Clamping down in close games got a little easier for the Harvard women's ice hockey team. Now, the Crimson (5-2, 2-2 ECAC, 1-2 Ivy) hopes to capitalize on this ability to douse rallies when it faces Middlebury today.

Harvard, which lost a seesaw struggle to Dartmouth, 5-4, on Nov.21, rebounded to stifle Boston College, 3-1, the next day.

"I was really glad we were able to hold on to the lead [against B.C.]," said senior goalie Jen Bowdoin, who returned from a hip injury to post 27 saves in her season debut. "We had trouble doing that last year."

Freshman Kiirsten Suurkask put Harvard on the board first when she fired in her 11th goal on a pass from freshman Angie Francisco at 8:16 of the first period. But B.C. evened up the score on Erin Magee's tally at 13:02 of the second period.

Just 40 seconds later, though, Harvard took the lead for good when Francisco scored her seventh goal of the season. Sophomore Courtney Smith added insurance with just over 15 minutes remaining in the third period.

"I don't think we played that well in the beginning and middle," Bowdoin said. "But I'm glad we didn't allow many chances in the third period, and that we were able to win."

"There were some times when B.C. had a lot of chances," said junior co-captain Kyle Walsh. "There were some hectic moments in our zone. But we withstood them. We started to mark up better and take the body harder--that was pretty key."

The B.C. game saw one tie and no lead changes, which contrasted sharply with the Nov. 21 overtime thriller against Dartmouth, where the lead ricocheted back and forth like popcorn kernels in a microwave. The Dartmouth game saw three ties and four lead changes.

"It was definitely the kind of game you want to be involved in," Walsh said. "We had fun; we were pumped."

Against Middlebury, the Crimson must continue its aggressive forechecking and improve on its defensive zone coverage.

"Our defensive zone coverage is getting better, but we still need to work on it," Walsh said.

Problems on coverage contributed to a dismal first period against B.C.

"We were getting outhustled," Walsh said. "Our defensive zone coverage was awful, we were playing with the puck too long, and people weren't sticking to their marks. We weren't making smart decisions."

Though Middlebury should pose an easier challenge than Dartmouth, Harvard must contain its opponent as it contained B.C. in the third period in order to avoid the upset.