BANGOR – The good news for the University of Maine women’s hockey team is that the Black Bears control their own destiny and the two games this weekend that will control their playoff fate will be at the Alfond Arena.

The bad news is the two teams standing in Maine’s way of its first ECAC Division I playoff berth are the nation’s No. 4- and 6-ranked teams in the country: Harvard and Brown, respectively.

Maine must secure at least three of the four points with a win and a tie. Anything less will keep the Bears on the outside looking in.

Niagara is in seventh place with 22 points but has concluded its regular season schedule. Providence has 21 points with two games left, including one against cellar-dweller Boston College, while Maine has 19.

Maine and Niagara split, but Maine would have more league wins if it gets at least three points.

That would bump Niagara. Maine is 9-12-1 in the conference while Niagara is 9-11-4.

Providence went 1-0-1 against Maine, which would give PC the tiebreaker against the Bears.

The Bears have lost all five meetings apiece with Brown and Harvard, including a 4-1 loss to Brown and 5-1 setback to Harvard a month ago.

“It’s going to be tough, but we believe we’re capable of doing it. We have to go into the games with the mindset that we can win both. We’ve got to have a positive attitude. We know we can compete against everybody now,” said junior center Andrea Keller before taking the Sawyer Arena ice surface for a Wednesday evening practice.

Senior defenseman Kelly Nelson said, “We all know it’s a big weekend and everybody will come ready to play.”

Nelson, who has another year of eligibility, and Keller agreed that the fact the team is entering the last weekend of the regular season in the playoff hunt is significant.

“This shows how much the program has grown [in four years],” said Nelson, who added that being in a playoff chase will bode well for the future.

“It’ll give us more confidence going into next season,” added Nelson.

Maine coach Rick Filighera pointed out that if his team makes the playoffs, it will have earned points against the teams currently positioned in second (Harvard), third (St. Lawrence), and fourth (Brown) places. Maine beat St. Lawrence 3-2 on Feb. 17.

The Bears will host Harvard at 1 p.m. Saturday before welcoming Brown at 3 p.m. Sunday.

On Saturday, the consensus is that Maine must contain 1998 Canadian Olympian Jen Botterill, who set the NCAA Division I record by registering a point in her 74th consecutive game against Northeastern last weekend.

Botterill has 35 goals and 28 assists to lead the ECAC, and linemate Tammy Shewchuk, who will join Botterill on the Canadian Olympic team in Salt Lake City next year, is second with 18 goals and 36 assists.

Brown, according to Keller and Nelson, is a more physical team.

Brown features Kathleen Kauth (12 & 22) and high-scoring defenseman Kim Insalaco (11 & 14), the third-highest point-getter among defensemen in the ECAC.

Nelson, who has 6 & 18, is the No. 4 scorer among the league’s defensemen, and teammate left winger Karen Droog (20 & 12) is the top scoring freshman in the conference.