Icewomen to Battle Terriers

In the last couple of weeks, both the men's and women's hockey teams lost to B.U. in frustrating fashion. If the Beanpot in February seems too long to wait to shout "Screw B.U.!" then your best chance for revenge is tonight at the Bright Center, where the icewomen will take another shot at the Terriers.

In their season opener the Crimson was stonewalled by Terrier goalie Lisa Whitcomb, outshooting B.U., 40-11, but losing, 1-0. Since then, however, Crimson pucks have paved a sure path to the net--in an 8-1 annihilation of UConn and a 4-3 squeaker over defending Ivy co-champ Brown. The line of Dianne Hurley, Tania Huber and Liz Ward has struck seven times; center Huber and left wing Hurley have each had the hat trick.

The blue line has also been strong. The Terriers last time had only one really good shot all game--the game-winner which beat netminder Cheryl Tate. At UConn the defense toyed with the Huskie forwards, allowing five shots in the game. And in Providence this past weekend, the Crimson shut down the Bruins in the third period to save its come-from-behind win.

All this may sound surprising to followers of last year's squad, which stumbled to a 7-12 mark, good for last place in the Ivy League. But the Crimson's new coach, John Dooley, has done a lot to turn the team around. With 20 years of experience in high school and junior college hockey, he's true rink-rat, in the best sense, consistently helping the offense gain the intuitive ability to hit the net.

So if the Crimson continues its high-scoring ways tonight, the team should have no problem raising its record to 3-1. That is, unless B.U. netminder Whitcomb sticks to her own recent pattern. Not only did she stop the Crimson cold last time, but she held Boston College to one goal before that, and played a big part in a 4-3 win over Colby. And, except for the Harvard game, the Terrier offense has also put its act together, led by freshman standout Jill Toney, scorer of the lone goal against the Crimson.

Unless Whitcomb does another Great Wall imitation tonight, look for the Crimson to show its stuff. It'll be your last chance to see it at the Bright Center until January 6, and more importantly, it's your last chance for three months to show how you feel about B.U.