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Frozen Four Begins Tonight

W. Hockey faces Minn.-Duluth in national semifinal

Duluth Coach Shannon Miller will convey similar lines of thought to her team. She is well aware of the dangers of giving Harvard's offense anything to work with, having coached Botterill and Shewchuk in the Canadian national program before she was axed after Canada's disappointing second-place finish in the 1998 Olympics.

On paper, Duluth has the far more experienced goaltender in sophomore Tuula Puputti of the Finnish national team. However, Crimson freshman netminder Jessica Ruddock has managed to win her share of big games before, including the Beanpot final and the win over Dartmouth in February.

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Ruddock and the Crimson defense have kept the team in every game they have played this year, allowing more than three goals in a game only twice this season--four against Providence on Jan. 13 and four in the first meeting with Duluth. In the latter game, the Crimson gave up three goals--including the game-winner in the final minute--to blow a 3-1 third-period lead.

"We just got careless," said Stone of the first meeting with Duluth. "We didn't grind it out. We've learned though, back in December, that we have to be mentally tough."

Against a team with Duluth's depth, Harvard could not afford to play a two-period game. It was sophomore forward Joanne Eustace--Duluth's sixth-leading scorer--who notched the game-tying and game-winning goals that afternoon.

"We just didn't play consistently," Botterill said. We didn't play a solid 60 minutes."

The next day, Harvard looked to bounce back from a weekend split with junior Duluth-native Allison Kuusisto in net, but she was pulled after letting in three goals early in the first period. Since then, Ruddock has earned the start against every top-ten opponent that Harvard has faced.

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