Women's Ice Hockey: RPI comes to town for best-of-three playoff series

Because it is seeded third, the team will host the Engineers at Baker Rink starting Friday night. If the Tigers (18-9-2 overall, 15-6-1 ECAC Hockey) take down RPI, they will advance to the semifinal round for the first time since 2006.

Players said that, despite a great finish to their season, they would only consider the year a success if they made it past the first round.

“Obviously [we’re] very happy with what we’ve accomplished so far,” senior goaltender and tri-captain Kristen Young said. “[But] in the playoffs, your record means nothing,”

In recent years, the Tigers have struggled in the playoffs, losing to Colgate in 2007 and Clarkson in 2008. Both losses were disappointing: Against Colgate, Princeton was swept in a home series, and against Clarkson, the Tigers lost the second two games of the series after winning the first.

Against RPI (16-13-4, 11-8-3), Princeton will attempt to make up for its losses in the past two years.

Seniors on the team said they wanted to end their careers as Tigers on high notes by seeing Princeton advance into the playoffs. “I definitely think we deserve to keep battling in the playoffs,” Young said.

But RPI will not be a pushover. While it is the sixth seed to Princeton’s third, it finished only six points behind the Tigers in the ECAC standings, and the two teams split the season series. Engineer forwards Alisa Harrison and Whitney Naslund lead the team with a combined 55 points on the season. Harrison leads RPI in assists with 16, and Naslund leads the team in goals scored with 13.

They have both performed well against Princeton this year: Naslund has three goals against the Tigers, and Harrison has one goal and one assist.

Young recognizes that Harrison and Naslund pose a threat to score every time they take the ice.

“We know that Harrison [and Naslund] have been producing and that they had a good weekend [last weekend],” Young said. “They’re going to be coming ready to play, and they have that ability to produce.”

The Orange and Black faced the Engineers for the first time this year on Dec. 6 at Baker Rink, and the outcome was not what Princeton would have liked. While the Tigers took an early 1-0 lead off a goal from freshman forward Danielle DiCesare, RPI dominated the rest of the game. Naslund scored two goals in the second period to put the Engineers ahead 2-1, and Harrison made the lead 3-1 with only 26 seconds left in the second period.

Princeton made a valiant effort at a comeback, with junior forward Melanie Wallace narrowing the lead to 3-2 at seven minutes, nine seconds into the third period.

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Though they put pressure on RPI all period, the Tigers could not find the equalizer. Even with a six-on-four advantage in the final seconds of the game, Princeton could not score. The loss dropped the Tigers to a 6-7-1 record, and it seemed as if the team would be destined for a disappointing season.

But something turned on in the Tiger psyche, and the team would up its play to a new level in 2009.

That loss turned out to be one of Princeton’s last, as the team dropped only two more games all season.

When the Tigers visited RPI in Schenectady, N.Y., on Jan. 9, the Engineers faced a completely different team.

Like the first game, Princeton opened the scoring, this time on a goal from freshman forward Paula Romanchuk just over eight minutes into the the first period. Naslund again stymied the Tigers by tying the game up at one at 11:39 in the second period.

But instead of giving up another goal to Naslund this time, Princeton proved solid on defense throughout the rest of this matchup.

In the third period, the Tigers put the game away with goals from junior defenders Maddie Endicott and Stephanie Denino at 5:04 and 12:37, respectively.

Young held strong in goal, and Princeton emerged victorious. This win was the third in a six-game winning streak.

Though Princeton has been on a hot streak lately, the team can take nothing for granted. Young certainly knows that the fate of her team rests in the mentality of taking things game by game.

“[RPI is] a hardworking team and will be battling all over the ice,” Young said. “We have to take it one game at a time.”