And then there were four.

The ECAC Tournament began last week with 10 teams having a shot at winning the crown. Now six of them can watch the rest on television.

Three of the top four seeds advanced through the quarterfinals with relative ease: No. 1 Vermont, No. 2 Clarkson and No. 4 Cornell.

And then there was the surprise team of the weekend: No. 6 Harvard, a team that broke a nine-game losing streak en route to a 2-1 series victory over third-seeded St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y. this past weekend.

The Crimson received solid performances from just about everyone at every position. But perhaps most important was the play of senior goaltender Tripp Tracy.

Tracy's performances were nothing short of outstanding, as his level of play matched that of his vintage freshman season when he was the ECAC's top goaltender.

In Friday night's 5-2 Harvard win, Tracy blocked 25 of 27 St. Lawrence shots in the first two periods to secure a 2-2 tie entering the third period.

While the next night saw Harvard drop a 3-2 heartbreaker, Tracy was nothing short of magnificent. The senior only allowed one goal in a first period in which Harvard was hideously outshot, 14-2. In that period, Tracy also made his 2,000th career save, becoming only the third Crimson netminder ever to crack that mark.

Tracy wasn't as busy in Harvard's series-clinching 8-4 win on Sunday, but he made the big saves when he had to, never allowing the Saints within two goals over the last 36:30 of the game.

If Tracy was the iron man denying goals, sophomore Henry Higdon was the equivalent in terms of scoring them (see story, this page). Higdon kept the goal judge busy in the three games, as he scored five goals, including both game-winners, and assisted on another.

Tracy and Higdon both made this week's ECAC Honor Roll, and freshman Ben Storey earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors. Storey notched Harvard's fourth goal on Friday and assisted on three tallies Sunday night. Storey is the fourth Harvard freshman to win the award this year, joining Craig Adams (11/6 and 1/15), Mike Bent (11/20) and Rob Millar (2/5).

Another milestone occurred Sunday night, as Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni recorded his 100th victory behind the Crimson bench. The skipper is 100-63-19 (.602) in his six seasons behind the Harvard bench.

Cats Claw Engineers

Top-seeded Vermont earned its trip to Lake Placid with 5-2 and 6-4 wins over Rensselaer, eliminating last season's ECAC Tournament champions.

Juniors Martin St. Louis (one goal, six assists) and Eric Perrin (two goals, four assists) were the biggest reasons why the Catamounts are headed to the ECAC Final Four for the first time since 1989.