Princeton tops Vermont in duel of netminders

It has been a frustrating season for the women's hockey team, and Saturday night's game in Hanover, N.H., was no different.

On Friday night, the Tigers defeated Vermont, 2-0. The Catamounts (5-23-3 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League, 3-14-0 overall) came into the contest riding a four-game losing streak and were unable to put an end to their bad luck.

Princeton (14-7-5, 8-6-3) played well against No. 3 Dartmouth (23-3-0, 16-2-0) the whole night, yet the Tigers were unable to convert on their many scoring opportunities. Despite outshooting the Big Green 26-23 in the game and 14-5 in the third period, Princeton left town with a 2-1 loss and a season sweep by Dartmouth.

Princeton's lone goal against Dartmouth came as time expired on a power play with 13 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the game. Freshman forward Brittany Salmon collected the rebound off a missed shot and passed the puck out to senior forward Becky Stewart as she came in from the blue line. Stewart collected the pass and ripped a shot from the face-off circle hash mark that found the back of the net. The goal brought the Tigers to within one goal, but they were unable to tie the game.

Despite its offensive struggles, Princeton played well defensively, holding the Big Green to its lowest offensive output of the entire season. The Big Green came into the game with the top offense in the country, averaging 5.31 goals per game.

Defense was also critical Friday night when the Tigers shut out Vermont, the sixth time this season they have kept their opponent off the scoreboard.

Still, for much of the night, Princeton could not translate its staunch defense into offensive production. Senior defenseman Katharine Maglione finally found the net 12:04 into the third period. Vermont goalie Kami Cote was largely responsible for keeping the Tigers at bay, making 46 saves on the night.

Maglione's goal was made possible by Princeton's strong defense. Junior forward Heather Jackson used a hard forecheck to force a Catamount defender to turn over the puck, and Salmon recovered it. She then skated behind the net and fed the puck to Maglione as she skated in from the point. Maglione squeezed the puck low on the goalie's stick side to give the Tigers their first lead of the night and break the scoreless tie.

Sophomore forward Liz Keady gave the Tigers an empty net insurance goal with 0:48 remaining in the game.

Frustration

Princeton came out of the weekend with mixed emotions.

"We feel frustrated because I feel like the theme of this season has been that we can't get the puck going our way and that we can't score as much as we like," Stewart said. "We can outshoot teams that are ranked second in the country, but we can't capitalize on our opportunities."

The Tigers' performance against Dartmouth was bittersweet. On the one hand, Princeton showed that it can play at the same level as one of the best teams in the country. On the other, the Tigers were unable to come away with a win despite many chances to tie the game in the third period.

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With the loss, Princeton remains four points behind Yale in the ECACHL standings.

The Tigers will have a chance to close that distance on Wednesday when they travel to New Haven, Conn., to face the Bulldogs in arguably their biggest game of the season. A victory would put Princeton only two points behind Yale in the league standings, in perfect position to leapfrog the Bulldogs with two more games remaining against last-place Union.