Women's Hockey: Princeton reverses fortunes, beat Big Green and Crimson

This time Princeton (9-8-1 overall, 6-5-0 ECAC Hockey) reversed its fortunes on road ice and knocked off both teams, staying alive in conference play and securing the No. 10 ranking in this week’s U.S. College Hockey Online poll. At Harvard (6-6-3, 6-3-2), who fell out of the rankings in November, the Tigers pulled out a clutch 1-0 victory.

The Big Green (8-5-2, 6-3-2) dropped to No. 8 in this week’s poll afer then-No. 3 squad was overwhelmed by the Princeton attack and fell 4-1.

“Princeton hasn’t gone to Harvard and Dartmouth [in the same weekend] and won since before my coaching time,” head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 said. “We needed the four points badly.”

In fact, these two wins mark the first Harvard-Dartmouth weekend sweep, home or away, in Princeton history.

The Harvard game proved to be a defensive matchup in which both teams had to take their opportunities when they came. Both Princeton senior goalie Kristen Young and Harvard goalie Brittany Martin notched phenomenal games with 31 and 20 saves, respectively. Young, however, scored a win with her shutout performance, the 13th of her career.

Freshman forward Heather Landry scored the game’s only goal in the 10th minute of the second period, her fourth of the season. Landry’s effort was assisted by fellow freshmen forwards Charissa Stadnyk and Julie Johnson.

“I felt that the whole team was behind me,” Landry said. “Anyone could have scored that goal. Our defense is what kept us in the game.”

Both teams effectively neutralized all power-play opportunities, so the game became a defensive struggle. The Tigers held on to their one-goal lead through the rest of the second period and all of the third to preserve their victory.

The Dartmouth game brought Princeton a different sort of challenge. After allowing a goal in the middle of the first period, the Tigers entered the second period needing a boost. It came early in the second minute, when junior forward Melanie Wallace netted an unassisted goal, leveling the score at one. Just three minutes later, sophomore forward Caroline Park scored the game-winning goal, her first of the season, with assists from sophomore defender Sasha Sherry and senior forward Christine Foster.

Halfway through the second period, Johnson scored her fifth of the season to ice the game for Princeton. The Tigers’ fourth and final goal came from senior defender Katherine Dineen on an assist by freshman forward Paula Romanchuk with one minute remaining in the game.

Another excellent outing from Young once again backed up Princeton’s offense, as her 26 saves kept Dartmouth from creeping back into the match.

The difference between the team that was swept in November and the team that completed the sweep this weekend lies in the details.

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“When they came back from break they were focused,” Kampersal said. “Kristen Young was phenomenal all weekend. Everyone contributed on the bench, with a goal or an assist or a blocked shot. This weekend was back-to-back, solid 60-minute efforts. They really had their heads on and focused on the two games.”

Though Princeton has had some trouble on the penalty kill this season, the Tigers committed only nine penalties in the two games and killed all of them.

The lineup has also changed since early in the season. After experimenting with some new combinations, Princeton has found some lines that seem to work better.

“At the beginning of the year we had five freshman forwards,” Kampersal said. “[Harvard and Dartmouth] were our fourth and fifth games. Different people are playing together now and we did not have [those combinations] in the beginning.”