No. 6 Women's Hockey Faces Test Against No. 3 Northeastern and No. 9 Providence

Some tests require more studying than others do.

That's what the No. 6 Harvard women's hockey team learned this reading period as it prepared to take on No. 5 Northeastern and No. 9 Providence tonight and tomorrow at Bright Hockey Center. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. both nights.

In particular, the Crimson (9-6-0, 9-2-0) has focused its last week of practice on turning shots into goals. Harvard has routinely outshot its opponents this season, usually at a ratio of nearly two-to-one, but that has not been enough to beat teams with good defenses and quality goaltenders.

"We always outshoot teams, but we realize that we have to work on finishing shots," said sophomore winger Tracy Catlin. "This week we've been working on shooting to score. That means not just shooting to get a shot off, but taking more shots around the net that will get past the goaltender."

Outside of one goal by co-captain Angie Francisco, the second line of Francisco, Catlin and senior winger Kiirsten Suurkask generated plenty of offense but very little scoring last weekend against No. 3 St. Lawrence and Cornell. And the Crimson's next two opponents have the players to slow down Harvard's high-flying offense this weekend if the Crimson cannot produce more quality shots.

The Harvard offense, which is second in the ECAC and scoring an average of 4.13 goals per game, was held in check for most of the weekend even though the Crimson outshot St. Lawrence and Cornell by a combined total of 75-41. Despite the discrepancy on the shot clock, the Saints managed to escape Cambridge with a 3-2 victory last Saturday thanks to timely offense and a 33-save performance from outstanding freshman goaltender Rachel Barrie. On Sunday, the Big Red had the lead after two periods despite a 28-15 Crimson edge in the shot column, but Harvard came to life in the third with three goals to win the game.

Northeastern and Providence play the same physical, defensive hockey that St. Lawrence used to beat Harvard last week. Those defenses start and end between the pipes.

The Huskies (11-4-0, 8-1-0) rely on one of the nation's best netminders in senior Erika Silva, who shut out No. 1 Dartmouth last Friday with 40 saves to hand the Big Green its first loss of the season. Providence, meanwhile, has trusted its crease to rookie Amy Quinlan, who leads the nation in goals-against average (0.74) and save percentage (.967).

It's unlikely that either Silva or Quinlan will give up any cheap goals, so Harvard will have to give itself plenty of chances to score.

"We know we have to take good shots this weekend," said sophomore defenseman Jamie Hagerman. "We need more shots on net and more quality shots in the slot."

The Crimson also needs to clean up its act in the defensive zone. St. Lawrence and Cornell were able to stay competitive last weekend in part because the Harvard skaters failed to get back in transition and cut off opposing forwards between the circles.

"We let them take a lot more higher-percentage shots than we normally allow," Hagerman said. "That was the problem against St. Lawrence, and we gave Cornell a two-on-one that let them take the lead. The defense can't let those shots get off uncontested. We need to pressure them and not let them put the puck on net."

Fortunately for the Crimson, neither the Huskies nor the Friars have a plethora of go-to scorers. Senior Jess Tabb (10 goals, 19 assists) leads the Providence attack while senior Lisa Giovanelli (10 g, 11 a) is Northeastern's top scorer. However, both teams have scored more goals than either St. Lawrence or Cornell.

Tonight's opponent, Northeastern, might look a little slow when it takes the ice. After upsetting Dartmouth at home last Friday, the Huskies traveled west for a two-game series at No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth. Northeastern hung with the Bulldogs in the first game, losing 3-2, but it got blown away in the finale, a 12-0 UMD shutout.

Harvard should be satisfied if it can score half that many goals tonight against Silva. The Crimson will look to co-captains Jennifer Botterill (17 g, 11 a) and Francisco (6 g, 15 a) and senior winger Tammy Shewchuk (8 g, 18 a), all of whom are among the nation's top 25 scorers, to produce on offense.

Two wins this weekend would allow the Crimson to remain in first place in the ECAC before breaking for exams. Harvard is currently one-point ahead of Dartmouth and holds a two-point lead over Northeastern and Providence, two of four teams that are tied for third place in the conference.