Tigers hope to climb in league

You would be hard pressed to find two more different teams for the women's hockey team to face on back-to-back nights.

With its regular season winding down and playoffs looming in the distance, Princeton (13-6-5 overall, 7-5-3 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hockey League) heads to New England this weekend for a pair of critical games against Vermont and Dartmouth.

On Friday night, the Tigers face off against the Catamounts (5-22-3, 3-13-0), who are last in the nation in offense, averaging only 1.2 goals per game. The next night, Princeton takes on the Big Green (21-3-0, 14-2-0), a powerhouse that boasts the nation's top offense, scoring a daunting 5.3 goals per game.

The Tigers have met both of these teams once earlier this season. In just the second week of the season, Princeton fell to Dartmouth, 3-0, at home. A day later, they bounced back with a 4-1 win against Vermont.

In Saturday's contest with Dartmouth, most of the pressure for the Tigers will be on their defense. The Big Green has five players with over 33 points this season. Junior forward Cherie Piper, who leads the team in points (49), was recently named one of 10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which goes to the nation's top collegiate hockey player.

Dartmouth has not scored fewer than three goals this season, and the team has scored in double digits three times.

Princeton is one of the few teams in the league whose defense may be able to contain the potent Big Green attack. The Tigers are second in the league in goals against average with 1.88. Junior goalie Roxanne Gaudiel ranks third in the league in save percentage at .928.

The Tigers have several offensive weapons of their own. Their attack is led by the talented duo of sophomore forwards Kim Pearce and Liz Keady. Pearce leads the team in goals (14) and points (24), while Keady, recently named to the United States National Team, has 11 goals and 23 total points.

Despite the importance of Saturday night's game, the Tigers must not look past Vermont, a team that should give Princeton little trouble.

"We're definitely preparing for both teams," sophomore defenseman Dina McCumber said. "We definitely have to come in focused in our first game and come out with two points."

Last weekend, it took two goals by junior forward Sarah Butsch in the final one minute, 32 seconds to come back and force overtime against a Cornell, team that is only one point above Vermont in league standings. Butsch scored her third goal of the game 1:05 into overtime, a feat for which she was named the ECACHL Player of the Week. The next night, the Tigers skated to a 2-2 draw against Colgate.

This weekend has serious implications for the Tigers' season both in the league and on the national level. The Tigers, No. 9 in the nation, are in fifth place in the ECACHL and four points behind Yale with five games to play, though they have played two fewer games than the Bulldogs. A sweep this weekend would give Princeton a boost in the standings and considerable momentum as it nears the postseason.

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"Playing Dartmouth definitely affects the way people look at us from a national standpoint," McCumber said. "If we want to go to the NCAA final eight, then we need to continue to win."