Freshmen play important role as women's hockey beats ranked rival

Exactly three months ago today, the women's hockey team fell to a then undefeated Dartmouth team by a score of 4–2. It was Princeton's third loss in four games and their biggest losing skid of the season.

What a difference three months can make.

Led by a group of steadily improving freshmen and a core of veteran seniors, the Tigers (18-6-0 overall, 11-4-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) completed a weekend home sweep over visiting Dartmouth (18-5-2; 10-3-1) and Vermont (6-22-2, 2-12-0) to extend their current winning streak to six games.

What has changed in three months?

Freshmen impact

"It's been the freshmen," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said. "It took them a few weeks to get used to the speed of the game, but now they're here. They have arrived."

The freshmen certainly made their presence known in the weekend's first matchup. The Tigers were the favorites entering the game against a Vermont team that had just come off its first ECAC victory in three seasons.

By the end of the first period, however, it became clear that Vermont had no intention of letting their winning streak come to an end at Baker Rink. Led by goalie Kami Cote and freshman Kristen Norris, Vermont took an early 1-0 lead which it held until the final minutes of the second period.

"You have to give the Vermont coaching staff and their players a ton of credit," Kampersal said after the game. "They came out ready to play from the very start."

But it was the Princeton freshmen that would determine the final outcome of the game. The Tigers evened the score at the end of the second period with a masterful unassisted goal by freshman forward Liz Keady. Keady brought the puck in from just inside the blue line, evaded two defenders and flicked in a perfectly placed shot for the score.

Although Princeton had been leading the game in nearly every statistical category, including out-shooting Vermont 25 to eight, it wasn't until Keady's goal that the game's momentum finally shifted in Princeton's favor.

Freshman forward Kim Pearce kept the momentum rolling, scoring the Tiger's final two goals to complete the 3-1 victory.

Not only did the Princeton rookies score all of the team's goals, but they monopolized the team's assists as well.

Playoff atmosphere

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The second game of the series came against the always competitive Dartmouth team. The game was particularly important for the Tigers who needed the win to ensure home ice in the upcoming ECAC playoffs.

The Tigers left nothing to chance in this contest, scoring early and often they took a decisive 5-2 victory. Freshman forward Laura Watt began the scoring halfway through the first period with a beautifully set up power-play goal. The Tigers dominated the game's power plays, converting both of their power play opportunities, while limiting Dartmouth to just one conversion in nine attempts.

Senior forward Gretchen Anderson took over from there, finishing with two goals and two assists. Anderson's second goal came off an assist by Watt that was deemed "NHL quality" by Kampersal. Watt faked a shot from the blue line to draw the defense towards her, and then fired a pass to Anderson who was waiting just to the left of the net and angled the puck in for the score.

"[Anderson] was huge for us tonight just as she has been huge for us for four years," Kampersal said after the game. "She is really a lot of fun to watch."

Senior goalie Megan Van Beusekom cemented the victory with 29 saves, including several key acrobatic blocks late in the game.

"The whole team came out prepared," Kampersal said. "This was a big game for us and we showed that we were ready for it."

With only a few games remaining in the season, including an important divisional matchup against Yale this Wednesday, Kampersal is optimistic.

"When we come out hard and play with heart and intensity we can play with anyone," he said. "When we show we want it, we can be a very difficult team to beat."