“Everybody’s doing a good job,” head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 said. “Hopefully we’ll keep it going in the playoffs.”
On Saturday, the team skated in New Haven, Conn., against bitter rival Yale (12-16-1, 8-13-1), which the Tigers had already defeated last month at home. Princeton (18-9-2, 15-6-1) completed the season sweep of the Bulldogs with a tough win, the difficulty of which was not reflected in the final score. Through the first two periods the teams remained scoreless, despite four Princeton power plays.
But Princeton’s superior skill showed itself in the third period. Senior forward Christine Foster netted two goals, her eighth and ninth of the season, in a span of two minutes. The first goal, five minutes, 45 seconds into the period, was assisted by junior defender Stephanie Denino and senior defender Katherine Dineen, while Foster’s second goal was assisted by senior forward Annie Greenwood and sophomore defender Laura Martindale.
Only 37 seconds later, the Tigers added another goal when junior forward Melanie Wallace netted her sixth of the season at 7:55 in the period. Yale narrowed the gap to two with a goal from Helen Resor, but Greenwood added an empty net goal in the last minute to put the game away.
The story on Friday was strikingly similar. While Brown (7-21-1, 6-16-0) and Princeton remained tied at zero after the first period, Foster struck in the second frame.
At 1:37 in the second period, she put the Tigers up for good, scoring the eventual game-winner off assists from Greenwood and sophomore defender Sasha Sherry. The score remained 1-0 through the rest of the second period and half of the third.
Princeton ended the Bears’ hopes of a comeback at 14:44 in the third, when freshman forward Heather Landry netted her sixth goal of the year off assists from Foster and Greenwood. Sherry brought the score to 3-0 less than a minute later, scoring off assists from freshman forward Julie Johnson and junior forward Julie Flynn.
“We have pretty good momentum and confidence going right now,” Kampersal said. “Our seniors have all stepped up and have led the way over the past month.”
Kampersal was referring to the team’s stellar play this calendar year. In 2009, Princeton has gone on an impressive streak in which it has won 11 games and only tied and lost one game each. While the loss, a heartbreaker in overtime to Brown on Jan. 31, might have fazed other teams, this Tiger squad was undeterred by the defeat. Instead, the team bounced back and has not lost a game since, its only blemish a well-skated tie to Cornell on Feb. 7.
“There’s a lot going on in the locker room which has been very positive,” Kampersal said.
Princeton next looks to face Rensselaer this weekend. While the Tigers have their eyes on a deep playoff run, the team knows better than to think too far ahead.
“We break down games into 12 five-minute games,” Kampersal said. “Right now, we just want to try to get out of our quarterfinal round.”
In recent years, Princeton has struggled in the quarterfinals, losing to Clarkson in three games last year and to Colgate in 2007. This team would do better to emulate the success of the 2006 team, which, despite losing in the ECAC semifinals, earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.
Kampersal sees similarities between this team and the 2006 team.
“[This team] is similar to the 2006 and 2003 teams and a little bit of the 2002 teams in that those teams coached themselves,” he said. “The more I have to do, the more things might not be right. The less I do, the better.”
Though Rensselaer finished sixth in the conference compared to Princeton’s third, it still will be a formidable opponent. The Engineers beat the Tigers at Baker on Dec. 6 of last year, and Princeton beat them on their home ice. From all indications, the series will be close.
Kampersal recognizes the significance of the matchup.
“We’re going to have to try our best,” Kampersal said.
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