No. 8 w. hockey poised to top last year's success

When you're coming off of a season with a 22-11 overall record in which you dominated some of your toughest competition and proved a fighting force despite being unranked for most of the season, you're going to have some high hopes.

So it stands for the women's hockey team, a team that saw incredible success in the 2003-2004 season and hopes to exceed that this year. Already Princeton (1-0-1) has proven itself to be a team to fear. The win came against then-No. 10 Providence, moving the Tigers into the No. 8 spot in the USCHO.com Division I Poll. With the win, Princeton leapfrogged Providence, Merchyhurst and Brown.

As in recent years, the Eastern College Athletic Conference remains extremely tight. In the last few years of league play, the disparity among the top 10-15 teams has decreased, making each game not only an exciting match to watch, but also extremely important in determining league and overall standings. The Tigers have scored some huge upsets in the past two seasons and constantly challenged their opponents to play as hard as they could.

In the last few years, the Ivy League has also been heavily represented in the national top-10 polls. As of right now, Dartmouth stands at No. 2 and Harvard at No. 3, while Brown sits at No. 10. Yale has also been improving steadily in the last few years, proving to be a tough rival for Brown in particular. Some tough non-Ivy opponents include St. Lawrence — which is always a huge game for the Tigers — and Colgate.

The Tigers are hoping to improve on the success of last season, in which they were finally ousted from the ECAC tournament in an overtime loss to Brown, but know they have some holes to fill. Princeton graduated five seniors from last year's team, including First-Team All-ECAC Gretchen Anderson '04 and Second-Team All-ECAC Angela Gooldy '04.

To fill the gaps left by the class of 2004, the Tigers have been working hard in the fall preseason. As a result of this conditioning, the team is extremely fast, not only in the first line of forwards but also in the second and third lines. The defense also has some of the strongest and best-skating defensemen in Div. I play, including senior defender Katharine Maglione, creating a team with great depth and talent as a whole.

"Our team has a lot of depth," junior forward Sarah Butsch said. "Even though last year we lost three solid forwards, a top defenseman and a starting goalie, I feel like our team has worked together to fill these holes.

"The freshmen are a solid group of hardworking individuals who have added a great dimension to our team," Butsch continued. "They challenge and force the upperclassmen to improve. This year will be a fight for everyone to step up and fill the holes from last year. While there is always room for improvement in any area, the areas of most concern for our team seem to be producing goals, communicating more, forming chemistry with teammates and always bringing our best game."

A player to keep an eye on as the Tigers' season progresses is sophomore forward Kim Pearce, who was named ECAC Rookie of the Year last season, the fifth Tiger to receive that honor and the first since Maglione received it in the 2001-2002 season. Junior forward and co-captain Heather Jackson played on the Under-22 National Team this past summer, as did sophomore forward Liz Keady, and they both should be able to contribute goals when it counts. Sophomore forward Laura Watt was invited to try out for the Canadian Under-22 National Team. And Maglione leads the defense, boasting three years of experience, a great shot, and good skating skills.

Early in the season, the Tigers have worked on using the skills of these individual players to the best advantage.

"Our team specializes in its speed and hard work ethic, as well as its penalty kill," Butsch said. "And as of last weekend's performance, it looks as if our power play will be a threat as well."

These combined traits give the Tigers great confidence in the upcoming season, especially coming off their big win over Providence. According to team members, beating the all-time record for most wins in Princeton women's hockey, winning the ECAC tournamen, and making it to NCAAs are on the priority list.

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"This year we are a tough, gritty, well-coached team with a lot of discipline," Maglione said. "We don't try to be fancy; we just get the job done. We are looking to break the 20-win mark that we had last season. We are going to compete for the Ivy League title and the ECAC title."

Under the leadership of co-captains Jackson and senior forward Becky Stewart and under the strong coaching of head coach Jeff Kampersal '92 and assistant coaches Amy Carlson, Danielle Bilodeau and Craig Fiander, it looks as though the Tigers may be able to do just that.