Tigers split weekend pair at Baker Rink

This weekend, despite pounding out shot after shot and giving themselves plenty of opportunities to score, the women's hockey team only managed a split against two conference foes inside Baker Rink.

The No. 9 Tigers (12-6-4 overall, 6-5-2 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Hockey League) defeated Clarkson (9-11-6, 4-8-1) in overtime on Friday, 2-1, before falling to No. 5 Saint Lawrence (21-4-3, 11-2-1) on Saturday, 5-2.

Princeton spent much of the weekend on offense. Despite firing more than 40 shots in each game, the Tigers managed to score only twice. While this proved to be enough to vanquish Clarkson, St. Lawrence proved that a team doesn't need 40 shots for an offensive explosion.

"We had some trouble converting our offense into goals," sophomore defenseman Dina McCumber said. "Hopefully we'll be able to work it out and be more successful in the future, and it was still nice to come away with a win."

On Friday, Clarkson started out the scoring at six minutes, 57 seconds in the second period. Forward Kim Nolan collected a pass from defenseman Brooke Beazer and beat junior goalkeeper Roxanne Gaudiel with a wrist shot just inside the left post.

Princeton was unable to answer until 7:41 into the third period, largely due to the efforts of Golden Knight goalkeeper Kira McDonald, who had 46 saves in the game. Sophomore forward Liz Keady was finally able to beat McDonald on a rebound from a shot by sophomore forward Kim Pearce.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation, forcing the Tigers' sixth overtime of the season.

Pearce provided the final heroics for Princeton. With just 17 seconds left in overtime, she received a crossing pass from sophomore defenseman Kate Hession and fired it over McDonald's extended right arm for the win.

The game also saw the continued excellent play of McCumber, the reigning ECACHL Player of the Week. McCumber had a hand in both Tiger goals to earn two assists.

The following day Princeton skated off against Saint Lawrence, hoping to avenge an earlier 3-2 loss and move up in the ECAC standings.

But the game went poorly for the Tigers from the start, as forward Chelsea Grills struck early for the Saints at 15:45 in the first period.

In the second period, the Saints continued to pour on the offense. Forward Rebecca Russell dinged a shot off the left post and into the goal just 56 seconds into the period. Then, at 8:29, forward Sabrina Harbec made it 3-0 after a nice feed from forward Christin Powers.

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Princeton finally got on the board at 14:38 in that same period on a power play. Sophomore forward Laura Watt wristed a shot through a crowd in front of the goal, and the puck squirted by Saints' goalkeeper Meaghan Guckian. McCumber and junior forward Heather Jackson earned assists on the play.

The Saints responded just 1:37 into the third period. Forward Abby Bullard managed to beat Gaudiel, who was screened by a crowd in front of the net on the play, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Tigers.

Princeton managed to score once more on a power-play goal by Pearce at 8:48 in the period, but Saint Lawrence also added one more goal at 15:01 to round out the scoring.