While Harvard may have one less bullet in the holster on offense this weekend, the Crimson defense will have to contend with some of the ECAC's most potent firepower.

Yale enters this weekend playing its best hockey of the season. Head Coach Tim Taylor, who guided his team to a regular season title last year, again has his team overachieving. The Elis ride a five game unbeaten streak into the weekend.

The backbone of the team is junior forward Jeff Hamilton. Hamilton, who leads the ECAC in scoring, provides a ubiquitous presence on the ice with a virtual green light from Taylor to roam wherever he wants to in the offensive zone.

"We have to be conscious when their top players are on the ice," Schwefel said. "We know that we can stop them."

Over the past few games, the Bulldogs have made Hamilton more of a threat as their defense's transitional game has fallen into a groove. Early in the season, the Elis had to adjust to life without last year's captain, All-American Ray Giroux. Now the corps stick handling ability has stepped up.

The last time these teams met, on Nov. 21--the day of The Game--the Crimson had no answer for Hamilton, who netted a hat trick en route to a 7-1 thrashing.

Princeton, on the other hand, faces the weekend in the midst of its first rocky patch of the season. After a shocking 4-2 upset by Dartmouth back on Jan. 8 and a sweep by Colgate and Cornell this past weekend, the Tigers have fallen out of first place and the Top Ten.

While the Bulldogs may arguably have the best player of the weekend, the Tigers bring more weapons to the rink. Senior forward Jeff Halpern who had 53 points last season and a very potent 27 this year anchors an attack with Scott Bertolli and the rugged Syl Apps, who each have 19 points this year.

Remarkably, the Crimson were able to shut down the Tigers earlier this year, dropping only 3-2 at Hobey Baker.

"Last time against Princeton," Schwefel said. "We played strong as a team, but this time we are going to be even better."

Despite the challenge that the Crimson face this weekend, the potential loss of Moore does not provide any excuse for the team. The Crimson still have plenty of offensive weapons to utilize.

The ultimate key for Harvard will be taking the energy that infused practice all week and pouring it out onto the ice for each and every shift.

"We have to get it going this weekend," Schwefel said. "With eight games remaining we are running out of chances."