With more than half of the Ivy League women's soccer schedule already completed, the gridlock at the top of the standings is almost as severe

as the gridlock on the Central Artery during rush hour.

While the perpetual traffic jam in Boston will not soon disappear, however, the clutter at the top of the soccer charts will be resolved over the next two weeks.

Harvard (10-2, 4-1 Ivy) has been the hottest Ivy team of late, shutting out Princeton 2-0 last Friday (10-3, 4-1) to regain a share of the league lead with the Tigers.

Only a half game behind, and tied in

the loss column, are Brown (11-2, 3-1) and Dartmouth (10-3, 3-1).

Although four Ivy League teams qualified for the NCAA tournament last season, the only way to guarantee a spot in the Big Dance is to win the Ivy League championship. After an early blemish to upstart Brown, Harvard has regained the form it displayed in its 1999 championship campaign.

Crimson sophomore striker Joey Yenne earned Player of the Week honors last week by notching the game-winning goal at Princeton, while

freshman midfielder Kate Westfall was named the league's Rookie of the Week by notching two goals and two assists in wins over Boston University and Princeton.

Both Harvard and Princeton dropped 1-0 heartbreakers on Sunday, the Crimson to Penn State and the Tigers to Loyola, Maryland. The two remained tied, however, and each

team will attempt to regain the momentum that it had gained before this weekend as the home stretch commences.

For Harvard, that home stretch includes three critical games beginning

today with regional No. 3 Connecticut, continuing Sunday at Dartmouth

and also including next Tuesday's make-up game with struggling Hartford, which plummeted out of the national rankings after losing to Boston University 3-0 on Oct. 20.

Waiting for the Crimson in Hanover, NH, is a veteran

Dartmouth squad that has postseason aspirations of its own. The Big

Green is led by goalkeeper Kristen Luckenbill, the school record-holder in career shutouts, and striker Jen Murray, who is 10th all-time among Big Green scorers.

After having six days to recuperate from losing both to Harvard and Loyola this weekend, Princeton travels to Cornell (2-12, 1-4) Saturday in what will be a must-win situation for the Tigers.

Brown finds itself in a similar position as Princeton, as it heads to Pennsylvania (7-5-1, 2-3) to meet a

disappointingly mediocre Penn team that, in spite of its unimpressive league record, has not let go of its postseason dreams.

After earning an at-large bid a year ago to the NCAA's, the Quakers have sputtered in the 2000 Ivy League season and are currently tied in fifth place with Yale (8-6-1, 2-3-0).

One bright spot for Pennsylvania, however, has been the recent emergence of Angela Konstantaras, who has scored a goal in each of her team's past two Ivy contests.

Yale, which has shown streaks of brilliance in a 1-0 upset over Connecticut on October 11 and a 4-2 triumph over Penn last Saturday, will host struggling Columbia (4-8-2, 0-5) this Friday night.