Icewomen Tackle Bruins, 2-1

Forget everything you have ever read about two of the brightest stars of the Harvard women's hockey team--Char Joslin and Jennifer White.

Forget Joslin's swift strides, her thundering rushes up ice, her defensive capabilities.

Forget White's cat-like reflexes and her acrobatic dives on loose pucks.

Forget everything you have ever heard about them, because last night they both outdid themselves.

White made 27 saves and Joslin scored both of the Crimson's goals on the power play as Harvard beat a physical and emotionally charged Brown squad, 2-1, in overtime.

Harvard (now 4-1 overall, 2-0 Ivy) came off very stale in the first period, though it outshot the Bruins, 10-4. The Crimson failed to score on a one-minute, 42-second five-on-three power play. The Bruins success in killing these penalties--plus the next two--gave them a lift.

The Bruins transferred their emotional high onto the ice and seemed to be just a step ahead of the Harvard all the time. "Brown came to play with unbelievable emotion," said Harvard Coach John Dooley.

"They took the puck away from us in the offensive zone, they took the puck away from the neutral zone, and they took the puck away from us in our defensive zone," White said.

After Brown stopped another Crimson power play, the Bruins drew first blood. Margot McShane found Jane Corcoran alone on a two-on-one situation, and Corcoran put the puck behind White.

Les Than Zero

Finally, on its fifth power play opportunity, Harvard got on the board.

With Brown's Kim Les in the penalty box for interference, Brita Lind, Co-Captain Julie Sasner and Joslin aligned themselves three-on-one with a Bruin defender at the top of Brown's defensive right-wing circle. The trio worked the puck to Joslin in the slot.

Joslin's shot found the glove side of Brown goalie Kirsten Rendell to tie the game.

The teams played a scoreless third period, but it was a free-skating period, with countless charges being made by the two squads. White and Rendell each made 12 saves, but there were many more scoring opportunities than the stat sheet showed.

Joslin had one of those opportinities as she stormed straight out of the penalty box after serving a tripping minor and skated circles around the Harvard offensive zone to get a shot on Rendell.

"When you get out of the penalty box, you want to make a difference," Joslin said.

Then with 13 seconds left in regulation, Brown's Whitney Robbins drew a tripping minor which carried into overtime.

And what an overtime it was.

Harvard carried the play into the zone, and Brown continued to be aggressive short-handed as it had been in regulation. But then Joslin gave up the puck and a Bruin skated in all alone. White, strong as ever, made the stop.

"Jen White rose to the occasion," Dooley said. "This was her best game ever."

"After the breakaway, I said, `Come on, let's go,'" White said. "I started laughing and that loosened us up."

Same Spot, Different End

It sure did. With the power play ticking down to under 30 seconds, Lind picked up the puck at the left point and shot it wide. It ricocheted out to Joslin between the faceoff circles. She fired a low shot which went through a maze of players and through Rendell's legs.

"I was just glad they didn't score right away when I gave up that breakaway," Joslin said.

"When you play with emotion, you're going to beat some people," Dooley said. "We stole the game."

THE NOTEBOOK: Before last year, Brown had won two consecutive Ivy League titles. Harvard, of course, captured last year's title with a 10-0 league record...Last year, Brown finished with a 2-6 Ivy record.