Women's hockey splits two-game series against Ohio State

The No. 9 women's hockey team took on No. 10 Ohio State this weekend in a two-game series. Only thing was, the team didn't quite show up for the second game.

Princeton (3-2-1, 1-1-0 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hockey League) made a split of the weekend, playing a superb first game but turning in a sloppy performance in its second contest. The Tigers took Friday night's match by a score of 4-1, while the Buckeyes (6-5-1, 1-1-0 ECACHL) countered Princeton's victory with a 2-1 win of their own.

Friday night's score implied that the Tigers' victory was a walk in the park. This was not the case, however, as the game remained nip-and-tuck for most of the night. Princeton was nursing a 1-0 lead after two periods, with the only score of the night coming fresh off the stick of sophomore forward Brittany Salmon.

Five minutes, 46 seconds into the third period, freshman forward Annie Greenwood gave the Tigers some breathing room. Ohio State refused to back down as the Buckeyes answered with a shorthanded goal, keeping things close with a 2-1 score midway through the third period.

Then, in the last 10 minutes of the game, Princeton hit its offensive stride and never looked back.

Freshman defender Katherine Dineen and junior forward Laura Watt tallied two quick goals, crushing any hopes that Ohio State might have had for a comeback.

Princeton's offense looked wholly convincing Friday night with a balanced, powerful attack — four scores from four different Tigers.

"Friday night's game was our best game all year," head coach Jeff Kampersal said. "We were quick getting to the loose pucks, and we won most of the battles on the boards. As a collective group, everyone stepped up on Friday and did a good job."

Jeckyl-to-Hyde

Princeton proved that it has great potential this season with its wire-to-wire victory on Friday night, but Saturday's game was a not-so-gentle reminder that there's still a lot of work to be done.

The vaunted Tiger offense that put on a display Friday was nowhere to be seen Saturday night. Even though Princeton outshot the Buckeyes, 35-23, the Tigers couldn't find the back of the net against an Ohio State defense that had appeared porous just 24 hours earlier. With the score 2-0 in the Buckeyes' favor, the Tigers added what turned out to be a meaningless goal with 17 seconds remaining.

Princeton kept it close all the way to the end, but the high quantity of shots failed to put any numbers on the scoreboard for the Tigers, and in the end, those are the only numbers that matter.

"We worked hard," Kampersal said. "We weren't as quick as were on Friday, though, and we didn't win as many battles as we had the previous night. We needed a bit more oomph."

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This second contest mirrored last weekend's matchup against Harvard, where Princeton also outshot the Crimson but couldn't get enough pucks past the goaltender, and a loss ensued.

While the Tigers couldn't manage a sweep of the series after an impressive Friday night win, there were still a lot of positive things to take away from the weekend's play against a quality Ohio State team.

Two areas Princeton can be pleased with were the power-play and penalty-kill units. The players turned in a greatly improved performance against the Buckeyes, especially when compared with last weekend's power-play and penalty-kill struggles.

"It was definitely an improvement," Kampersal said. "It's a day-by-day, week-by-week thing; we're getting better, but there's still a lot of room for improvement."

And while Kampersal acknowledged the improvement of the power-play units, they still remain the Achilles' heel of what appears to be a very potent Princeton team indeed.

The Tigers have allowed a very small number of five-on-five goals so far this season, with most of their defensive deficiencies coming on penalties.

Highlighting the weekend was the play of junior defender Kate Hession, who put together a very solid performance while patrolling the blue lines for Princeton. Senior goaltender Roxanne Gaudiel also had a solid outing for the Tigers, making 40 saves and allowing three goals over the course of the two-game series.

On the whole, the weekend was an encouraging one, with Princeton taking the more energy-intense game in a very convincing fashion. And while the Tigers fell a little flat on the second night of the back-to-back, some of that can be attributed to a need for conditioning.

"The Friday night games are usually played at a higher level," Kampersal said. "Teams don't play as strong in the Saturday night games — and that works both ways for both teams."

So while Princeton might need some more conditioning, that can be remedied. The important thing to take away from the weekend's play was that the Tigers can win against a high-caliber squad when both teams were playing at a higher level. If Princeton can be more consistent in the future, the Tigers could be a force to be reckoned with.