W. hockey hosts Yale, seeks 12th win in 13 games

The women's hockey team remembers beating powerhouse Harvard earlier this season. The team also remembers losing to Brown the next night. Fresh off defeating Number 3 Dartmouth in one of their best games of the year, the Tigers want to stop the déjà vu when they host Yale tonight at Baker Rink at 7 p.m.

Yale (11-12-3 overall, 7-8-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) should be an easy mark for Princeton, but nothing is certain. The Tigers (18-6-0, 11-4-0) have been off and on all season long, and it showed this past weekend against Vermont and Dartmouth.

The Vermont game, expected to be easy preparation for the Big Green, became a narrowly-averted disaster when freshmen forwards Liz Keady and Kim Pearce stepped up late in the game, scoring three goals between the two of them to give Princeton a 3-1 victory.

Saturday's game against Dartmouth was a showdown of two of the top teams in women's hockey, but it almost turned into a blowout when Princeton scored three goals in the first period. Dartmouth tried to come back, but they ended up falling hard to the Tigers, 5-2.

"We weren't expecting to do that well against Dartmouth," Keady said. "But we just outskated them all three periods."

The last time Princeton and Yale faced each other was on Nov. 28 when the Tigers traveled to New Haven and edged the Elis by a score of 3-2.

Princeton cannot afford to relax for this game, as the team holds a narrow lead in the race to be one of the top four teams in the ECAC, guaranteeing them home ice advantage for ECAC playoffs.

Currently, Princeton and St. Lawrence are tied for second in the ECAC standings with 22 points apiece, trailing only Harvard's 24 points. However, Dartmouth and Brown both lurk in a tie for fourth with 21 points each, and since Princeton has played one more game than each of these four teams, the Tigers cannot afford to slip behind with a loss to Yale. An important part of the Tigers' game plan as they come down the home stretch of the season will be the play of their freshmen. Both Keady and Pearce scored twice over the weekend.

Pearce was named the ECAC women's hockey Rookie of the Week for her performance. This is the third time this season she has received the award, which is a testament to the role she plays on the team.

Princeton's one weakness this year has been losing focus and consistenc. Coming off such a big win, it is necessary for the Tigers to maintain the attitude that earned them the victory over the Big Green.

The last time Princeton defeated a foe as daunting as Dartmouth, when the team beat Harvard, who was then No.2, 6-3, the Tigers proceeded to lose to Brown, 3-1, in a disappointing performance.

The team is very aware of this comparison and is trying its hardest to stay focused and prevent another collapse.

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"We learned a lot from the loss to Brown," Pearce said. "We know that we can't take any game for granted, especially the few games we have left."

The Yale team Princeton will face has shown significant improvement over the course of this season, and the Tigers should be prepared to see a much faster and more organized group of hockey players.

Riding a streak of 11 wins in their last 12 games, including a current six-game winning stretch in which they have outscored their opponents 30-6, the Tigers are confident but cautious for Yale, a mindset which should be a recipe for success.