Women's Hockey: Momentum building on road swing

Princeton (11-8-1 overall, 8-5-1 ECAC Hockey) is riding its longest winning streak of the season — four games — and is sitting at third in the league. The Tigers have won seven of their last nine matchups, dating back to Dec. 2.

On Friday, the team traveled to Troy, N.Y., where it took on RPI, who beat the Tigers 3-2 in Princeton in early December.

This time, though, the Engineers (11-7-2, 6-2-1) were no match for the Tigers’ high-flying offense and stifling defense, as Princeton used two third-period goals and 24 saves from senior goaltender Kristen Young to put RPI away, 3-1.

Freshman forward Paula Romanchuk notched a power-play goal 12 minutes, eight seconds into the first period, assisted by junior forward Melanie Wallace and junior defender Stephanie Denino, to start the scoring. It was Romanchuk’s team-leading eighth goal of the season.

RPI climbed back to 1-1 in the second period, but junior defender Maddie Endicott put the Tigers ahead for good with a shot past RPI goalie Sonja van der Bliek 5:04 into the third. Her shot was assisted by freshmen forwards Heather Landry and Julie Johnson, who both picked up their eighth points of the season on the play.

Denino iced the game 12:37 in the third with a backhander from the point. Wallace got her second assist of the game on the play, and freshman forward Danielle DiCesare became the seventh Tiger on the score-sheet with an assist of her own.

“RPI is a similar team to us,” head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 said. “They are fast, and they work hard, so we knew it was going to be a battle. We tried to take away some of their speed and use some of our own.”

The game became something of a heat-check for Princeton, which has improved steadily since its first contest against the Engineers.

“The RPI game was pretty important because they beat us at home in [December],” senior forward and tri-captain Christine Foster said. “We needed to get some revenge. Overall, I think we’ve been moving in the right direction.”

Against Union, the squad kept the momentum going. The Dutchwomen (2-17-3, 0-9-1) have had a rough season, but the Tigers did not show them any mercy. Princeton won the last matchup at home 6-0 in December, and its 3-1 win Saturday was its 12th in a row over Union.

Young, coming off ECAC Goaltender of the Week honors for her work last week, stopped six of the seven shots she faced in Schenectady, N.Y., to lower her goals-against average to 2.26.

Unlike in Friday’s game, the Tigers started the scoring early, as Wallace scored on a power play just 4:43 into the first period, pushing her team-leading point total to 18. DiCesare and Endicott continued their strong weekends, picking up assists on the play.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Just over two minutes later, senior forward Annie Greenwood scored an unassisted goal to put the Tigers up, 2-0.

Union got one back on the power play 11:23 into the second period, but freshman forward Charissa Stadnyk reclaimed the Tigers’ two-goal cushion less than five minutes later.

Stadnyk’s goal meant that every freshman who played for the squad over the weekend picked up at least one point. Her goal was assisted by fellow rookies Johnson and Landry.

Kampersal acknowledged the freshman presence on the ice.

“We have a lot of younger kids, and they have gotten a lot of good experience,” he said.

Kampersal noted that the team has been playing with increased confidence since beating No. 3 University of Minnesota-Duluth in mid-December.

“We didn’t use any particular strategies, we just kept the momentum up,” Foster said. “Our win against Minnesota-Duluth gave us confidence, and it showed us we can play with anyone in the nation. It showed us we shouldn’t lose. If we lose, it’s on us, not the other team.”