Women's hockey at home for first round of ECAC playoffs

Princeton and Harvard. The two titans of higher learning are used to confrontation. Whether it be academics, athletics, or a glee club sing-off, the Tigers and the Crimson are no strangers to competition. The rivalry will receive one more installment this weekend, when the women's hockey team takes on the Crimson Friday night at Baker Rink in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference North playoffs.

Both Princeton and Harvard finished the season with 20 points, placing them in a tie for the fourth seed in the playoffs. The distinction between fourth and fifth is a crucial one, as all games in the best-of-three series are played at the higher seed's home rink. Princeton won the tiebreaker for the fourth spot by virtue of its greater number of league victories, and therefore all games in the series will be at Baker Rink.

Harvard (16-20-3 overall, 9-5-2 ECAC North) carries momentum into the contest, as the Crimson ride a two-game Ivy win streak, including a 7-1 victory over the Tigers last Saturday. Harvard also scored a win and a tie in two games against No. 3 St. Lawrence, a traditional hockey power, two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Tigers finished off what senior captain Melissa Deland calls "the best year of [the seniors'] careers" on a low note with three losses to Ivy foes Dartmouth, Brown and Harvard.

These losses do not necessarily portend an early exit from the playoffs for Princeton, however. The Tigers have already beaten every team in the playoffs, except for Brown and St. Lawrence, at least once this season, including a 3-1 victory over Dartmouth in Hanover that snapped a Big Green home-unbeaten streak that had spanned a season and a half.

This season Princeton enjoyed its best Ivy record since 1996-1997, and the Tigers will draw on that experience, rather than their recent woes, in their series with the Crimson.

In order for Princeton to come away with the victory, the Tigers will have to be better than Harvard on the power play. The Crimson power play has a 27 percent success rate, while its penalty kill holds opponents to only 12 percent.

The team has focused on special teams in practice this week and knows that they are crucial to the game.

"We are really looking to our special teams to step up," Kampersal said. "Special teams play and goaltending are keys to the weekend series. The team that executes the best in those two areas will win."

Sophomore forward Gretchen Anderson agreed with her coach that the game may come down to who can capitalize when up a player.

"A good penalty kill is key against Harvard," Anderson said. "They have a great power play."

Although Princeton has focused on special teams in practice and are confident that they can contain the Crimson power play, ideally the Tigers would like to avoid penalties. Towards that end, they have placed an emphasis on good defense while playing five-on-five.

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"We just want to play smart hockey," Anderson said. "We need to play good defense in our zone and not take dumb penalties."

In addition to preparing for the game by strengthening its power play and defense, Princeton must be sure that it is mentally ready to take on the Crimson.

Although the Tigers lost to Harvard, 7-1, last weekend, they defeated the Crimson by a score of 4-3 in overtime back on Jan. 11. In that game, Princeton relied on the strong goaltending of sophomore Megan van Beusekom and a third-period lead to survive a late Harvard onslaught and eventually win the game.

The Tigers know that they have a great chance against Harvard as long as they are focused on the game and do not let the mistakes pile up as they did last weekend.

"We just have to settle down and put together 60 minutes of hockey. We have to focus, a lot of the game is mental," Anderson said.

Despite the recent loss, Kampersal is confident that the Tigers have learned from the experience and will be ready for anything the Crimson can throw at them.

"Last weekend we learned from our mistakes," Kampersal said. "We have practiced hard this week, we have been focused, and we will be ready to play Friday night."