The Bulldogs have managed to stay in second place in the conference on the strength of its defense and goaltending. Yale boasts the No. 2 and No. 3 netminders in the conference in senior Trevor Hanger and sophomore Dan Lombard.

Hanger has a miniscule 1.65 goals against average, while Lombard is right behind him at 1.82. The tandem splits the starting duties equally.

Yale Coach Tim Taylor '63 has once again gotten his team to overachieve. The Elis have managed to stay competitive despite the loss of captain and All-American center Jeff Hamilton.

Hamilton has taken a medical/academic hardship exemption and is sitting out the season after suffering a torn abdominal muscle in November.

Princeton, on the other hand, has also exceeded expectations this season after graduating arguably the best senior class in its history led by center Jeff Halpern, who has five goals so far this year for the Washington Capitals.

A pair of junior forwards Chris Corrinet and Kirk Lamb along with senior forward Benoit Morin have picked up the scoring slack for the Tigers. Meanwhile, sophomore goalie Dave Stathos has been rock solid in goal, posting a 2.63 GAA.

"We have the utmost respect for Yale and Princeton," Mazzoleni said. "These are two excellent defensive teams. We have been trying up to this point to still implement out system."

As for the Harvard defense, Mazzoleni continues to experiment with pairings and he will start Prestifilippo Friday night. Saturday's starter has yet to be determined as Jonas turned in a solid 26-save performance against the Minutemen.