Three close wins for Tigers

The women's hockey team has reason to feel pretty good. With six games under its belt and no losses and a win streak of two games, Princeton (4-0-2 overall, 4-0-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League) has climbed above Dartmouth and St. Lawrence to claim the top standing in the league.

The Tigers' first-place standing comes from a stellar performance in their league matchups over fall break. Defeating then unbeaten St. Lawrence on Oct. 27 was followed by a draw with Clarkson the following day.

After a week of practice, Princeton took to the ice again last weekend defeating Brown and Yale on a road trip.

"It always feels good to come out of the weekend with two wins," junior forward Brittany Salmon said. "Brown and Yale have always been hard to play against and it was no different this weekend. We worked really hard over fall break and to keep up that hard work is the goal for this weeks' practices."

In the first game of the break against St. Lawrence, the first period looked very different to the rest of the game, as the Tigers scored four goals on 11 shots. The Saints also put two in the back of the net, making the score 4-2 as time expired. During the period Princeton had five of its seven power play opportunities of the game, scoring on only one. St. Lawrence also notched a power play goal; however, they also allowed the Tigers to score a shorthanded goal at the very end of the Saints' final power play of the period.

In the second period, Princeton outscored St. Lawrence, 2-1. St. Lawrence's third goal came during one of its six power-play opportunities. Scoring began late in the second, as it took more than 12 minutes before senior defenseman Kate Hession put one away. Senior forward Kim Pearce scored what would be the gamewinner with only 46 seconds remaining in the period.

In the final period, the Saints dominated the game, with 34 shots to Princeton's 10. Scoring two goals in the back half of the period on power plays, St. Lawrence brought itself to within one. Sophomore goaltender Kristen Young, however, held onto the win with a spectacular performance in net.

Princeton then tied Clarkson, 1-1, the next day. The game was fairly well-matched, though Clarkson did have a small statistical edge. The Golden Knights scored their only goal in the first, outshooting the Tigers 8-5 in the period.

Princeton had an equalizer from Pearce during a power play, her third goal on the season.

In the third, Clarkson outshot Princeton, 13-9, but both defenses stayed strong sending the match into overtime. Each team only had one shot during the overtime period, but neither was able to convert, leaving the final score at 1-1.

After a week of practice, however, the Tigers looked tough in their 2-1 victory over Brown. The Bears tallied the first score of the game. But Salmon put away her second of the season five minutes into the second period. A little less than 10 minutes later, a penalty was called on Brown, and Salmon knocked in the gamewinner during the power play.

Thanks to six third-period saves by freshman goalkeeper Brittany Parisi, a number that doubled her overall total from the first two periods, the Tigers were able to claim another win. The game was Parisi's first collegiate start.

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Happy with its win over the Bears, Princeton headed to New Haven, Conn., for a showdown with the Bulldogs. The teams had seen each other in an Oct. 14 scrimmage which the Tigers took, 2-0.

Sunday's match started with a strong showing from Yale's offense, forcing Young to make 11 saves on 11 shots in the first period alone. With 1:55 remaining on the clock, junior forward Marykate Oakley skated away with her fifth goal of the season.

The second period was marked by back-and-forth play, each team recording seven shots. The Bulldogs put one past Young, however, and the Tigers were able to sneak two more past Yale goaltender Shivon Zillis, one scored by Salmon — her third of the weekend.