It was a frustrating weekend on offense for the No. 1 Harvard women's hockey team. The Crimson scored one goal in two games at Bright Hockey Center, falling 1-0 to No. 8 Providence yesterday after tying No. 6 Northeastern on Saturday, 1-1.

"We are just not as explosive as we would like to be right now," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. "We were a little leg-weary, we were not really on with our passes, and things just did not click very well."

The Crimson (13-3-3, 11-3-3 ECAC) fell to third place in the ECAC, four points behind conference leader Brown. The No. 2 Bears (14-2-3, 13-1-3), who are also Harvard's travel partners, beat the Friars on Saturday, 3-1, and then defeated the Huskies yesterday, 4-2.

Sophomore center Jen Botterill (15 goals, 32 assists) missed both games due to a groin injury. The Harvard offense, which averages more than four goals a game, was unable to cycle the puck down low for quality shots in the slot without Botterill, last season's ECAC Rookie of the Year.

In addition, junior winger Tammy Shewchuk (21 g, 19 a) and sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero (11 g, 19 a), returned to Cambridge shortly before game time on Saturday and played four games in the last five days.

Ruggiero and Shewchuk had been playing for the U.S. and Canadian national teams, respectively, at the Air Canada Centre as part of the festivities for yesterday's NHL All-Star Game. The two All-Americans from last year combined for one assist on the weekend.

Freshman defenseman Jamie Hagerman scored the lone Harvard goal of the weekend. Hagerman and Ruggiero both took shifts up front as Stone shuffled her forward lines in search of some offensive firepower.

Harvard will be in action at Bright tomorrow night. The Crimson will take on Boston University in the first round of the Beanpot at 5 p.m.