W. ice hockey starts off with two wins over Huskies

The women's hockey team began its season last weekend with two games against the Connecticut Huskies at the UConn Ice Arena. The Tigers (2-0), ever the ungracious guests, routed their hosts in both games, winning 6-0 on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday.

In the first period on Saturday, neither team scored, but not for lack of trying. The Tigers outshot the Huskies, 9-5, led by senior forward Gretchen Anderson, who had four herself. The Huskies had to work to keep Princeton from drawing first blood.

Connecticut could not hold up for long, however, and in the second period, one of Anderson's shots found the back of the net. Senior forward Lisa Rasmussen followed with another goal to cement Princeton with a 2-0 lead that it would never relinquish. Sophomore forward Heather Jackson assisted on both goals.

Senior Megan Van Beusekom, recently named Eastern College Athletic Conference Goaltender of the Week, held up admirably against the Huskies' counterattacks. Beusekom notched 18 saves in the opener, which vaulted her career shutout total to eight.

Though nary a team has played more than five games in the conference, Beusekom leads ECAC goalies in goals-against average (0.50) and save percentage (.972).

In the third period, sophomore forwards Heather Jackson, Sarah Butsch and Sarah Greer and senior defender Angela Gooldy all tallied goals against the flailing Connecticut defense.

"Our power play struggled a little bit on Saturday," Anderson said. "But our penalty kill was outstanding, and we managed to score two shorthanded goals." The next day, the Tigers continued their domination. This time, however, Princeton didn't wait for the second period to get on the board. Anderson scored the first goal just 10 seconds into the first period, unassisted.

After that, the Tigers kept the heat turned on.

"I started off the scoring," Anderson said, "and we never relinquished the lead."

Freshman Liz Keady, named to the ECAC Honor Roll along with Anderson, scored the first two goals of her college career during the game.

Other scorers for the Tigers were Butsch, Rasmussen and sophomore defender Chrissie Norwich. Each scored a single goal.

Last year, Princeton had the most successful season in its history with a record of 20-9-2. The Tigers lost three of their top five scorers due to graduation, but they are returning most of their other players.

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They made it to the ECAC semifinals, the fourth time that has happened in Princeton's history, but the first time in five years. This weekends' pair of games indicate that Princeton may be setting up to do it again.

The Tigers, despite a preseason ranking of fourth and a No. 9 ranking earlier in the US College Hockey Organization women's poll, are currently unranked nationally, though they have received votes. In the ECAC, Dartmouth, Harvard and St. Lawrence are in the national poll at second, third and fifth, respectively. It was Dartmouth who knocked Princeton out of the playoffs last season. Princeton has a relatively young team. Fourteen of the 22 players are freshmen or sophomores, but the Tigers are confident in their ability to make things happen.

"We have a lot of depth in our lineup," Anderson said. "We have a great senior class, and we hope to lead the team to an Ivy League championship, an ECAC championship, and ultimately a trip to the NCAA's to win a national title."

Next weekend the Tigers will face Maine (1-3-2) and Northeastern (2-1-1) in Boston, Mass.

In Princeton's first two games, its scoring started off slow. With relatively weak competition in the Huskies, however, the Tigers were able to get away with the slow start. Against Maine and Northeastern, Princeton will not have that luxury.

"[Maine] is a team that will continue to battle and hang around as long as we let them, so it is a necessity that we start off strong from the first period," Anderson said. "Northeastern is a similar team. They are gritty and hard working and won't give up, so we need to start strong from the moment the puck is dropped."

With this in mind, Princeton should be able to continue on its path from last year.