Women's hockey approaching ECAC games with Vermont and Dartmouth

The time for No. 8 women's hockey to prove its mettle — if it has not done so already — has arrived, as the Tigers head into a long stretch of nothing but Eastern College Athletic Conference opponents on the docket for the rest of the regular season.

After hosting McGill in an exhibition game Sunday, women's hockey will get back into action with a two-game weekend at the end of Intersession. The Tigers will travel to New England to take on ECAC cellar-dweller Vermont on Jan. 31, and then No. 4 Dartmouth, currently second in the ECAC, on Feb. 1.

Vermont (3-14-1 overall, 0-5-1 ECAC) is tied with Cornell in eighth place in the conference, the very bottom. The Catamounts have not just been unable to win, but also unable to score, in many of their matches; 10 of their 14 losses were shutouts. Vermont suffered a particularly embarrassing drubbing to No. 1 Harvard back in November, losing 13-0.

While no opponent should ever be underestimated, it is a safe bet that the Tigers (11-5-2, 4-2-0) will face stiffer competition from the Big Green.

Dartmouth (12-5-0, 6-2-0), on a campaign for a Frozen Four bid at the end of the year, scored a big win with their 6-3 upset of No. 3 Minnesota on Jan. 17.

Although Dartmouth lost both of its games with defending national champion No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth last week, the games were closer than their scores suggested, and the Big Green was also missing its Canadian National Team players that weekend.

Against both Vermont and Dartmouth, Princeton should be able to count on junior goalie Megan Van Beusekom, who has been turning in very solid performances lately.

Van Beusekom, an all-Ivy pick last season, was named ECAC Goalie of the Week earlier in January after recording 47 saves in the Tigers' upset over No. 5 Providence over winter break. In the Jan. 11 Harvard loss, she recorded 29 saves.

The Tiger offense has also been strong this season, but had some trouble asserting itself against Harvard.

"We were a little too tentative," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said after the loss. "We had some good scoring opportunities where we rushed thinking we had less time then we actually did.

"I think we gave them too much respect."

Princeton should beat Vermont, and it may be able to beat Dartmouth too — the Tigers have proven their ability to compete with the nation's best against No. 5 Providence.

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But Dartmouth will be on a quest to prove that it belongs in the Frozen Four now that it has entered its final 16 games — the games that count in determining who gets championship bids. It will be important for Princeton to remember not to give the Big Green too much respect.

Meanwhile, here's how the rest of the ECAC stacks up over halfway through the season, and how Princeton has fared against its conference foes thus far.

No. 1 Harvard leads the ECAC with an undefeated 7-0-0 conference record. The Crimson are 14-1-0 overall – their only loss was in November, to Minnesota. Having dominated the competition all year, the Crimson are, of course, a likely contender for a Frozen Four bid. Princeton lost to Harvard, 5-2, on Jan. 11, but will take on the Crimson again on Feb. 21.

Brown, which played in the championship game against Minnestoa-Duluth at last year's Frozen Four, is currently third in the ECAC with a conference record of 5-3-1. The Bears are a mediocre 8-7-4 overall. Princeton defeated Brown, 2-1, on Jan. 10; the Tigers meet the Bears again on Feb. 22.

St. Lawrence (12-6-3, 4-3-1) sits at fourth in the ECAC currently, right ahead of fifth-place Princeton.

The Tigers have already taken on St. Lawrence for the season, splitting a double-game weekend in December – winning the first game, 3-1, and losing the second, 5-1.

Four teams, Colgate (10-12-0, 2-4-0), Yale (4-12-2, 1-5-0) and Cornell (1-10-1, 0-5-1), as well as Vermont, round out the bottom of the conference. Princeton has already defeated both Colgate and Cornell once each this season.

With both of its games with Yale still to come, and one more game against both Colgate and Cornell, Princeton should have ample opportunities to rack up conference points in its final weeks of the season.