Women's hockey faces tough test at home against Dartmouth

The season is coming to an end soon and the women's hockey team may be playing better than ever.

Coming off of two consecutive weekend sweeps, the Tigers will look to continue the streak with games this weekend against Vermont (6-20-2 overall, 2-10-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) and Dartmouth (17-4-2, 9-2-1). Both games are at Baker Rink, marking the third and fourth games of a seven-game home stretch.

Princeton (16-6-0, 9-4-0) has taken advantage of the comforts of home ice so far, as they took two games last weekend, against Cornell and Colgate, in impressive fashion, winning 4-1 and 3-1, respectively.

This Friday's game against Vermont (6-20-2, 2-10-0) is a must-win for the Tigers as they continue their quest for a high finish in the ECAC. They currently sit in fourth place behind Dartmouth, Harvard and powerhouse St. Lawrence, which is in first with an ECAC record of 11-1-0.

The Catamounts are near the bottom of the ECAC and represent one of the few remaining should-be wins for Princeton, as they finish up the season against the likes of Dartmouth, Yale and Harvard.

Vermont has actually won its past two games, though the victories came against a very weak Union team. Before that, they had lost 10 consecutive games.

The team's lone strength may be that of its goalie, junior Kami Cote. Cote was named ECAC Goalie of the Week for last week after she led the Catamounts to their first ever shutout.

"Vermont is well-coached; they play tough defense and have a very good goalie," head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 said.

Cote, whose record obviously does not give true representation of her talent, will surely have her hands full against the Tigers' offense, which has been highly effective as of late.

Much of this effectiveness can be contributed to the offense's ability to out-shoot its opponent by a wide margin.

"Every player has chipped in offensively over the past few weeks, which is a plus," Kampersal said.

Vermont may be an easy victory for Princeton. However the next day they will welcome Dartmouth to Baker Rink, a team that presents a much greater challenge.

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"Dartmouth is one of the best teams in the nation," Kampersal said, "and they have three of the best forwards in our league."

The Big Green was recently ranked No. 1 in the country, and up until a short while ago, they had only one loss on the season. Not anymore. Dartmouth is coming into Princeton having dropped three games in a row. In Dartmouth's defense, the losses have come to powerhouses St. Lawrence and Minnesota. Still, the Tigers must be somewhat confident with their chances.

Sophomore forwards Tiffany Hagge, Cherie Piper, and Gillian Apps lead the Big Green and will surely put a great deal of pressure on senior goalie Megan Van Beusekom. Hagge leads the team with 34 points on 17 goals and 17 assists. Dartmouth has the ability to put up a number of shots on goal, an ability perhaps matched by Princeton's own offensive capabilities. Considering that, the game will likely be decided by which defense and goalie does the best job at stopping the shots that will surely be fired.

As the season winds down, each game is meaningful for the Tigers, who are looking for both a high finish in the ECAC and to be in good position for the playoffs.

"We are in the last stretch of our season," senior forward Lisa Rasmussen said, "and we need the points to get home ice advantage in the playoffs."