No. 9 Northeastern was a confidence builder. No. 1 Dartmouth was revenge. No. 6 Brown has made it a bandwagon.

After falling to Princeton, 3-2, two weeks ago, the No. 3 Harvard women's hockey team has defeated three top-ten teams in a row for the first time this season.

"We just came off the big win against Dartmouth and were ready to beat whomever was in our path," said senior winger Kiirsten Suurkask.

The Crimson (18-7-0, ECAC 17-3-0) shutout Brown (15-5-3, 12-5-3) 5-0 last night, which all but assures Harvard of a top-two finish in the ECAC regular season.

"Brown has always been a nemesis," Suurkask said. "When we won the national championships, they were the only team that beat us, and ever since it's a big game every time we play Brown."

Harvard is peaking at the just the right time. If the past ten days were a make or break point in the season, the Crimson has made it.

The big players have been scoring the big goals. The second line has found new life. The goaltending has been absolutely spectacular.

"The kids are stepping up when we need them to, and it has been Kiirsten for the past couple of games," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. "As long as someone steps up, however, it doesn't matter who it is as long as they're there."