Icewomen Blank Cornell

Cornell hockey teams have always prided themselves on their home ice advantage.

But don't tell that to the Harvard women's hockey team.

The Crimson (8-8-0 overall, 3-4 Ivy) traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., on Sunday and returned with a 2-0 shutout of the Big Red.

The victory was Harvard's fourthstraight win at Lynah Rink, and nudged Harvard into fourth place, just ahead of Cornell, in the Ivy standings.

A rink attendant forgot to open Harvard's locker room, forcing the game to start later than expected, and very slow ice kept the pace and intensity level at a minimum.

The game was billed as a defensive showdown between Harvard goaltender Erin Villiotte, vying for her second straight shutout, and Cornell's Chantal Toth, a member of the Canadian National Team.

Both goalies lived up to expectations as Toth stopped senior forward Sandra Whyte on two breakaways and thwarted several Harvard power plays.

As in the Beanpot Final against Northeastern (a 3-0 shutout). Villiotte sparkled between the pipes.

"We're getting excellent goaltending from Erin Villiotte," Harvard Coach John Dooley said. "It took a while for her to adjust to the college hockey scene, but she is very well focused on the game now."

Harvard broke the scoreless tie at the end of the first period. Collecting a Bev Stickles pass up the middle, Whyte walked around a Cornell defender and beat Toth, while being hauled down from behind.

"That was a great goal by Sandra [Whyte], the goalie didn't really know what to expect, since she was being pulled down," Stickles said. "Whyte beat her with the back-hander."

The Crimson's goal sparked a Big Red counterattack. Led by senior Kim Ratushny, Cornell rattled off several shots on Villiotte.

The Key to Cornell's surge was tight forechecking which closed down Harvard's transitions.

"They were really aggressive and we had trouble breaking out of our end, "Whyte said. "All their forwards would flood towards the puck and their defenders would rush in on our wings."

It was Whyte again who clinched the victory for Harvard with five minutes remaining in the third period.

Whyte blocked a Cornell shot from the point, took the puck end to end and beat Toth with a shot to the upper corner.

With a 2-0 lead, Harvard again found itself under seige by the Cornell attack.

The Big Red received a power play in the closing minutes, but could not convert as Harvard escaped with a shutout.

While the win only moves Harvard to the middle of the league standings, a berth in the ECAC Tournament is not out of the question.

Dooley sees improvements in this young team, particularly in the play of freshman defenders Diana Clark and Winkie Mleczko.

With its new-found momentum, Harvard is looking to avenge earlier losses to league-leaders Dartmouth and Princeton.

Dooley concedes, however, that the Crimson needs to be nearly perfect for the rest of the season.

"We've got to pretty much win all of our Ivy games to make the tournament," Dooley said.