W. hockey travels to play No. 2 Dartmouth, Vermont

The women's hockey team travels to Hanover, N.H., this Friday to compete against a Dartmouth squad that it knows too well.

The Tigers have lost six out of the last eight to the Big Green. What's more, Princeton was ousted from the semifinals of last year's Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs by this very same team.

Needless to say, Dartmouth (5-0 overall, 2-0 ECAC) is a big rival. Ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Big Green challenge the Tigers (4-2, 0-0) this Friday evening in what will be Princeton's toughest competition to date.

"It will definitely be the biggest game for us this season," senior forward Gretchen Anderson said. "They are the team to beat — but we are capable of beating them."

Bad blood

Princeton has defeated the Big Green once in each of the past two seasons. The team earned a big win against their rival last March, the final month of ECAC play, thanks to a late goal by then-freshman forward Sarah Butsch.

That win clinched home-ice advantage for the Tigers in the ECAC playoffs, which the team all but coasted through until its semifinal match-up against the Big Green in Providence, R.I. In that contest, Dartmouth broke a 1-1 tie with two goals and added an empty-netter to win, 4-2, ending Princeton's season.

"That was a close game. I just remember that we competed hard," Anderson said. "It was hard to lose that one. I think we played them pretty even."

But the Big Green have also beaten the Tigers six times in the past three seasons, and have been one of the most dominating teams in the league over those seasons.

The Big Green are enjoying another fine start this November, storming out of the gates with an undefeated record. They have outscored their opponents, 28-6, and are currently ranked No. 2 in the country, sandwiched between No. 1 Minnesota and No. 3 Harvard.

"They're a hard working, physical team," Anderson said. "We're in for a battle."

Leading the way for Dartmouth is forward Katherine Weatherston, who leads the team with nine points. Senior defender Louise Pietrangelo is second on the team in points with eight, all of which have been earned on assists.

Two of the Big Green's other top scorers — Cherie Piper, who has seven points this season, and Gillian Apps, who has six — play on the Canadian National Team. Apps' older brother, Syl, graduated from Princeton in 1999 and donned the orange and black for the men's hockey team.

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Respect?

Dartmouth, one of the nation's best, deserves respect from its opponents — but, according to Anderson, not "too much respect." And Princeton, which will play its first two league games this weekend, has all the parts to act as spoiler this Friday evening.

The Tigers, currently ranked No. 10 nationally, are coming off a 4-2 victory against No. 9 Providence. The team, which has outscored its opponents this season, 21-11, has excelled on both ends of the ice.

On the defensive end, the Tigers have been led by the stellar play of senior goaltender Megan Van Beusekom, whose .929 save percentage ranks among the best of the league. It is especially important that Van Beusekom — affectionately known as 'The Bus' by her teammates — shows up in full form on Friday evening against the offensively talented Big Green squad. And everything says she will.

"Megan is great. She is rock solid back there," Anderson said. "When she's on her game, she's unstoppable. In my opinion she's the best in the nation."

But even if Van Beusekom lets a shot or two through, the Tigers are bolstered by an equally dominant power play, which has gone seven-for-28 this season. Eleven of Princeton's 21 goals this season have come on special teams, so a large part of Princeton's success Friday will be determined by how it does when it is a player up.

"The power play's been gelling. Outside of defensive zone coverage, it's the most important aspect of the game," Anderson said.

After the battle against the Big Green the Tigers travel to play Vermont on Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts (3-7-1, 0-2-0) are a relatively young program, having been in existence on the Division I level for only three seasons. Princeton should have little trouble with Vermont, but that's only if it has any energy left after playing Dartmouth.