Women's Hockey: Princeton recovers, smothers Vermont

On Friday, the Tigers (3-5-0 overall, 1-3-0 ECAC Hockey) skated against No. 7 Boston University (8-2-3), dropping a 2-0 decision that senior forward and tri-captain Monica Brennan characterized as Princeton “just coming up a bit short.”

The squad rebounded the next night, using three second-period goals to get past Vermont (3-9-0), 3-1.

Against the Terriers, the Tigers showed they could hang with the big dogs, keeping BU off the board for the first 14 minutes, 11 seconds of the game and again for the entirety of the second period.

“I thought we played really well,” Brennan said. “We just didn’t put the puck in the net. We couldn’t capitalize … They jumped on our mistakes and put some in.”

Terrier forward Erin Seman scored her fourth goal of the season 14 minutes into the game, after a scramble in front of Princeton senior goaltender and tri-captain Kristen Young, who made 25 saves on the night. Still, she was unable to stop BU from extending its unbeaten streak to eight.

Terrier forward Jillian Kirchner tacked on an insurance goal after only six seconds in the third period to ice the game for BU.

“We forechecked really well and controlled the second and third periods especially,” Brennan said.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, a strong defensive effort was wasted, as they could not muster up enough offense to penetrate the Terriers’ defense. Despite outshooting BU 30-27, Princeton was unable to get the puck past netminder Allyse Wilcox, who picked up her first shutout of the season.

The next night, the Tigers had less difficulty scoring, outshooting Vermont 36-8 on their way to scoring three goals.

Princeton’s high-powered class of freshmen led the team past the Catamounts, as freshman forwards Paula Romanchuk, Danielle DiCesare and Charissa Stadnyk each tallied a goal.

“The freshmen are a really good group of girls, and they did a great job,” Brennan said.

Head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 was more guarded in his praise.

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“They’ve stepped up, but they still need to get better,” Kampersal said. “We’ve got to get better each and every game.”

Even with all the hype surrounding the freshmen attackers, the Tigers did not get on the board until the beginning of the second period. They went down 1-0 with 6:50 remaining in the first period, buckling under a Vermont power-play assault.

“To come out and lay an egg for the first 20 minutes is unacceptable,” Kampersal said.

When asked what he told the team, Kampersal was terse.

“Get your act together, or else,” Kampersal said.

To its credit, Princeton did just that, as Romanchuk notched a power-play goal 53 seconds into the second period amid a scramble in front of the net. DiCesare added a goal of her own eight minutes later, taking the puck in from the red line and flicking it past Catamount goaltender Ashley Walenty.

Four minutes after that, Stadnyk buried Vermont with a goal of her own.

“[I’m] not ecstatic with the win,” Kampersal said. “I don’t know if we underestimated our opponent, and if we did, that’s unacceptable … We showed great promise, heart and hustle, but we’ve got to do that every game and every practice.”

The Tigers echoed their coach’s sentiments.

“We scored goals, which is good,” Brennan said. “But we’re now going to concentrate and work on our power-plays. We’re basically looking for ways to score goals.”

Princeton hosts ECAC rivals St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend.