It was a game surrounded by hopes for revenge, feelings of sorrow, and desire for victory.
Princeton was facing Brown — a team that had upset the Tigers 8-5 at home on Feb. 11 in the Princeton Invitational — in the final game of the ECAC championships Sunday at DeNunzio Pool. Senior captains Alina Brown and Katherine Kixmiller were playing in their final home game, and the Tigers were hoping to capture their third ECAC championship in four years.
In the end, Princeton got all it desired. Kixmiller's goal early in the fourth quarter put the Bears away, and the Tigers defeated Brown, 9-6, to capture the ECAC title.
"It was a great way for the seniors to end their seasons," last year's starting goalie Goga Vukmirovic '00 said. "They played amazing."
Vukmirovic was one of many Tiger fans in attendance to support the team in the championship and the seniors in their final home game. Brown scored one goal in the game at the end of the third quarter, which gave the Tigers a 7-5 lead going into the last quarter of play and ended up being the game-winner.
Kixmiller, who scored three goals on the day, had support from her parents, who fly in from Menlo Park, Calif., to attend every Princeton home game and were leading the cheers in the stands.
In the early going, Brown attempted to ruin the seniors' swan song. The Bears opened up a quick 2-0 lead in the first quarter. Brown lost the opening draw, but created a turnover and scored on a penalty shot. Soon after, another goal put Brown up by two. But three goals in the quarter's final three minutes by junior Cassie Nichols, sophomore Adele McCarthy-Beauvais and Kixmiller put the Tigers back in the lead.
"We were able to keep our composure early in the game and be patient on offense," Nichols said.
Despite the early-season loss to Brown, the Tigers entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. Princeton defeated Harvard, 10-5, and Gannon, 17-3, in the first two rounds of the tournament Saturday. The Tigers then thumped Hartwick, 11-3, in the seminfinals Sunday, 11-3, to set up the rematch with the Bears.
"The last two weeks we've really brought it together," McCarthy-Beauvais said. "The first loss [to Brown] was a fluke. We definitely wanted to embarrass them. We wanted to minimize them."
But the Bears were not ready to sink after the Tigers' three first-quarter goals. Brown's Kristen Fagley's goal with four minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter made the score 3-3. McCarthy-Beauvais gave Princeton back the lead two minutes later, but with 23 seconds remaining in the half, the Bears once again tied the score.
As it had done the previous two times the game was tied, however, Princeton responded. With 5:20 left in the third quarter, McCarthy-Beauvais caught a pass from Kixmiller in front of the goal. Instead of taking the traditional approach of turning and firing the shot at the net, McCarthy-Beauvais flipped the backhand shot behind her head and past Bears goalie Alexa LaFaunce.
Less than a minute later, Kixmiller added her second goal, and Princeton had its largest lead of the game. The Bears cut into the lead midway through the third, but Alina Brown's goal pushed the lead back to two goals.
Though Princeton was once again in control, the Bears were not finished. Thirty-five seconds into the final period, the Bears pulled to within a goal. Brown regained possession, but a spectacular save by Tiger sophomore goalie Jenny Hildebrand preserved the lead.
With Brown desperately seeking a comeback, the Tiger defense would limit the Bears to only one more shot the rest of the game, which was blocked in another spectacular play by Hildebrand, who finished with seven saves.
Kixmiller's final goal at DeNunzio, which was followed 35 seconds later by a goal by sophomore Jenny Edwards, helped seal the win and the championship. Edwards led the Tigers in assists with three and had five steals in the game.
"We had a good weekend," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "Brown played really well. We started out slow, but we kept our composure and played really well defensively."
Next weekend, the Tigers will travel to Grove City, Pa. for the CWPA Southern Divisional Championships.
"We're excited for Southerns," Edwards said. "I think it's going to be a lot of fun."
McCarthy-Beauvais — who has led the Tigers in scoring all season — was named the ECAC Championships' MVP. In the final match today, McCarthy-Beauvais scored three goals, giving her a total of 14 for the tournament.
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