W. hockey sets standard with first 20-win season

With a record of 20-9-2, women's hockey had its best season in history. The problem was that the women played in one of the toughest conferences in the country.

National powers Harvard (30-3-1) and Dartmouth (27-8-0) stuck a knife through Princeton's plans for a dream season. The Crimson were the number one team in the country all season and the Eastern College Athletic Conference champion, and the Big Green knocked the Tigers out of the conference tournament.

Still, a third-place finish and a top-ten ranking was hardly a failure for a Princeton team that posted 20 wins for the first time in its 23-year existence. With senior forward Andrea Kilbourne returning after a year spent playing for the U.S. National team, and junior goalie Megan Van Beusekom at the top of her game though still sharing time in net, the Tigers did not disappoint.

Princeton started the season on a tear, going 5-0 out of the gate and outscoring opponents 22-2 in that stretch, which included an exhibition game against Yale and shutout wins over Wayne State, Findlay, and Cornell.

The offense was there, the defense was there, but most importantly, the goaltending was there — no matter who was in goal.

"Goaltending is so important," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said at midseason. "The sport should be called goaltending."

Alas, it is still called hockey, and the next five games of it were a bit rocky. The Tigers went just 1-2-2 in that stretch, with both losses coming on the road to New Hampshire, another national power. In contrast to its quick start, Princeton was outscored 14-9 in this stretch.

With its record at 5-2-2, Princeton still had seven games to go before the thick of the ECAC season began. The Tigers rolled over Northeastern, 6-2, then split two games at St. Lawrence and two more at home against Ohio State. They followed that up with impressive road victories at Boston College and Providence, another top-10 team at the time.

Conference schedule

Twelve of Princeton's final 13 games were conference affairs, the only outside contest being an exhibition match with McGill. The Tigers won five of those first seven ECAC games, their only losses coming to, who else, Harvard, 5-2, and Dartmouth, 4-0.

After the loss to the Big Green, Princeton's league record was 4-2, good enough for third place but not good enough for the team, apparently. The Tigers ripped their next three opponents — Cornell, Colgate, and Yale — with six goals scored in each contest and giving up just a total of three.

Yale got revenge back in New Haven, and Harvard followed that up with a 4-1 win, giving Princeton its second straight loss, its only consecutive losses in conference play and equalling the Tigers' season-high losing steak.

Princeton finished strong, however, getting its most impressive win of the season — a 3-2 win over fourth-ranked Dartmouth at Baker Rink — then ripping hapless Vermont, 5-0, in a final tuneup for the ECAC tournament and sneaking into the third seed with the victory.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Yale was the opponent for a best-of-three quarterfinal match at Baker Rink but the Elis were never much of a match. Princeton bombed them, 6-2 and 8-0, to advance to the semifinal held in Providence.

That set up the rubber game with the Big Green, but the Tigers did not have the gas to topple one of the nation's best.

Dartmouth then pulled off the upset of the year by beating Harvard to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Frozen Four in Duluth, Minn. The Crimson were also selected as an at-large team. Both teams lost to Minnesota-Duluth, which topped the Big Green in the semifinal then beat Harvard in the championship in double overtime.

It was a benchmark season for a team that will have twenty wins on its mind again entering next season's play.

"It's sad that it's come to an end," junior forward Gretchen Anderson said after the loss to the Big Green. "I've been here three years, and every year we've had better chemistry, communication, and friendship. We're a close-knit bunch."

Can they keep getting better? The next puck drops in November.