Big weekend may see shake-up in standings

Princeton (11-8-4 overall, 9-6-1 ECAC Hockey) is riding a four-game win streak after a brutal loss to Yale at home on Jan. 11. Since then, Princeton has beaten Brown, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer and Union to pull into fourth place in the conference.

The Tigers’ long-standing rivalry with its fellow Ivy League school provides extra motivation to Princeton’s players.

“We have a really interesting history with Yale,” senior forward and co-captain Marykate Oakley said. “We get fired up [against Yale]. It’s one of the biggest games all season.”

Oakley, who is having an outstanding senior year, leads the Tigers and is tied for seventh in the conference with 27 points. She has eight goals and 19 assists, with a +7 plus-minus ratio, and is on the ballot for the 2008 NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge.

The event will take place April 11 in Denver, Colo., during the Frozen Four. Fans select the Skills Challenge teams by voting on the NCAA’s website.

On Friday night, the Tigers will face Yale (9-9-5, 6-7-3) in what is sure to be a heated matchup. During the first Yale-Princeton game of the season, the Tigers surged back from an early deficit and battled the Bulldogs into the third period.

Then, with minutes to play, Yale pulled ahead on a shorthanded score and then notched an empty-net goal in the last 30 seconds to top Princeton 5-3.

“[Yale is] one of our more fierce rivals,” Oakley said.

Yale owes its offense to the tandem of junior forwards Crysti Howser and Sarah Tittman, who have 21 and 18 points. Combined, they have scored 17 goals for the Bulldogs this year.

In goal, senior Shivon Zilis and freshman Jackee Snikeris have posted an impressive total of 650 saves this season.

On Saturday, Princeton will travel to Providence, R.I., to play the Bears (3-16-4, 2-11-3), who nearly defeated the Tigers the last time the teams met. During that game, which kicked off Princeton’s current win streak, the teams were locked in a scoreless tie until six minutes, 54 seconds into the third period, when Oakley knocked in a critical goal, assisted by senior forward Brittany Salmon.

Senior forward Lizzie Keady added a second goal with two seconds to play, but the game was close until the end.

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Being aggressive on offense will be key to the Tigers’ efforts this weekend.

“We’re working on our breakouts and getting the puck out,” Oakley said. “[Breakouts are] one of the areas that wins or loses the game.”

This weekend’s games may well come down to old-fashioned shoot-outs. Brown’s offense is quite efficient and will sorely test Princeton’s defense.

Bear forward Hayley Moore leads Brown with 10 goals and 10 assists on the season for 20 total points. Nicole Stock is Brown’s primary goalie and has earned a 2.8 goals-against average.

One of the Tigers’ main problems this season has been a failure to convert on crucial scoring opportunities. Against Yale, Princeton saw several shots miss an open net by inches.

The same issue nearly cost the Tigers their game against Brown. ? Princeton outshot the Bears by a huge margin, 41-17, but only scored two goals.

“We need to continue to execute, and continue to get the little things right,” Oakley said. “We had a good week of practice. We went back to basics.”

Looking ahead, the Tigers have only three weekends left before the playoffs. Their final set of home games will take place on Feb. 15 and 16, and they will face Harvard (20-1-0, 16-0-0) in the first of these games.

The Crimson is undefeated in the conference, with the team’s sole loss this season coming at the hands of New Hampshire.

While the Tigers cannot overtake league leaders Harvard and No. 2 St. Lawrence, they can still catch Clarkson and Dartmouth to finish in third place. This weekend’s games against Brown and Yale will be critical indicators as to whether they can achieve this goal.