Tigers suffer first loss

The women's hockey team hoped to feast on No. 6 Dartmouth and No. 7 Harvard at Baker Rink this weekend but unfortunately found nothing but famine during its Thanksgiving break, falling to both Ivy League rivals. The two losses snapped Princeton's 10-game winning streak, which was previously the second-longest streak in the country and by far the longest in Princeton history.

No. 8 Princeton (8-2-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League, 8-2-2 overall) entered the weekend as the top-ranked team in the ECACHL and hoped to guard first place from Dartmouth and Harvard, which held the next two spots. These tough losses gave the Big Green and the Crimson an edge over the Tigers in the division standings, as both are now tied for first place as Princeton dropped to second.

The power play proved to be the Tigers' weakness this weekend as both Dartmouth and Harvard capitalized on special teams chances. Dartmouth scored power-play goals late in the second period and early in the third to defeat the Tigers, 6-3, while Harvard went two-for-eight on the power play and killed all six of Princeton's man-advantage chances to shut out the Orange and Black, 5-0.

Big Green get revenge

Princeton entered the weekend with high hopes for perpetuating its spotless record, but Dartmouth (9-1-0 ECACHL, 9-3-0 overall) had other plans as the Big Green avenged two regular season losses to the Tigers last year.

Dartmouth opened the scoring a mere two minutes and 30 seconds into the game when senior Cherie Piper collected a rebound and pushed the puck past the Tigers' sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Young. The Big Green wasted no time in adding to its lead and went up 2-0 against the Tigers a minute and a half later when Jenna Cunningham found the back of the net on assists from defense Julia Bronson and Sue Schmitz.

Midway through the first period the Tigers cut the deficit in half on a goal from sophomore forward Annie Greenwood. After freshmen defender Maddie Endicott cleared the puck from the Tiger defensive end, junior forward Marykate Oakley and Greenwood conducted a give-and-go that resulted in Greenwood's goal.

Just 33 seconds into the second frame, Princeton tied the score at 2-2 when senior captain Kim Pearce slipped the puck past out-of-position netminder Carli Clemis. Clemis lost her stick in the opening seconds of the period and left the near side of the goal wide open for Pearce, who tallied her sixth goal of the season.

Just as the Tigers were building momentum, Dartmouth's Cunningham capitalized on two power play chances and put the game out of Princeton's reach. The first goal came at 15:06 in the second period on assists from Piper and Sarah Parsons, with the second in the opening minute of the third frame with help from captain Gillian Apps.

Apps added insurance for Dartmouth at 12:28 in the third period when she converted on a semi-breakaway against Young. Oakley gave the Tigers hope for a comeback with 1:40 remaining in the game when her goal pulled Princeton within two, but Piper brought the win home for Dartmouth with an empty-netter in the waning seconds of the game.

Harvard blanks Tigers

As in the previous night's game, power-play goals proved fatal to the Tigers on Saturday afternoon as Harvard capitalized on back-to-back man-advantage situations in the second period and blanked Princeton 5-0. Harvard (9-1-0 ECACHL, overall) and Princeton split wins during last year's regular season when each team claimed a win at home.

The first period was a story of freshmen goaltending as Harvard's Christina Kessler notched 15 saves and Princeton's Brittany Parisi tallied nine. Efforts from both players were impressive as each faced three power plays, but Parisi's performance during the third Crimson man-advantage was especially outstanding and guaranteed that the game remained scoreless going into the first intermission.

The stalemate ended at 5:30 into the second period when sophomore Jenny Brine found the back of the net while the teams skated four-on-four. Midway through the period, the Crimson showed the Tigers why its power play is ranked first in Division I when it capitalized on a man-advantage chance. Kati Vaughn received the puck off a face-off win by Jennifer Sifers and sent a shot toward the net. Parisi made the save but Harvard's Katie Johnston was there to convert the rebound.

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A second power-play goal came with 3:15 remaining in the second frame as Sarah Wilson put the puck past Parisi and lifted the Crimson 3-0.

Harvard ended the game with third period goals from Julie Chu and Brine. Though Harvard only outshot Princeton by one, the Crimson exploited its chances while Princeton failed to convert countless opportunities.