Women's Ice Hockey: North Country trip proves fruitless

Despite its hot start to the season, the women’s hockey team came back from a weekend trip to North Country with nothing to show. The Tigers succumbed to two talented squads, losing 3-1 to St. Lawrence on Friday and 3-0 to No. 4 Clarkson on Saturday afternoon.

The 3-1 loss to St. Lawrence (7-5-5 overall, 4-3-2 ECAC Hockey) was a harsh result for the Tigers (7-6-1, 5-4-1), who dominated the match early but conceded two late goals.

“Against St. Lawrence, we came out strong and had a lot of sustained pressure in their zone,” senior defender and captain Stephanie Denino said in an e-mail. “Midway through the game, our pace began to slow down, and we started to make costly mistakes. Ultimately, we played a decent game, but it wasn’t enough to win.”

Princeton, which won both its matches against the Saints last season, came out strong in the first period, controlling play and outshooting St. Lawrence 10-5. Yet the Tigers could not find the back of the net and were punished when the Saints opened the scoring 12 minutes, 14 seconds into the first period. Saints forward Kayla Sullivan took advantage of extra space during a four-on-four to put the puck past freshman goaltender Cassie Seguin.

The Tigers battled back and were rewarded three minutes into the second period. After a fierce shot by Denino resulted in confusion in front of the Saints’ goal, sophomore forward Danielle DiCesare took the opportunity to score her seventh goal of the season.

In the final 20 minutes, the game appeared headed for a tie until — with five minutes remaining — St. Lawrence forward Michelle Ng prodded the puck home in front of a crowded goal to break the deadlock.

The Tigers looked for an equalizer but left themselves dangerously exposed in their own zone after pulling Seguin, who finished the game with 25 saves. St. Lawrence capitalized on Seguin’s absence when Sullivan netted her second goal of the game on an empty net with 30 seconds remaining to seal the match.

“We had a good team effort Friday, but we didn’t play as well as we could’ve, because we didn’t capitalize off opportunities,” DiCesare said in an e-mail.

The next day, Princeton faced powerhouse Clarkson (14-4-1, 8-1-0). Despite leading the all-time series 11-3-1, Princeton was outclassed by its highly ranked opponent.

“We knew Clarkson would be a tough opponent,” Denino said. “They came out strong, as we had expected.”

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Golden Knights struck halfway through the second period. There was a hint of fortune surrounding Clarkson’s opener, as forward Melissa Waldie deflected a misplaced Princeton clearance into the net.

Princeton had little success denting a Clarkson defense that has only conceded seven goals in conference play this season. It came as little surprise when the Golden Knights doubled their advantage one minute into the third period: Clarkson forward Genevieve Lavoie capitalized on a nice passing pattern from forwards Dominique Thibault and Juana Baribeau to put the puck past sophomore goaltender Rachel Weber.

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The Golden Knights had a chance to add a third minutes later, but forward Brittany Mulligan’s penalty shot flashed wide of the net. It made little difference, though, as Princeton conceded a third goal midway through the final period, when Waldie took advantage of a power play to score her second.

“We were lacking in execution, especially on our passes, and could not put together a consistent attack,” Denino said.

Next weekend, the Tigers will again make the trek to upstate New York to face non-conference opponent Syracuse (9-7-1) on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.