Since an 11-2-0 start that culminated with a 4-0 win over No. 1 Dartmouth--the Big Green's only loss to date--the Huskies have struggled to a 2-6-1 record in their last nine.

It will be Northeastern Coach Joy Woog's first-ever Beanpot. Longtime Coach Heather Linstad--the only female ever to win both ECAC Player and Coach of the Year honors--left the Huskies this summer to jump-start Connecticut's new hockey program.

A Beanpot win is about the only way left for the Huskies to revitalize what has been a relatively disappointing season by their standards. The Crimson will need to be careful not to fall behind in a game with such high stakes.

"We've been on a good streak the last couple of games scoring the first goal," sophomore forward Kalen Ingram said. "Hopefully we can keep that going through Tuesday."

The Looming Battle

This weekend, Harvard will look to extend its six-game winning streak at Princeton and Yale. If the Crimson can sweep the weekend, it will be just a point back of Dartmouth in the ECAC standings going into their Feb. 17 showdown with eight conference games remaining in each team's schedule. Harvard has lost four games in a row against Dartmouth over the past two seasons, including a bitter season-ending overtime defeat in 2000. In the most recent meeting, Harvard blew a two-goal first-period lead before falling, 5-4. Another chance for revenge is just under two weeks away, but the Crimson will have to focus on the task at hand.

"We've got a great weekend ahead [against Princeton and Yale] and we've got the Beanpot next Tuesday, so we're definitely going to be ready for Dartmouth in a couple weeks and for now we're just taking it one game at a time," Botterill said.