When Union traveled to Princeton this weekend, it was a women's hockey battle of David and Goliath. This time, however, Goliath flicked away David's stone, grabbed his sling and snapped it in two, and then gave David a good shellacking.
The Tigers (16-8-5 overall, 10-7-3 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hockey League) blew out Union (5-27-1, 0-20-0), 9-1 on Friday and 9-2 on Saturday.
The games saw an offensive explosion by a usually defensive Princeton team that has averaged only 2.3 goals per game this season while giving up 1.6 per game.
"We really took it to them this weekend," sophomore defenseman Dina McCumber said. "Our offense clicked like never before, which gives us confidence heading into the playoffs."
Neither of the games was full of excitement, as the Tigers quickly pulled away and decided the result long before the final buzzer.
"One of the biggest challenges for us was to not let up," sophomore forward Alison Ralph said. "They slipped in a couple of goals on us, but overall we kept the pressure on."
On Friday against Union, senior defenseman April Brown paced the Tigers with a hat trick on her first goals of the season, which certainly characterized Princeton's unexpected offensive barrage.
Senior forward Tarah Clark started off the scoring for the Tigers just over a minute into the game. She positioned herself in front of the goal and knocked in a rebound off the post from freshman forward Marykate Oakley's shot.
Freshman forward Sonja Novak doubled the Tigers' score with a goal 10 minutes later, while sophomore forward Laura Watt and Oakley added goals at 15:50 and 19:51 in the period, respectively.
The second period belonged to Brown, who was playing in her final career weekend at Baker Rink. After Dutchwoman goalkeeper Dana Smullyan barely saved a shot from senior forward Becky Stewart, Brown knocked the rebound over her prostrate body for a goal at 1:41.
Brown struck again at 5:22 with a shorthanded goal before finishing her blitzkrieg with an even-strength goal at 6:39.
After a goal by freshman forward Brittany Salmon at 8:19 pushed the score to 8-0, the two teams settled down and played scoreless hockey for the rest of the period.
The Dutchwomen finally had a response in the third period, as forward Ashley Kilstein knocked a shot past freshman goalie Rebecca Allen.
Junior forward Sarah Butsch rounded out the scoring for the Tigers on a power play goal at 12:51.
Saturday was more of the same as Princeton again crushed Union, 9-2. Watt, Oakley and sophomore forward Liz Keady each had two goals apiece in the blowout.
The Tigers again quickly put the game out of the Dutchwomen's reach, notching four goals in the first period.
Oakley started the goal parade at 6:23, and Keady added a power play goal just over two minutes later. Butsch drove the score to 3-0 at 14:57, and Watt finished the scoring in period at 15:59.
The Tigers started off the second period as cold as a naked Zamboni driver but soon heated up. When Union defenseman Jamie Laubisch was sent to the penalty box for contact to the head, Watt took advantage with a power play goal at 8:24, assisted by Oakley.
Junior forward Heather Jackson hit one in at 10:04, and Oakley took the goalie to school at 11:53 on a one-on-one with the keeper that resulted in a goal.
Once again, the Dutchwomen waited until the third period to score, managing to push the puck past Allen at 3:41 and 16:16. But in between these goals, Keady scored at 10:07 and Ralph scored at 13:04 to run the score to 9-2.
The Tigers outshot Union, 57-13, in Saturday's game.
With the victories, the Tigers secured the fifth seed in the conference playoffs, meaning they will travel to Yale next weekend for a best-of-three series.
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