W. ice hockey to host New Hampshire, Providence

For the women's ice hockey team, this weekend's home games will be a chance to prove that last year's success was not a fluke. Victories over New Hampshire on Saturday and Providence on Sunday would prove that the Tigers are capable of realizing the high expectations placed on their season.

Princeton (5-1 overall) breezed through its early season contests, taking the first five before finally dropping one to Northeastern last Sunday.

The Tigers will welcome ninth ranked New Hampshire (4-2-1) to Baker Rink on Saturday. The Wildcats will bring with them an offense that has averaged over five goals a game in their wins. New Hampshire's offense, however, has struggled in its two losses, combining for only three goals in those games. Momentum tends to be a big part of the Wildcat's offense — when they score, they score in bunches.

Hard-nosed defense

Princeton hopes to stymie this momentum with its typical solid, hard-nosed defense. Known for possessing one of the toughest defenses in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the Tigers so far have given up an average of only 20 shots on goal per game.

"Staying focused mentally and playing tough defensive zone coverage will be key," senior goaltender Megan Van Beusekom said.

Senior defender Angela Gooldy leads the defense, whose main concern will be limiting the number of shots taken by New Hampshire junior forward Stephanie Jones. Jones was recently named Player of the Week by the Hockey East Conference after recording her fourth career hat trick a week ago. She leads the Wildcats in goals, points and power-play goals and is the focal point of the offense.

Even if Jones does manage to get off a few shots, this doesn't ensure any goals. Van Beusekom has thus far been very successful at keeping out of the net the few shots that have been taken. In the first six games, Van Beusekom and the rest of the Princeton defense have only allowed a total of seven goals. Sophomore goalie Roxanne Gaudiel may also see significant playing time over the weekend.

While letting the defense take care of business on one end, the Tiger offense hopes to do its part on the other. New Hampshire's defense has been stingy thus far, allowing no more than three goals in any one of its games. Princeton's offense, which lost five players to graduation, has had little problem putting points on the board this season, scoring over four goals in four different games. The Wildcat's defense, however, presents one of the first real challenges of the year, as much of Princeton's previous offensive success has come against much weaker opponents.

Sunday doesn't get any easier for Princeton as it must face-off against No. 6 Providence (2-2-2). The Friars, who lost recent games to Dartmouth and Harvard, have not won since Oct. 18. No doubt looking to end this winless span, Providence should give the Tigers all they can handle.

The emphasis will once again be on Princeton's defense, which has the ability to hold down a struggling Friar offense that has scored only five goals in its last four games.

Much of the responsibility will fall on Van Beusekom, who will likely face a barrage of shots from a Providence team that routinely attempts over 40 a game. Although many of these are not quality shots, they do create rebound opportunities, and so the Princeton defense will need to be on its heels. Stopping and clearing these secondary shots will be essential for the Tigers.

Senior forwards Lisa Rasmussen and Gretchen Anderson hope the defense can keep the Friars off the board, as Princeton goals will be difficult to come by against Providence's stingy defense. The Friars have allowed over three goals in a game only once this season and will look to shut down Anderson and Rasmussen, Princeton's two main offensive threats. Anderson leads the Tigers in goals scored with five, three of which were scored last weekend.