Women's hockey has been sitting near the bottom of the national top-ten rankings and the middle of the conference standings all year, and this weekend provides a chance to make a big splash in both lists.
With four games left before the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs begin, Princeton (15-7-2 overall, 8-4-0 ECAC) makes its final road trip of the season with stops in Cambridge Friday night to take on top-ranked Harvard (21-1-1, 10-0-1) and Providence Saturday to face Brown (9-10-4, 6-4-1).
After a disappointing loss on the second end of a home-and-away series with Yale last weekend, the Tigers sit in fourth place in the ECAC, two points behind sixth-ranked St. Lawrence and three points ahead of the Bears.
Princeton is fifth in scoring offense and second in scoring defense in the ECAC with 73 goals for and just 47 against.
Senior forward Andrea Kil-bourne leads the team in scoring with team highs in goals (14) and assists (16). Junior forward Gretchen Anderson, who got off to a slow start recovering from a wrist injury, is second in all three categories with 12 goals and 14 assists.
Junior Megan Van Beusekom has been the goalie of choice for head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 this season. In 15 games, Van Beusekom has compiled a 9-5-1 record with a .922 save percentage and a 2.22 goals against average. Senior Sarah Ahlquist has gone 3-2-1 in seven games played, and freshman Roxanne Gaudiel is a perfect 3-0-0 in five appearances in net.
Harvard is rolling along with a 20-game unbeaten streak, going 19-0-1 in that stretch. The Crimson's last and only loss came to the Golden Gophers of Minnesota, the third-ranked team in the country, in Minneapolis back in mid-November.
Offense is not hard to come by in Cambridge. Harvard has scored 147 goals this season, nearly 6.4 per game. What is worse news for Princeton is that defense has not been an issue for the Crimson, either. Harvard has surrendered just 24 goals, barely one a game. Both totals are ECAC bests.
Forward Jennifer Botterill leads the team in scoring with 32 goals and 45 assists, both team highs. Superstar freshman Julie Chu is second with 29 goals and 32 assists. Defenseman Angela Ruggiero, with 19 goals and 39 assists, makes up the last part of a Crimson trio whose members have all registered more than 50 points so far this season and combined for more points than the entire Tiger offense.
Goalie Jessica Ruddock has appeared in 21 games this year and has a 19-1-1 record with a .925 save percentage and a 1.17 GAA.
Harvard has scored more than six goals in a game an amazing 10 times this season.
Princeton, in contrast, has not scored more than six goals in a game this season.
Brown, which will host the final two rounds of the ECAC playoffs, is right on the Tigers' heels in conference play and is hoping to use this weekend to launch out of a 1-3 funk in their last four games and into contention to host a first-round playoff series. Princeton is currently sitting in the fourth and final home-ice spot.
The Bears are fourth in the conference in goals scored with 77 — 39 behind third-place St. Lawrence — and fifth in goals against with 58.
Brown is led offensively by forward Jessica Link, who, like Kilbourne, has 14 goals and 16 assists on the year. Forward Karen Thatcher is the only other skater with more than 20 points, so far racking up seven goals and 14 assists.
Pam Dreyer shoulders most of the goaltending duties for the Bears, playing 21 games this season and recording a .907 save percentage and a 2.40 GAA with an 8-8-4 record.
A win over Brown and two or three more points in their other three remaining conference games should be enough for the Tigers to clinch home ice, and may even be enough to surpass St. Lawrence for third place.
But more than that, Princeton has a chance to make a statement starting this weekend in Cambridge. Wins over Harvard and, next weekend, fourth-ranked Dartmouth would show the hockey world that this team is ready to skate straight through to the championship.
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