With the final two regular season games approaching this weekend, the roster for the Harvard women's hockey team has shrunk by two.

Two of the Crimson's most talented and explosive players, both freshmen, defenseman Angela Ruggiero and forward Jennifer Botterill, have temporarily left Harvard to compete in the Women's Hockey World Championships.

This late in the season, when most regular season games really begin to count, most teams would buckle if two of their superstar athletes left to pursue other commitments.

"It was certainly up to both of them," said Head Coach Katey Stone. "I told them both that I would support whatever decision they made. This is what happens when you recruit that kind of talent. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices."

Botterill is the nation's third leading point scorer, and is No. 3 on the Crimson as well. She has already clinched the freshman scoring title in the ECAC with 32 goals and 41 assists.

Not far behind in the point race is Ruggiero--fifth overall--and the top scorer among defensemen in the ECAC.

Even without these two leading point scorers, the Crimson have a host of proven skill and depth ready to step up.

"Botterill and Ruggiero are certainly great players, but we have a lot of great players here," Stone said. "We've been in this situation before, but we've battled back and recovered."

The Crimson narrowly avoided losing two additional players to the World Championships.

Captain A.J. Mleczko, a member of the United States gold-medal women's hockey team in 1998, was asked once again by the National Team to join it in Finland. A three-time member of the squad, Mleczko declined this year.

Sophomore Tammy Shewchuk, who has never played with the Canadian National team, was also offered a spot in the World Championships. Despite the golden opportunity, Shewchuk chose to play for Harvard this weekend.

Mleczko and Shewchuk--Harvard's top point scorers--will stay behind this weekend, and hope to continue to dominate the final regular season games.

Mleczko (27 goals, 67 assists) recently broke two long-standing records.

She shattered the record for most points in a single season, 89, set by current Athletic Director William J. Cleary '56. Cleary set the old mark with 42 goals and 47 assists back in the 1954-55 season.

Mleczko also surpassed Cornell's Cindy Schaepfer for the women's overall single season point scoring record, set in 1976-77 season.