'Cat Scratch Fever

The real Game this weekend will be on ice and in New Hampshire.

In what promises to be the biggest showdown in the Harvard women's hockey team's, No. 2 Harvard (3-1-0, 1-1-0 ECAC) will face off against newly crowned No. 1 UNH (4-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC). It will mark the Crimson's first ECAC road trip.

UNH and Harvard faced-off four times last year, each time ending in a Crimson victory. The teams met in both the ECAC championship and the AWCHA championship games--both went to overtime.

And for the second straight weekend, the Crimson will be facing a team that wishes to extract revenge.

The Crimson is coming off a 1-1 ECAC weekend, having lost to then-No. 7 Dartmouth last Friday. It did rebound to beat Boston College, 7-2 Saturday, but the defeat demoted Harvard to No. 2 in the polls.

Harvard clobbered the Big Green in last year's ECAC semi-finals, 8-1.

The Wildcats are coming off a strong weekend, beating Yale and No. 9 Princeton, 7-0 and 5-3 respectively.

"We are very motivated and really want to reclaim the No. 1 spot," captain Kim McManama said.

Both teams boast aggressive, high-scoring forwards.

Junior Tammy Shewchuk, who notched eight points last weekend, is the reigning ECAC Player of the Week for the second week in a row. She leads the ECAC in points scoring.

The top forward line of Shewchuk, sophomore center Jennifer Botterill, and junior winger Angie Francisco is the Crimson's scoring juggernaut. The forward line accounted for 17 of Harvard's 24 points last weekend.

UNH also boasts a squad of dangerous forwards, however their scoring is more equally dispersed. Eight players have scored for the Wildcats in their two ECAC games, compared to Harvard's four.

Senior forwards Carisa Zaban and Samantha Holmes lead the team in points, with eleven and eight respectively.

"UNH plays fast, smart, straight-up hockey," McManama said.

Offensive production is not a concern for the Crimson. This week Harvard is focused on improving its defense.

"We need to play smart in our defensive zone coverage; we need to stop having lapses," McManama said.

Coach Katey Stone agreed when outlining the keys to defeating UNH.

"[We need] defensive zone coverage and a good game from our goalie," she said.

Following up on the 1-1 weekend, the Crimson has been working in practice on improving overall and increasing its intensity.

The Crimson will be welcoming back junior forward Kiirsten Suurkask, the 1997-1998 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, who missed the home openers due to a shoulder injury.

Also freshman winger Kalen Ingram will be making her debut for Harvard this weekend--she joins the team late due to field hockey's extended season.

Suurkask and Ingram increase the Crimson's depth at forward, allowing Harvard to play three strong forward lines.

Despite Suurkask's return, injury still plagues the Crimson. Senior goalie Crystal Springer is recovering from a knee sprain sustained two weeks ago. She could be back as soon as Wednesday.

Following the game against the Wildcats, the Crimson will face Maine (1- 3- 0, 1-3-0) on Sunday. The Black Bears are also coming off of a 1-1 weekend, losing to Princeton but defeating Yale.

Maine is unranked and did not appear in post-season play last year. The Crimson dominated last year's meetings, winning, 6-1 and 6-2.

The UNH game could be a watershed for Harvard. A win could demonstrate the Crimson's ability to rebound from a tough loss, something that it had to do only once last season.

UNH is a deeper and fundamentally better team than Dartmouth. It will capitalize on any Harvard mistake. To win the Crimson needs to play solid, well-balanced hockey for the entire game.

Despite the high-flying forwards line of each team, this match-up will likely boil down to defense.

"We really want to bounce back from the Dartmouth lost and reclaim the No. 1 spot. We need to play our best game," McManama said.