Women's hockey still unbeaten at home after weekend games

Women's hockey would be perfectly happy playing the rest of its 18 games at home.

Princeton (6-2-2 overall, 2-0-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) is now 5-0-1 at Baker Rink after a 2-2 tie with Maine and a 6-2 win over Northeastern this weekend.

The No. 10 Tigers got off to a quick start against the Black Bears (3-5-2) but could not hold the lead.

It took Princeton just five minutes to build a 2-0 lead. Sophomore forward Becky Stewart, the team's second leading scorer, netted her third goal of the year at one minute, 36 seconds of the first period to start the scoring, assisted by sophomore forward April Brown. Junior forward Gretchen Anderson added her fifth goal of the season at 5:06, courtesy of assists from junior forward Susan Hobson and junior defenseman Angela Gooldy.

But Maine bounced back, scoring in each of the last two periods to force overtime against a Tiger team that had allowed one goal in four home games until then. Cindy Biron cut the lead in half with a goal early in the second, and teammate Nicole Munro tied it 20 minutes later.

Neither team scored in overtime, as Princeton senior Sarah Ahlquist and Black Bear goalie Lara Smart each earned a point for her team in net.

Ahlquist saved 22 of 24 shots and Smart stopped 28 of 30.

"We didn't string 60 minutes of hockey together," Anderson said. "We became complacent with our lead, and we let them get back in it. Our coach said they would work hard, and they did."

The next day, the Tigers left no doubt of their ability to rebound from a slight disappointment. Anderson scored 13 seconds into the first period — her first of three goals on the day — and Princeton used a huge third period to vault to a four-goal win over Northeastern (5-7-1).

Freshman forward Heather Jackson and senior forward Andrea Kilbourne assisted on the quick goal, and Hobson made it 2-0 Tigers near the end of the opening period with assists from senior defenseman Annamarie Holmes and Anderson.

But if Maine could come back from a two-goal deficit at Baker, why not the Huskies, too? Rebecca Paul scored with seven seconds left in the first to cut Princeton's lead and momentum in half.

After a scoreless second period, the Tigers woke up and came out in the third sniffing a kill. Princeton outscored Northeastern 4-1 in the final frame, and when the ice settled, the Tigers had a 6-2 victory and the Huskies became the fifth team to leave Baker Rink this season with nothing to show for it.

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Freshman forward Tarah Clark and Hobson each found the net in the third, and Anderson scored twice more — once on an empty net from the opposite blue line — to complete her hat trick. Hobson and Clark also picked up assists in the third, along with Kilbourne and sophomore defenseman Katharine Maglione.

"We played as a team [against Northeastern]," Anderson said. "We came together and blew them away in the third. We just wanted it more."

"We had a good start [against Maine] but we got lulled to sleep in the third," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said. "That's no disrespect to Maine, they played well. But the next day we took that personally and closed it out."

Junior Megan Van Beusekom made 28 saves for Princeton, and Marisa Hourihan turned away 17 for the Huskies.

Anderson, returning from a wrist injury, has played in just four of the Tigers' 10 games this season but leads the team in goals (5), one ahead of Gooldy.

"[Anderson's return] is very important," Kampersal said. "Her track record speaks for itself. She's not 100% yet but she's getting there. She's got a nose for the net and a great knack for scoring."

Both this weekend's games were non-conference, but Princeton heads to Canton, NY next weekend to take on ECAC power St. Lawrence. The Tigers' four points in conference play put them in a fifth-place tie with Colgate, eight points behind first-place Dartmouth. But no team besides Princeton has played fewer than four ECAC games. When the Tigers hit the meat of their conference schedule, they should be among the leaders.

"We weren't overly psyched Saturday, but Sunday was a good win," Kampersal said. "It got us in the right mindset to face St. Lawrence on the road this weekend. It'll be a difficult test."

A difficult test is just what this Princeton team needs to prove it deserves national recognition.