The Harvard women's ice hockey team moved one step closer to defending its Ivy League title by downing Cornell, 5-0 Sunday afternoon in Ithaca, N.Y.

The Crimson (7-3 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) notched three second-period goals by Ginny Simonds, Sandra Whyte and Char Joslin to take the lead.

Harvard put the game out of reach in the final period with a score by Tri-Captain Julia Trotman and Joslin's second goal of the game.

"We could have been even better against Cornell," Tri-Captain Brita Lind said. "Our offense was jumbled in the first period, and our passing could have been better. But at least we know that there is a better team sitting inside of us."

In earning the shutout, Crimson netminder Jennifer White was helped by a strong Harvard defense, which held the Big Red to just 10 shots on net.

In other weekend action, the Crimson fell, 6-0, Saturday afternoon in a non-league game to the Rochester Institute of Technology.

"RIT is a case of us looking towards Cornell and looking past RIT," Lind said. "I think psychologically we wanted to keep from getting hurt, and we weren't that up for the game."

Princeton is also undefeated in the Ivies, so the Crimson can't afford to let up like it did against the Engineers.

"We still have to work very hard because everybody else is incredibly strong," Brita Lind said. "A lot of our games we have won could have gone the other way."