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ALBANY, NY  --  The final eight teams will begin postseason action this weekend in the 25th annually Women's ECAC Hockey Tournament.   ECAC Hockey showcases four nationally ranked teams, who will all host a best-of-three series.  The home teams hold a significant home-ice advantage posting a 33-7-4 combined mark during regular-season action.

Cornell (8) at No. 1 Harvard (1):  The top-ranked Crimson host Cornell in a best-of-three series at Bright Hockey Center in the quarterfinals round.  In earning its fifth regular-season title Harvard became the second team in conference history to finish the season with a perfect record, as the squad posted a 22-0-0 mark.  The Big Red played the Crimson tough during the two regular-season, but dropped two contests, 4-1 and 4-2.  Cornell will have to find an answer to Harvard's power-play, as the Crimson scored on 5 of 11 man-advantages on the Big Red in their two games this season.  The Crimson have the essential balanced attacked as fourteen players have accounted for their 101 goals, with junior forward Sarah Vaillancourt having netted a team-high 21.  Forwards Jenny Brine, Caitlin Cahow and Sarah Wilson all have 13 goals.  Vaillancourt paces the team with 32 assists as well.  At the other end of the ice netminder Christina Kessler leads the nation in all major goaltending categories including winning percentage (25-1-0, .962), goals-against average (0.89) and save percentage (534 of 557, .959).  She has allowed only 23 goals in 1558:28 minutes of action.  Look for Cornell's freshmen to make a statement in their first postseason play, as Rebecca Johnston (10-11-21) and Karlee Overguard (2-9-11) have provided the spark in the regular-season for the Big Red.

Yale (7) at No. 6 St. Lawrence (2):  The Bulldogs, who enter the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, will have the task of beating St. Lawrence; something they have yet to do.  The Saints own a 30-0-1 all-time record against Yale, including a pair of wins this season by two goals in each game.  The high-powered offense of St. Lawrence scored 18 goals in its last two games and is 11-1-1 in its last 13 contests.  Led by the high-scoring duo of senior forward Sabrina Harbec (11-18-29) and sophomore forward Tara Akstull (7-22-29) the Saints are averaging 4.45 G/GM in league play.  To combat this line-up Yale features two players who have passed the 20-point plateau, junior forwards Crysti Howser (9-18-27) and Sarah Tittman (12-9-21).  On the other end of the ice Yale is one of only two teams in the country with two goalies in the top 20 nationally in save percentage, as freshman Jackee Snikeris is 13th (.919) and senior Shivon Zilis is 14th (.918).

Colgate (6) at No. 10 Dartmouth (3):  Dartmouth will began its postseason skate this weekend as the third-seeded Big Green will take on sixth-seeded Colgate in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament.  This will be the 24th meeting between these two schools with Dartmouth leading the series, 20-2-1.  Earlier this season, the Raiders stunned the Big Green on January 4, with a 2-1 overtime win, but Dartmouth bounced back with a 4-1 win last weekend.  These two teams have hooked up three times in the ECAC Hockey First Round (2002, 2003, 2005) with the Big Green sweeping the Raiders in each matchup.  Colgate is playing in its seventh consecutive ECAC Hockey postseason since joining the league seven years ago.  Junior forward Sam Hunt paces the Raiders' offense with a team-best 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points.  Classmate Elin Brown sets up the plays, tallying a team-high 18 helpers to go along with eight goals for 26 points.  Junior Kiira Dosdall leads the blueliners in scoring with five goals and 12 assists for 17 points.

Princeton (5) at No. 9 Clarkson (4):  Clarkson University will host its first-ever postseason series as they face Princeton in a league quarterfinals series this weekend.  The Golden Knights feature an unyielding defense that is ranked fourth in the nation allowing only 1.38 G/GM.  On offense, Clarkson has eleven players who scored in double figures, including four with over 30 points, and several forwards have established new school records.  Sophomore forward Britney Selina set a new standard for points in a season with 44, including a record 26 assists.  Princeton is 9-3-4 in its last 16 games and will look to carry this recent momentum into the playoff series.  Princeton took both games from Clarkson during the regular-season, winning each by a goal.  Tigers' freshman defenseman Sasha Sherry has distinguished herself at both ends of the ice, scoring 5-13-18 on offense and playing sound defense.