The Harvard women's hockey team was blanked, 8-0, by New Hampshire Saturday in the semifinal round of the ECAC playoffs at Durham, N.H.

The Wildcats tallied twice in the first minute-and-a-half of play on goals by senior defender Ellen Weinberg and sophomore forward Karyn Bye to jump out to the early 2-0 lead. Freshman forward Suzanne Merz added another goal six minutes later and UNH closed out the period with a comfortable 3-0 advantage.

The Wildcats struck early in the second period, as well, increasing their lead to 5-0 on goals by junior forward Dawn Harris at the 1:02 mark and Bye at 1:53. Six minutes later, junior forward Kelly Thorne tallied to boost the Wildcats's margin to 6-0.

Merz added two goals in the third period, at 6:16 and 13:44, to give her three tallies on the afternoon. Bye finished with two goals and two assists for four points.

UNH netminder Laura Stiles stopped all 12 Harvard goal attempts while Crimson goalie Gillian D'Souza racked up 25 saves. Wildcats, 8-0 in Durham, N.H. HARVARD  0-0-0--0 New Hampshire  3-3-2--8

First Period: 1, UNH, Ellen Weinberg (Karyn Bye) 56; 2, UNH, Bye (Karen Akre, Dawn Harris) 1:23; 3, UNH, Suzanne Merz (Colleen Coyne) 8:21. Penalties--UNH, Merz (slashing) 3:01; UNH, Amy McPhee (body check) 7:10.