If this year's women's Beanpot Tournament follows true to form, tonight's semifinal-round games at Bright Center won't be nearly as exciting as the men's Beanpot was last night.

But next week's potential title showdown between Harvard and the favored Northeastern Huskies shapes up to be a thriller. The Huskies are coming off their first loss since the 1986-87 season, dropping a 4-2 decision to Providence Sunday night.

B.C. and B.U. are really no competition for the much stronger Crimson and Huskies. They are club teams and are treated as such, receiving no funding from their athletic departments. B.U.'s team is sponsored by the Student Activities Fund and the Department of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, while B.C.'s team supports itself.

Northeastern, however, is one of the top teams in women's hockey. Last year's ECAC regular-season and tournament champions, the Huskies finished the season undefeated with a record of 26-0-1. They are off to a similar start this season, currently 13-1 overall and 9-1 in ECAC action. On a recent trip to Canada, they beat the University of Toronto, the number-one team in Canada, 8-2.

According to Harvard Coach John Dooley, one of the key factors to Northeastern's continued dominance is the much stronger support that its team receives from the school.

"Northeastern is a team that has all the hired guns," Dooley said. "They are a scholarship school that offers the most scholarships [in women's hockey]. They are able to recruit lot of players from Canada."

Northeastern Coach Don MacLeod is currently in his tenth season and has amassed a record of 140-39-5. According to Lionel Sevigny, Northeastern's women's ice hockey contact, MacLeod's position is only part-time despite the varsity status of the women's hockey team. MacLeod manages to perform all his duties as a coach while maintaining another fulltime job and he does all his scouting and recruiting during his vacation time.

"He's an excellent coach--he really knows how to motivate the players," Sevigny said. "He's done so much with the program here. Ten years ago we started out in the same position as everyone else. Now a lot of the other programs don't want to play us anymore because they say we're too strong."

The Huskies are led by freshman Vicky Sunohara, who is their leading scorer with 49 points (35 goals, 14 assists) through the Providence game.

"Sunohara is just unbelievable," Harvard Coach John Dooley said. "She's very strong and a terrific skater. She's an incredible talent."

Returning to the Northeastern lineup tonight is Captain Donna-Lynn Rosa, who has played in only six games this season due to an ankle injury.

Northeastern's goalie will be sophomore Sue Guay. She has allowed only five goals in four games, and has 114 saves in 297 minutes of play.

Northeastern also has the advantage in numbers, with the capability of skating three or four full lines.

"Based on depth this could be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, teams we've ever had," Sevigny said.

"We only skate two full lines, so fatigue is always a factor," Tri-Captain Brita Lind said.

The Crimson (10-5-1 overall, 5-0-1 Ivy) looks very strong this year, coming off an impressive 5-3 victory over second-place Princeton. TriCaptains Julia Trotman and Lind feel that this could be one of the Crimson's best opportunities in year to challenge Northeastern for the title.

"We'll have our best chance ever," Trotman said. "In my four years here, this is the strongest we've ever been."

"I think we're a stronger team than even we realize," Lind said.

Harvard will be playing at full strength as Lind returns from an ankle injury that forced her to miss the Brown game last Wednesday. She will be a major factor in tonight's game, along with linemates freshman Sandra Whyte, the team's leading scorer, and Trotman.

Goalie, Goalie

Starting goaltender and TriCaptain Jen White, who made 24 saves in Saturday's game, should be ready for anything that comes her way. The Crimson will also be depending on strong defensive play from Char Joslin, sophomore Sue Cullinane, and freshmen Ginny Simonds and Beverly Stickles. The foursome were responsible for shuting down Princeton's leading scorer, Molly Marcoux, in Saturday's game. Marcoux was last year's Ivy Rookie of the Year and is expected to be a prime candidate for Ivy Player of the Year this season.

Harvard's penalty-killing team should also be well-prepared, after limiting Princeton to only one goal in several power-play chances.

Harvard faces B.U. at 7 p.m., and Northeastern takes on B.C. in the 9 p.m. contest. The finals will be a week from tonight on February 14.