Before last night's season opener against Dartmouth. Harvard's Assistant Women's Ice Hockey Coach Bill McDonald said this year's team would be much better than last year's 15-6 squad.

The icewomen then went out and backed up McDonald's words with an impressive 3-1 win over the Big Green in Hanover, showing they should be a legitimate contender for the Ivy League crown. The icewomen finished second in the Ivies last year.

"We knew Dartmouth would be tough," McDonald said after the game. "But we played great and I think that's a good sign for the rest of the year. We expect to be right in there."

Out of the Gate

Using aggressive forchecking and a strong defense, the Crimson dominated the game from the start, handing the Big Green its first loss of the year. Dartmouth is now 1-1 and 0-1 in the Ivies.

Harvard opened the scoring at 3:04 of the first period when senior Jennifer White took the puck on a pass from Sue Newell and rocketed it past Dartmouth goalie Kristen Bjork. The power-play goal was set up after Newell intercepted the puck deep in Crimson territory.

The Crimson then scored what turned out to the game-winner when Diane Hurley managed to sneak the puck past Bjork at the 11:20 point of the second stanza. With assists from Liz Ward and Newell. Hurley skated down the left side of the rink and took the shot off a well-led pass from Newell.

Just One

The icewomen, who dropped a 4-2 decision at Hanover last year, had their shutout hopes spoiled when Dartmouth's Estey Ticknor intercepted a Crimson pass, skated from her own blue line, and deposited the puck into the back of the Crimson goal at 16:35 of the second period. The goal proved to be the only one the Big Green could manage off Harvard goalic Cheryl Tate, who finished the game with 18 saves.

As the final period began, Harvard used an aggressive game to score its last goal. Just 37 seconds into the period, Kathy Carroll took a pass from Captain Alex Lightfoot and smacked the puck past Bjork, who finished with 16 saves.

"It was the forechecking during the whole game that wore them down," McDonald said. "And besides that, our defense played the best I've ever seen. The defensive line included Amy Spalding, Deb Taft, Megan Berthold, and Newell.

THE NOTEBOOK: The icewomen will get a break from what McDonald calls "one of the toughest schedules the team has ever faced" when they face lightly regarded UConn on Dec. 1.