It is do or die time for four of the top five teams in women's college hockey.
No. 1 Dartmouth (24-3-1), No. 3 Harvard (22-8-0), No. 4 St. Lawrence (23-6-3) and No. 5 Brown (19-6-3) will faceoff tomorrow and Sunday for the ECAC title and bids to next week's Frozen Four finals in Minnesota.
Although there are no automatic bids to the inaugural NCAA women's hockey tournament, No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth (26-5-4) should be guaranteed an invite after winning the WHCA title.
Dartmouth, after holding down the No. 1 position in the national polls all season, is also a safe bet to receive one of the four spots when the selection committee announces the finalists Sunday, regardless of the outcome in the ECAC tournament.
That leaves Harvard, St. Lawrence, Brown and No. 6 Minnesota (23-9-2) fighting for the last two spots.
"We're not trying to think about the selection committee right now," said senior defenseman Tara Dunn. "We just want to try to win Saturday, and if we keep winning, things will take care of themselves."
Minnesota has already played its final game unless it receives an invite to the Frozen Four. The Gophers lost to No. 8 Ohio State, 4-0, in the WHCA semifinals and then fell to No. 7 Wisconsin in the consolation final, possibly finishing its season on a three-game losing streak.
Harvard, St. Lawrence and Brown, on the other hand, still appear to be in control of their own destiny. Brown faces Dartmouth in the early semifinal at 4 p.m. tomorrow, while Harvard skates against St. Lawrence in the late game at 7 p.m. in Hanover, NH.
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