Brown (17-3-3, 15-2-3 ECAC) has been in first place for several weeks, but the Bears' lead has dwindled to one point. To make matters worse, junior captain Tara Mounsey (14 goals, 10 assists), the team's leading scorer and a Patty Kazmaier Award nominee for the second straight year, damaged her ACL last weekend and could be out for the rest of the season.

That puts even more pressure on senior goaltender Ali Brewer (1.44 goals-against average, .939 save percentage) to produce shutouts, which is exactly what she did against No. 8 Providence last Sunday in Brown's first game without Mounsey.

Dartmouth (17-9-0, 16-6-0) is still in second place despite losing at UNH on Sunday. But the Big Green's chance to win the regular-season title is slim. Dartmouth has only two games left in the regular season--most teams have four games left--and both games are against ranked opponents, Northeastern and Providence.

UNH (22-7-0, 15-5-0) stole third place from Harvard because it played two conference games last weekend and came away with four points in the standings. The Wildacts are 6-1 in February, including victories over Minnesota-Duluth and Dartmouth.

With the return of Samm Holmes (24 g, 18 a) UNH's quartet of senior forwards is back at full force. That foursome includes Carisa Zaban (33 g, 34 a), the conference's leading scorer, Tina Carrabba (17 g, 18 a)and Melissa McKenzie (16 g, 19 a).

Harvard trails UNH by one point in the standings. The Crimson has four of the ECAC's top seven scorers--junior forwards Tammy Shewchuk (27 g, 28 a) and Angie Francisco (14 g, 29 a), and two Kazmaier nominees in sophomore center Jen Botterill (22 g, 20 a) and sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero (13 g, 25 a). Harvard can reclaim third place by beating the Wildcats on Saturday.

But the UNH game is not just for the standings. Should Harvard fail to win either the regular-season or conference championship, it will need a good record against top competition to impress the selection committee and get an at-large bid. The Wildcats are the last ranked team the Crimson will face in before the playoffs start.