Saturday afternoon at Bright the Harvard Crimson pulled off a huge 3-1 victory over the Princeton Tigers. The highly skilled players of Princeton fell behind 2-0 in the first and after that had a tough day. Harvard playing with a ton of confidence after their fine 2-2 tie with Northeastern put together an excellent team effort. In the first period, the Tigers came out strong, but were unable to finish off their chances. The Crimson opened the scoring when Stacy Kellogg (AJ Mleczko) tapped home a slap shot from just inside the blue line. On the ensuing face-off Harvard stormed right back into the Princeton zone. This time AJM (Kellogg) got the final touch after a scramble in front of the Tiger net. Princeton looked shocked, but ready to come back. During the second period the Tigers were having trouble connecting passes in their perimeter game. Something just was not clicking. Harvard continued to mount break out plays and after some good fore-checking, and quick passing Winkie Mleczko (Colleen Malek, AJM) was setup at the left point. Her slap slot found nothing but net. In the final period, Princeton was determined to score. Sensational center Kathy Issel (Mari Fukuda, Karen Chernisky) was given the perfect setup on the power play. A long break in play had spread the Harvard defense. Some exquisite Tiger passing left Issel alone in the slot. She picked the upper stick side corner with deadly accuracy. However after that goal, the Crimson played tough defense and pull out a wonderful win. Princeton has three good lines, and two strong defensive pairs. I felt when watching the opening period that they would eventually blow Harvard off the ice with their superior skating and stick skills. For some reason the two quick Harvard goals got them down. The Tigers are led by co-captain Kathy Issel. She is a super smooth skater and pulled off several oh-la-la moves yesterday. Issel is a tremendous player. Her linemates Fukuda and Chernisky are also highly skilled. Fukuda was always moving so fast out there and created some lovely plays. Chernisky made some good passes and can be a real sniper. The other forward that impressed me on Saturday was Mandy Pfeiffer. She had some stirring moves and led her line on the attack. The defense was led by co-captain Sue Reece. Her ability to close down other team's forwards is great. Reece also has a powerful shot and came very close to scoring several times. Vicki Urbas was the other impressive Tiger blue liner. She took chances, but often ended up with the puck. Overall, Princeton is a skating team that I expect will challenge for the league title and championship. Harvard is hanging in there when the going gets tough and then playing their game very effectively. The team seems to have learned the new system and is playing extremely well together. The woman of the match had to be goalie Erin Villiotte. She was on, and when that happens it is very difficult to score on her. Villiotte was mega-goalie. On defense Holly Leitzes used her good skating and the poke check to help provide excellent coverage in her own end. Winkie Mleczko also had a good game back on the blue line. She kept it simple. That appears to be the key for the whole team: make the simple play. On offense Jenny Duval had another strong game. Her fore-checking has become very good. Kate Schutt and Christa Calagione performed a couple of 1-2 breaks that really looked good. Calagione had some good speed Saturday. Overall, the Crimson are keeping themselves between the puck and the other team, and in general running the break out and break in plays fairly well. Harvard is no powerhouse. They are a developing team who are playing with much confidence. The key is that everyone is playing, and playing as a team. _____________ / good shooting rhun _____________/