The Harvard men’s hockey team ventured to Troy, N.Y. on Tuesday with first place in the ECAC in its sights—and returned without gaining any ground, 4-2 losers to Rensselaer. This weekend, the Crimson won’t have another chance to pass ECAC leader Clarkson, but it will have an opportunity to boost its already-strong non-conference record with a Saturday night game at Vermont. The Catamounts rank seventh in the Hockey East conference, one spot ahead of the Boston University squad that Harvard beat earlier in the season. If the Crimson is in need of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in March, a win over Vermont could provide the non-conference result it was lacking when it missed the tournament last season.

—DANIEL J. RUBIN-WILLS

Riding a high after its win over Michigan on Saturday, the Crimson men’s basketball team went to Boston University on Tuesday night expecting big things. But it’s back to the drawing board after a 79-72 loss across the Charles River.

Harvard will have the opportunity to get back to its winning ways tomorrow night in Bethlehem, Pa., when the Crimson travel to take on Lehigh. Last year at Lavietes Pavilion, Harvard knocked off the Mountain Hawks, 83-75, getting 18 from point guard Drew Housman. Housman, the Crimson’s leading scorer this year, will look to make a similar offensive contribution, while having the task of holding down Lehigh leading scorer, sophomore Marquis Hall.

—KEVIN C. REYES

When the Harvard women’s basketball team has four players in double figures, it expects to come out with a win. But a hot-shooting Providence team came to Lavietes Pavilion Wednesday night with a shootout of its own planned, and shot over 50 percent for the game en route to a 78-64 win. Now, the Crimson directs its attention to Saturday afternoon, when another host of offensive talent awaits at New Hampshire. While acknowledging the talent of this Wildcats squad, coach Kathy Delaney-Smith believes her team matches up better with New Hampshire’s guards than the Friars’ physical front line. Sophomore guard Amy Simpson is the Wildcat to stop: her 12.6 points per game leads the team.

—EMILY W. CUNNINGHAM

This weekend, the Harvard men’s squash team will look to continue winning as the Crimson travels to New Haven for the U.S. Squash five-man team tournament. Harvard has proved thus far that it can overcome injury and youth to best several good teams this season. The Crimson will likely post a strong showing at the tournament, as the men’s top five have only dropped one match total this entire season. In all of Harvard’s contests this year, the top five have won key matches for the team. This was especially the case during last Saturday’s narrow 5-4 victory over Cornell. Look for the Crimson to send juniors Verdi DiSesa, Niko Hrdy, Ned Reeves, sophomore Colin West, and freshman J. Reed Endresen to represent their team at the tournament.

—VINCENT R. OLETU

The Harvard men’s and women’s track teams will host their first home meet of the indoor season, the Harvard Open, tomorrow at Gordon Track, with competition kicking off at 9 a.m. It is just the second meet of the young indoor season, and figures to be another warmup contest for the Crimson as the teams work toward Heps and NCAA Regionals in March. Expect to see plenty of freshmen, as the men’s team welcomed 22 first-years and the women’s squad 23 this year, numbers that should bolster last year’s point totals, which were often harmed by Harvard’s inability to field competitors in all events. Some freshmen to watch include Dina Emde in the high jump, Brian Hill in middle distance events, and John McVey in the pole vault, as all three had strong outings last weekend.

—BRAD HINSHELWOOD

With two events under its belt—the East Stroudsburg Open and the Cliff Keen LA Invitational—the Harvard wrestling team travels to Hofstra this weekend for its first dual meet of the season. The Crimson boasts a much deeper starting lineup this year, especially with freshmen Shay Warren and Dan Kelly competing at 125 lbs., a spot Harvard often forfeited in previous seasons. With junior co-captain Louis Caputo and sophomore J. P. O’Connor anchoring the lineup at 184 and 149, respectively, the Crimson will be looking to see exactly how it stacks up in dual-meet competition. Harvard’s performance will be crucial in evaluating how much of a contender it will be for the Ivy title, which Cornell has had a monopoly over in recent years.

—TONY D. QIAN