The defense will also welcome back senior Melissa Milbert, who sat out last year after suffering a knee injury two days before the season-opener.

Milbert was expected to provide leadership to last year's team before her season was cut short.

"It's really exciting to be back," Milbert said. "We have a cohesive squad and practices are going great. Offensively we're still pretty powerful so on defense we just need to make smart decisions and it'll turn out fine. I'm looking forward to making another run at the title this year."

Stone also expects a pair of freshmen to see extensive playing time right away. Jamie Hagerman was the 1998-99 Massachusetts Defensewoman of the Year and has the size to be an imposing presence in the defensive zone. Pam Van Reesema joined Ruggiero and Francisco at the 1999 USA Hockey Women's Festival in August.

Junior defensemen Julie Rando (0, 5) and Jamie Notman (2, 2) will also compete for playing time.

Between the pipes, Harvard will rely on the services of senior Crystal Springer. Springer finished third in the ECAC with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, but she missed 10 games during the regular season due to a broken collarbone, which she re-aggravated in the national semifinal against Brown. Springer is one of the top goaltenders in the country, but first she must recover from last season's injuries.

Sophomore Alison Kuusisto filled in for Springer and went 11-0-0 as a rookie, a record which inlcudes the victory in the national championship game. After giving up six goals in the first 30 minutes of the Beanpot semifinal against Northeastern, Kuusisto found her rhythm in the crease and finished fifth in the conference with a 1.69 goals-against average.