The Wildcats are second in the ECAC, trailing Harvard by two points. But UNH will take two weeks off from conference play to face three WCHA teams: St. Cloud State, No. 6 Minnesota and No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth.

UNH will be the first eastern test for Minnesota-Duluth (19-0-1, 16-0-0 WCHA). UMD is averaging 7.11 goals a game thanks to a host of players with international experience. Sophomore Jenny Schmidgall (31 g, 34 a) and rookie Maria Rooth (25 g, 22 a) are the two highest scorers in the nation.

Freshman Erika Holst (18 g, 16 a) is eighth in the WCHA in scoring. Schmidgall won a gold medal with the 1998 U.S. Olympic Team. Rooth and Holst were also in Nagano as members of Team Sweden.

The Bulldogs have looked impressive against the WCHA, which features five first-year programs and only one team--Minnesota--which has been competitive against the best of the ECAC in past years. The Bulldogs edged the Gophers in two games at Minneapolis in December, 5-4 and 1-0.

And UMD struggled against Princeton, the only ECAC team it has played thus far. The unranked Tigers tied the Bulldogs, 2-2, before losing 3-0. The only ranked teams left on UMD's schedule are UNH and Minnesota, which it will play the first two weekends of February.

No. 4 Brown (10-2-3, 9-1-3 ECAC) may have played its best hockey of the season in an exhibition game last Saturday. The U.S. Select Team had been destroying every collegiate team it played, but the Bears took Team USA to overtime before a goal by Laurie Baker gave the Americans a 5-4 victory.

Playing one of the best offenses in the world, senior goaltender Ali Brewer (1.57 GAA) made 49 saves. Baker's score was the first goal Brewer has allowed in overtime this season. A finalist for last year's Patty Kazmaier Award, Brewer has shut out Harvard, Northeastern and Providence in sudden death.