The freshmen joining the team include highly-touted left wing Joey Alissi, defender Beth Messmore--sister of junior right wing Lauren--and field hockey standouts Emily Buxton and Francie Walton. Walton collected Ivy Rookie of the Year honors for her contributions this fall to Harvard's league championship team.
Alissi will join juniors Whyte and right wing Ginny Simonds on the first line. Simonds gathered two game-winning goals among her eight tallies in 1989-90.
"This is one of Harvard's strongest lines ever," Dooley said. "Sandra and Ginny have played together for years, and Joey is the top recruit in the Ivy League."
The Crimson also returns second-liners Lauren Messmore and sophomore Kim Landry. Harvard will be without the services of junior Elizabeth Hansen, a member of the national champion lacrosse team. Hansen has chosen to pursue other interests this winter.
Fellow junior Ceci Clark--co-captain of the field hockey team and co-captain-elect for the lacrosse team--is still uncertain whether she will join the team this season.
Also new to the team are junior tennis standout Jen Minkus and Laurie White, a transfer student from MIT.
"Both Jen and Laurie can fit in anywhere," Dooley said.
McDonald adds that White has a "good touch around the net" and that Minkus will be a "strong, effective player" for the team.
As for Harvard's place in the league, the dominant feeling can best be described as uncertainty. Harvard is coming off a mediocre Ivy campaign, but an outstanding finish in the league tournament highlighted by a 5-2 victory over undefeated Cornell.
"Cornell is the team to beat," Stickles said.
The Big Red was the 1989-90 regular season league champion. However, it will have a new head coach this season and with the Ancient Eight fast approaching parity, a Cornell title is no sure thing.
"Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton and Cornell all have strong teams," McDonald said. "But there's no reason why we can't take it."
After its season opener against the Friars at Bright Hockey Center, Harvard will play the rest of its first half of the season on the road. McDonald said that if the team can "sneak in" a few road victories, it will be on home ice for its last four Ivy contests, which should give the team an added boost.
Whyte summed it up very neatly: "Our goal is to win the Ivies."
1990 Women's Hockey Schedule DATE OPPONENT TIME Nov. 19 PROVIDENCE 7:00 Nov. 26 at B.C. 7:00 Dec. 1 at Yale 2:00 Dec. 5 at Brown 7:00 Dec. 7 at Bowdoin 7:00 Dec. 8 at Colby 12:00 Dec. 12 at UNH 7:00 Jan. 3 at Dartmouth 7:30 Jan. 5 at Cornell 1:00 Jan. 6 at RIT 12:00 Jan. 9 MIT 7:00 Jan. 11 at U. Toronto 7:30 DATE OPPONENT TIME Jan. 12 Mar. Hill. Tourn. TBA Jan. 30 BROWN 7:00 Feb. 2 at Princeton 1:00 Feb. 6 vs. B.U. (Beanpot) TBA Feb. 9 ST. LAWRENCE 1:00 Feb. 10 CORNELL 1:00 Feb. 12 at Beanpot TBA Feb. 13 YALE 7:00 Feb. 17 PRINCETON 1:00 Feb. 19 DARTMOUTH 7:00 Feb. 23 IVY LEAGUE Feb. 23 TOURNAMENT TBA