The No. 4 Harvard women's hockey team looks to finish its regular season on a high note--and position itself for an NCAA tournament birth--as it travels to Maine (14-13-1, 9-12-1 ECAC) and No. 9 New Hampshire (17-14, 13-9) this weekend.

After a tough 3-2 loss to No. 8 Northeastern last Sunday, Harvard (19-8-0, 18-4-0) finds itself on the bubble for this month's NCAA Tournament. Only four teams will be selected to the inaugural women's frozen four in Minneapolis.

Harvard--winners of 11 of its last 13--can finish the regular season atop the ECAC with a sweep this weekend and a #1 Dartmouth loss to either Providence or Northeastern. A Harvard loss, however, and No. 5 St. Lawrence can climb ahead of the Crimson with a sweep of their own.

"Our agenda is that every game is a must-win," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. "That's the way we're conducting ourselves."

Stone said the team should and would make the NCAA's if the season ended today, and she thinks that Harvard could even afford to lose another game and still make the field.

However, the current standings have the Crimson in a perilous place--fighting for the fourth and final tourney spot. The lack of any automatic bids this year through the conference tournaments makes each game crucially important.

Barring a monumentous collapse, No. 1 Dartmouth is a lock. At least one--and probably both-- of the Minnesota schools figure to make the field as well.

That leaves Harvard and St. Lawrence fighting for the final spot. Brown, sixth in the polls, figures to have an outside shot, but the Crimson routed Brown in both matchups this season.