The quarterfinals of the ECAC women's hockey tournament went according to plan on Saturday, as all of the top four seeds advanced to the tournament semifinals at Dartmouth this weekend.

These four teams--No. 1 Dartmouth, No. 3 Harvard, No. 4 St. Lawrence, and No. 5 Brown--had distinguished themselves throughout the regular season, and although none of the weekend's wins came easily, the quarterfinals did reaffirm their status as the class of the league.

Dartmouth 3, Niagara 1

Niagara (17-14-4) was one of three teams to defeat Dartmouth (24-3-1) during the regular season. Despite being the consensus No. 1 throughout the season, the Big Green's tournament hopes were essentially on the line last Saturday. Dartmouth would not be denied.

First Team All-Ivy forward Kristen King scored to put Dartmouth up 1-0, and Canadian National Team defenseman Correne Bredin struck from the blueline to make the score 2-0 in the first period.

Niagara cut the deficit to 2-1 in the third by crashing the net on the power play, but Carly Haggard--last year's ECAC Rookie of the Year--put the game away for Dartmouth. In a scoring run reminiscent of the goal she scored against Harvard at Bright last month, Haggard dashed down the right wing, cut in front of Niagara goalie Tania Pinelli, and slipped a backhand past her.

Meaghan Cahill, one half of Dartmouth's dynamic duo in goal, which also includes sophomore Amy Ferguson, made 16 stops to get the win in net. Pinelli--last season a third-team all-ECAC goalie behind national team goaltenders Ali Brewer and Sarah DeCosta--made 44 saves in the losing effort.