Tigers remain in hunt for playoff home ice

During their hotly contested weekend games against Clarkson (16-13-3 overall, 8-10-2 ECAC Hockey) and St. Lawrence (22-6-3, 15-4-1) the women's ice hockey team (14-10-3, 12-6-2) played by the mantra "go big or go home." Their weekend games can be summed up by the last period of their final game against St. Lawrence.

With less than seven minutes on the clock in the third and final period, the Tigers had a choice: They could allow St. Lawrence, an ECAC foe, to take the game 3-2 — or they could attempt to tie it up late in the game. The Orange and Black chose the latter, as freshman forward Melanie Wallace found the back of the net, tying up the game and sending the Tigers into what would be a scoreless overtime.

The Tigers' weekend games took on particular importance as Princeton, ranked No. 5 in the ECAC going into its weekend away games, sought to improve its league ranking before the quarterfinals held later this month. The top-four ranking teams in the league are given home-ice advantage.

On Saturday, the Tigers took on No. 8 ECAC ranked Clarkson. Though the Golden Knights had the home-ice advantage, Princeton was ultimately calling the shots. Wallace was the first to score for the Tigers, giving them an early lead just over a minute into the first period. Senior forward and captain Kim Pearce, who was one of the standout Princeton players of the night, assisted on Wallace's early goal. The Wallace-Pearce duo proved to be unstoppable, as later in the third period Pearce found the back of the net, assisted by sophomore goalie Kristen Young and sophomore defenseman Katherine Dineen.

While Pearce and Young secured Princeton's lead, Young pulled her weight by securing the Tiger victory defensively. Even though Clarkson outshot Princeton 22 to 21, Young effectively halted the Golden Knights' attacks by stopping all 22 attempts, protecting the Princeton lead.

"The win over Clarkson was huge because we are in contention for home ice," said standout junior forward Marykate Oakley. "Against St. Lawrence, we wanted to play with the same intensity."

On Sunday, in a game that promised to be considerably tougher than its Saturday game against Clarkson, Princeton traveled to No. 3-ranked St. Lawrence. The Tigers began their game looking for an upset. Though Oakley started off the Tiger momentum by winning the first face-off, the Saints scored the first goal, 15 minutes, 24 seconds into the first period. Princeton, however, quickly retaliated when Pearce, assisted by Oakley and Wallace, found the back of the net just 21 seconds later. Invigorated by the tied score, the Tigers charged into the second period with renewed energy. Just shy of seven minutes into the second period, senior captain Laura Watt, assisted by Oakley, scored, giving Princeton the lead.

St. Lawrence countered Princeton's stymieing efforts by gaining and capitalizing on a power play shortly after the beginning of the third period. The Saints' Carson Duggan scored the game-tying goal and followed up with another goal 10:20 into the third period. The fate of the game was now in the Tigers' hands. Gaining a power play in the last few moments of the game, Wallace tied up the game, assisted by junior forward Lizzie Keady and Dineen. In overtime, neither team scored, leaving the game tied 3-3.

"Saint Lawrence is a really good team, and every time we play them it is always a battle," Oakley said. "We were back and forth the entire game. When Mel Wallace scored the final goal, we all went crazy knowing we were right back in it. The emotion on the bench was high."

After this weekend, Princeton trails No. 4-ranked Colgate by one point. The Tigers can still gain one of the top four spots in the league after their weekend games against Colgate and Cornell.

"We will focus on execution," Oakley said, "and the little things that we need to do to play the way we did this weekend."