Twice-defeated foe reappears for one more try

Princeton (13-10-6 overall, 11-8-3 ECAC Hockey) sealed the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament by splitting its final two games of the regular season. Clarkson (13-6-3, 22-7-5) is the No. 4 seed and is currently ranked No. 9 in the nation by USA Today. Games will be played Friday and Saturday, with a third game Sunday if necessary.

The Tigers had a tough end of the season, facing No. 6 St. Lawrence and Clarkson last Friday and Saturday. Had the Tigers won both matchups, they would have secured home ice for this round. After a disheartening 9-2 loss Friday night, Princeton rallied back on Saturday to beat Clarkson 2-1, making a strong statement before entering the playoffs despite losing home ice.

“Home ice does not make much of a difference to us,” head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 said. “Last year, Colgate beat us on our home ice. Traveling up to north country is not ideal, but we will deal with it.”

The first match between these two teams early in the season was a hard-fought 3-2 victory for the Tigers, who netted the winning goal in the third period. This may not be the best indicator of success, however, because it was only Princeton’s third game of the season.

“Since then, Clarkson’s younger players have gained a lot of experience, and we have gained a sense of camaraderie,” Kampersal said.

Playing Clarkson twice in a row, and possibly as many as four times, might not be an ideal situation either, but Kampersal isn’t worried.

“Clarkson is really well coached. The win [this past weekend] only gives us more confidence,” Kampersal said.

Last Saturday’s rematch was again close all the way. The Tigers struggled during the first, going down a goal with 45 seconds left in the period. Princeton scored once in the second period and sealed the game in spectacular fashion in the third, when sophomore defenseman Stephanie Denino scored her first goal of the season to put the Tigers on top.

“Early on, we were holding out the storm. Timely goals from [senior forward] Brittany Salmon and Stephanie Denino were key,” Kampersal said.

Salmon has scored two goals against the Golden Knights, one in each game.

The Tigers still have their work cut out for them. The Golden Knights are a very disciplined squad and are the least-penalized team in women’s college hockey, so the Tigers will not be able to depend on power-play situations for scoring opportunities. In both of their last meetings, Clarkson has considerably outshot Princeton — last Saturday by a 28-17 margin — which makes solid play from junior goalie Kristen Young a necessity. Again, Kampersal is not too concerned.

“We are not worried about being outshot, only out-hustled. We want more quality chances than them,” Kampersal said.

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Consistency has been Princeton’s weakness all season, with the exception of its record against Clarkson. The Tigers have tied games they could have won and split with teams they could have beaten twice. Hopefully for the Tigers, their two wins against Clarkson foreshadow success this weekend and signal that they have finally overcome this obstacle as a team. They will definitely need that consistency to pull out two victories this weekend. Given Princeton’s habit of defeating Clarkson in the final minutes of the third period, this weekend should be quite exciting on the ice.

“All of the players need to show up, whether this week at practice, in the game or on the bus. We need to leave everything at the door when we come to the rink,” Kampersal said.