HADLEY, Mass. - With an unbeaten 14-0-2 record in conference play, Middlebury College, the two-time defending NESCAC Women's Ice Hockey Champions, has earned the number-one seed and a first round bye in the 2007 NESCAC Women's Ice Hockey Championship. While it was known since last weekend that the Panthers had earned the top seed in this year's tournament and where the first round games would take place, a few questions still needed to be answered during the final weekend of play. First round action for the seven-team tournament begins on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Amherst, Bowdoin and Hamilton, with the action moving to Middlebury on Saturday, March 3 for the semifinals.

Middlebury (20-1-2, 14-0-2 NESCAC) locked up the number-one seed in this year's tournament over a week ago, using a 2-0-1 week on the road to secure the top spot. The Panthers, who have won four NESCAC Women's Ice Hockey titles overall, went wire-to-wire in the standings for the second year in a row with the only blemishes coming at the hands of Wesleyan on Jan. 12 and Amherst on Feb. 9, both ties. The Panthers have not lost a game since opening the season on the road at rival Plattsburgh St. on Nov. 18, falling 4-2. Middlebury will play in the first of two semifinal games scheduled for Saturday, March 3.

Bowdoin (16-6-2, 11-3-2 NESCAC) secured the number-two seed last weekend with a pair of wins at Wesleyan. The Polar Bears, the only team besides Middlebury to win the NESCAC Championship (2002, 2004), capped the regular season on Feb. 13 with a win over St. Anselm, 3-0. The Polar Bears have won seven of their last eight games, the only loss during that stretch coming in overtime at the hands of NESCAC rival Colby on Feb. 7. Bowdoin will host seventh-seeded Trinity (8-15-1, 4-12-0 NESCAC) in the first round of the playoffs. The Bantams dropped a pair of road outings to close out the regular season, falling 8-0 at Middlebury on Friday and 5-2 at Williams on Saturday. Bowdoin won the season series with Trinity, taking the first meeting 3-0 on Jan. 13 in Hartford before winning 6-1 on Feb. 2 in Brunswick. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in tournament history.

Third-seeded Amherst (15-5-3, 10-3-3 NESCAC) finished its conference slate on Friday evening with a 2-0 win at Connecticut College, and the Jeffs will close out the regular season on Sunday at home against Cortland St. The Jeffs have been getting it done in 2007, going 11-1-3 since the start of the New Year en route to their highest finish ever in the NESCAC standings. Amherst's first-ever home first round game will come against NESCAC rival Williams (8-12-4, 5-7-4 NESCAC), the sixth-seeded team in this year's tournament. The Ephs picked up a pair of wins over the final weekend of the regular season, 8-2 over Hamilton on Friday and 5-2 over Trinity on Saturday. The two teams split the season series, as Williams took the first meeting of the year at home on Dec. 1, 5-2, before Amherst bounced back in its own rink with a 5-4 overtime win, the first win for the Jeffs over the Ephs in program history. Saturday's first round tilt will be the first between both teams in the playoffs, with Amherst looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time.

Fourth-seeded Hamilton (9-13-2, 7-8-1 NESCAC) will take on fifth-seeded Colby (9-10-5, 6-7-3 NESCAC) in the remaining first round game. The Continentals and Mules tied in the conference standings at the end of the season, and while the two teams split the season series 1-1, Hamilton earned the fourth-seed with more conference victories. Hamilton enters this year's tournament having lost its last two outings on the road, falling at Williams 8-2 on Friday and at Middlebury on Saturday 7-1. Colby is currently in the midst of a three-game winning streak and has won four of its last five outings, most recently picking up a weekend sweep at home over Wesleyan. Between these two during the season, the road team came away with a win in both meetings, as Colby registered a 4-2 win at Hamilton on Jan. 13 before Hamilton traveled to Colby to take a 3-1 decision. The two teams have met twice during the NESCAC tournament, with both meetings coming in the first round and both games going to the Mules. The last playoff meeting came during the 2003 tournament, when then-fifth-seeded Colby upended then-fourth-seeded Hamilton 5-3.

2007 NESCAC WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Saturday, Feb. 24 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Trinity at No. 2 Bowdoin - Time TBA
No. 6 Williams at No. 3 Amherst - 4:00 p.m.
No. 5 Colby at No. 4 Hamilton - 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, March 3 at Middlebury
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Middlebury - 1:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, March 4 at Middlebury
Semifinal winners - 1:00 p.m.