(Neither Morris for Vaughan could be reached for comment.)

#3 RPI (18-8-4, ECAC) vs. #6 Union (14-9-4, 10-9-3 ECAC): Looking to Double-Dutch".

It was supposed to be another building year for the Skating Dutchmen, still in only their third year up from Division III play--but lo and behold, Coach Bruce Delventhal has made Union the hottest team in the ECAC's at just the right time of year.

Since a 5-4 covertime loss to Clarkson on February 4, the Dutchmen have gone 7-0-2--even Harvard has lost more recently. For a team that had never before even escaped the ECAC cellar, Delventhal is overjoyed at his season to date.

"I really feel blessed just to be here," he said. "We feed good about just being involved at this point of the season, and the kids feel very positive with what we've been able to accomplish. We're going to have fun this weekend."

RPI Coach Buddy Powers is not so sanguine. His Engineers were consensus preseason picks to win the regular season conference crown, but an increasingly inconsistent, frustrating season was capped by a futile road trip to Brown and Harvard two weekends ago: no points from two games.

After wins over Cornell and Colgate last weekend, Powers said he feels that momentum may be back somewhat on his side. "It was a long way back from the Harvard-Brown weekend, but I feel we bounced back pretty well," he said.

"We played in a playoff-type atmosphere against Colgate, and that's good type of game to play going into the postseason."

True, and the overall talent balance favors RPI. Neil Little is one of the country's premier goalies, and the Union duo of Mike Gallant (Friday) and Luigi Villa (Saturday) might be hard-pressed to stop them.

And even with a long season behind them, freshmen and freshmen, and Union dresses 11 of them every night; compared with an experienced Engineer crops headed by senior captain Ron Pasco, the Dutchmen's youth shall surely tell.

Or will it? Could a local rivalry-in-waiting develop from a hard-fought series this weekend? Don't be too surprised if this matchup is reprised on Sunday.

#4 Brown (13-10-4, 12-7-3 ECAC) vs. #5 Vermont (14-10-6, 10-6-6 ECAC): "Meehan My Shadow."

Another case of "hot" and "not-so-hot," as the stumbling Brown Bears ready themselves for the Catamounts of Vermont, winners of three in row. The Cats, in fact, came into last weekend hoping to slide into fourth place and home ice berth, but RPI moved up instead of back, denying Vermont a shot at a Gutterson Fieldhouse advantage.

"We were hoping to see RPI have some trouble," Coach Mike Gilligan admitted. "But we're still playing well, and we're not too concerned about not having home ice."

What may concern Vermont fans is last Saturday's injury to ace goalie Tim Thomas. He had to leave the Yale win with a groin injury, and although he should be back in time to face the Bears, he may not be at 100 percent.