Women's Hockey: Princeton upsets No. 4 SLU

For the third straight weekend, the squad won one decision and dropped another, this time falling to Clarkson, 3-2, in overtime Saturday after taking down No. 4 St. Lawrence 4-2 the night before.

Princeton (4-6 overall, 2-4 ECAC Hockey) hosted the Saints (7-2-2, 4-1-0) on Friday, well aware of St. Lawrence’s intimidating national ranking and its then-undefeated conference record.

Undaunted, the Tigers started on the right foot, grabbing the lead less than nine minutes into the first period on sophomore defender Sasha Sherry’s power-play strike from the point.

Though the Saints tied the game seven minutes later on a power-play goal of their own, Princeton did not become discouraged.

Five minutes, 39 seconds into the second period, freshman forward Paula Romanchuk scored her fourth goal of the season, sending it between goaltender Brittony Chartier’s legs.

Within six minutes, the Tigers were up 4-1, with power-play goals from Sherry and freshman forward Heather Landry following shortly after Romanchuk’s tiebreaking shot.

Princeton allowed the Saints to get one goal in the third, but the Tigers hung on for the important 4-2 victory.

“On Friday, we got a big, big win,” senior forward and tri-captain Monica Brennan said. “It was good to know we could play anybody and beat anybody. [St. Lawrence is] on top of the league … The win gave us a lot of confidence and a lot of energy.”

Princeton took this confidence into Saturday’s home matchup with Clarkson but found its high-paced offense disappointingly ineffective.

The Golden Knights (6-5-3, 4-1-1) grabbed an early lead 8:51 into the first period on a power-play wrist shot that snuck past senior netminder Kristen Young.

Clarkson was not able to hold on to the lead for long. Freshman forward Julie Johnson snagged the first goal of her Princeton career three minutes later, swooping in on goal from the left side and sending a wrist shot off goalie Lauren Dahm’s blocker into the back of the net. Sophomore forward Caroline Park and junior defender Stephanie Denino picked up the assists on the score.

The Tigers tested Dahm’s skills in the crease, firing 16 shots at the young goaltender in the first period.

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“We really took it to them in the first but, unfortunately, only got one goal,” Brennan said.

Both goalies held their opposing offense silent silent. Neither Princeton nor Clarkson capitalized on the others’ penalties, though the Tigers had two power plays and the Knights had one.

Freshman forward Danielle DiCesare put Princeton in front 9:38 into the third frame when she flicked a rebound shot over Dahm’s right shoulder on a power play. The Tigers’ lead did not last long, however, as Clarkson’s Tegan Schroeder guided a wrist shot through traffic past Young to score a power-play goal of her own at 10:55.

The teams jockeyed for position as overtime loomed. Princeton could not capitalize on a power play that lasted for two of the last three minutes of regulation, and the game went into bonus time.

The Tigers allowed their third power-play goal of the game 2:15 into overtime, when Clarkson’s Kimberly McKenney powered a slapshot past Young into the upper right corner of the net, giving Clarkson the win.

“It was heartbreaking,” Brennan said. “It’s tough when you play well enough to win [but don’t]. Sometimes the hockey gods just aren’t with you.”

Princeton outshot the Knights 37-22. Confident that such aggression usually pays off, Brennan reaffirmed Princeton’s belief in its strategy.

“We need to just keep doing what we’re doing,” Brennan said. “We need to keep grinding and keep controlling the puck … [The weekend was] really, really positive. These were the best two games of our season so far.”

The Tigers will look to keep their momentum going against No. 8 Boston College on Friday.