Brown's leading scorer, Kauth, took advantage of a Northeastern turnover to put the Bears up 2-0. Brown freshman Kelly Sheridan would make the score 3-0.

Northeastern would come back and cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the third period, but Zamora struck again for the insurance goal with five minutes left when linemate Cassie Turner found her wide-open in the crease.

Upcoming Action

The Saturday semifinal matchups will be Dartmouth vs. Brown and Harvard vs. St. Lawrence. The winners will meet in the ECAC championship the following afternoon.

Much more than the ECAC title will be on the line this weekend. All four semifinalists will be fighting to prove themselves worthy of one of the four bids to the first-ever NCAA women's ice hockey tournament in Minnesota.

Dartmouth, as the ECAC regular season champion and consensus No. 1 team in the country all season, should make the tourney regardless of what happens this weekend. Minnesota-Duluth, the WCHA tournament champion, is also considered a lock.

If Dartmouth can hold on and beat Brown for the third time this season, then the St. Lawrence-Harvard winner would also be essentially assured of a tournament berth. The loser of that game, in all likelihood, would have its selection chances come down to a comparison with No. 6 Minnesota to determine who gets the final berth.