Duluth, Minn., is not the place to go in late December if you're interested in coming back from winter break with a tan. The forecast for Duluth this weekend is between ten and 30 degrees, with snow showers all but guaranteed.

But Duluth is exactly where the Harvard women's hockey team is headed this weekend, and the players don't seem to mind one bit. The No. 2 Crimson (8-3-0, 8-1-0 ECAC) will play a pair of games at No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth (11-4-1, 7-4-1 WCHA) on Saturday and Sunday in its last non-conference series of the regular season.

Last weekend Harvard was idle as travel partner Brown hosted Niagara for two games. After a week of rest, the high-scoring Bulldogs are exactly the opponent the Crimson wants to play.

"We got to relax last weekend and, since coming back to practice, Coach has kept us focussed on Duluth," said sophomore defenseman Jamie Hagerman. "We know we're playing one of the best teams in the country. These are the games we want to be playing."

For co-captain Angie Francisco and junior goaltender Alison Kuusisto, however, the series at Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) has an added incentive. Both players are Duluth natives, and this is the first time that Harvard has played UMD, which is in its second year as a Division I program.

"I never expected to play UMD when I first came to Harvard," Francisco said. "We've played at Minnesota before and that was fun, but Minneapolis just isn't home. I haven't played in the DECC [Duluth Entertainment Convention Center] since I was a kid."

Francisco certainly won't be bothered by the cold weather in her hometown, and neither should the rest of her red-hot Harvard teammates. The Crimson has won six games in a row after starting slowly with losses in three of its first five games. Two of Harvard's last three wins have come on the road against ranked opponents--No. 4 St. Lawrence and No. 6 Brown.

"Our win at St. Lawrence was huge," Hagerman said. "It gave us a lot of confidence to beat a good team in a close game. But we know that we might not always get the lucky bounces and we're going to have to work harder every day to stay at this level."