 g, 28 a) and Angie Francisco (14 g, 29 a), and two Kazmaier nominees in sophomore center Jen Botterill (22 g, 20 a) and sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero (13 g, 25 a). Harvard can reclaim third place by beating the Wildcats on Saturday.

But the UNH game is not just for the standings. Should Harvard fail to win either the regular-season or conference championship, it will need a good record against top competition to impress the selection committee and get an at-large bid. The Wildcats are the last ranked team the Crimson will face in before the playoffs start.

If the season ended today, Harvard would host Northeastern in the ECAC quarterfinals. The Huskies (18-7-3, 12-5-3) are in fifth place, just two points behind the Crimson. Led by winger Hilary Witt (25 g, 21 a), another Kazmaier nominee, Northeastern took Harvard to overtime twice this month and presents a difficult first round match-up.

Another dangerous quarterfinal opponent will be Providence (17-8-3, 11-6-3). The Friars are eight points behind Brown, but with goaltender Sara DeCosta (1.42 GAA, .948 save percentage), Providence always has a chance to win. Earlier this month DeCosta shut out Harvard for the first time in 83 games to beat the Crimson at Bright.

Four teams are vying for the final two playoff spots. Niagara (17-11-2, 10-11-1), St. Lawrence (17-12-0, 10-10-0), Princeton(10-10-5, 8-9-3) and Cornell (13-12-1, 9-12-1) are separated by just two points in the standings. The Saints play two games at Niagara this weekend.