Women hope to overcome small roster and loss of players to national team

A minute of straight ice time is considered a long shift in the NHL. Nearly twice a minute, pros come on and off the ice to catch a breather from the hectic pace of the game.

The speed and physical nature of hockey make it one of the most grueling sports to play, and one where a team's depth can decide the outcome of a game. This year, the women's ice hockey team will have to put that notion aside and learn to cope with an unusually small 14-player roster, a reduced version of the usual 20 to 25-player version.

In practices, the coaching staff is already working to counteract the problems that the team's lack of depth may cause.

"Clearly our biggest challenge will be dealing with our depth," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said. "We have to work from the outset on everyone being in good shape. We can't get down on ourselves, we just have to work hard."

In total, Princeton lost seven players from last year's opening-day roster. Three graduated, two decided not to play and two are taking the year off after being selected to the national team.

On the ice, the biggest holes that the Tigers need to fill are the ones left by 2001-02 United States National team members Andrea Kilbourne '02 and Annamarie Holmes '01. Kilbourne, last year's leading scorer, may be the toughest loss to handle as the Tigers will have to find ways to score without her.

"Last year Kilbourne was our go-to player," Kampersal said. "Now we don't have that one dominant scorer, but a lot of solid players who can hopefully pick up our offense."

Senior captain Aviva Grumet-Morris echoed her coach's thoughts. "We lost a lot of scoring power last year. Everyone is going to have to step it up this year. We are looking for scoring from all positions, not just our forward lines."

The team will also rely heavily on solid goaltending from junior Sarah Ahlquist and sophomore Megan Van Beusekom. Ahlquist made 35 saves in Princeton's 3-1 victory over Mercyhurst earlier this week.

"We are going to need our goalies to keep us in games this year," Kampersal said. "We need them to give us a chance to win."

The other group that the Tigers hope can produce is the freshmen.

Defender Katherine Maglione tops the list of first year players. Maglione is the sister of sophomore Matt Maglione of the men's hockey team.

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"[Maglione] is a tough kid," Kampersal said. "And being one of only four defensemen means that she will see a lot of ice time. We expect a lot from her."

Returning for the Tigers at forward are sophomore Lisa Rasmussen, senior assistant captain Jessica Fedderly and senior captain Melissa Deland. Sophomore Gretchen Anderson, who made the Eastern College Athletic Confer-ence all-rookie team last year, also returns on the front line.

Meanwhile, Grumet-Morris will anchor the defense with the help of senior assistant captain Wanda Mason, sophomore Angela Gooldy and Maglione.

After the league that the team plays in was restructured over the off-season, the Tigers' goals have risen.

"The way the league is now, I think all but the bottom team make the playoffs," Grumet-Morris said. "So our goal this season is to finish with a record above .500 and hopefully host a playoff game."

"Beyond hosting a series, which we would love to do, we really want to win a series also," Kampersal added.

The playoff structure Kampersal referred to is different than last year, with teams now playing a best-of-three series as opposed to a one game match-up. The move makes the men's and women's ECAC playoff formats identical.

If Princeton can battle through its lack of depth and relative youth, then it may be well equipped to make a title run. In order to do so, however, the team will have to go through perennial powerhouses Dartmouth and Brown.

"We know that they [Dartmouth and Brown] are always tough," Grumet-Morris said. "We're just going to have to play well and work hard."

Kampersal would not commit to specific contests or teams that he is watching. "Our goal is to improve each game. We can't worry about the end of the season now. If we work hard during this part of the season, I think we can succeed later on."