The Harvard women's hockey team knew they needed to sweep both games last weekend to have a chance at the ECAC league title. They also needed Dartmouth to falter in one of its two games.

Both the Crimson and the Big Green were dominant, however, and Dartmouth claimed the league crown by a mere one point.

But the most important games have yet to be played. An ECAC title is a nice accomplishment, but an NCAA title would be even better.

No. 4 Harvard (21-8-0, 20-4-0 ECAC) begins its quest to recapture the national championship it earned in the 1999 season with an ECAC quarterfinal game this weekend. Harvard needs to perform well in the ECAC tournament in order to secure a high seed in the NCAA tournament.

"We're right where we want to be right now," said Coach Katey Stone. "We're proud of how we finished [in the ECAC regular season] and now we have to focus on one game at a time."

The first test for Harvard will be tomorrow at 2 p.m. against No. 10 Providence. The Crimson beat the Friars (18-13-3, 10-11-3) just 3-2 on February 24 on the road..

Saturday's contest will be in the friendly confines of Bright Hockey Arena, where the Crimson has lost just three games all season.

There was no surprise in who led the Crimson scoring in the last meeting between the two teams. Junior co-captain Jen Botterill, the league's all-around scoring leader, scored two goals and assisted on the other to lead the Crimson over the Friars.