Having lost five of its last six games, the women’s hockey team seems to have found its stride in the new year, opening 2010 with a 2-1-1 record. Princeton’s latest victim was Dartmouth (6-8-2 overall, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey) whom it defeated 4-3 on Saturday at Baker Rink thanks to a late goal by sophomore forward Paula Romanchuk with just over two minutes left in the final period. The game against Dartmouth was one day after the Tigers (9-9-3, 7-4-3) tied No. 5 Harvard (8-4-3, 6-4-1) at home.
With four lead changes, Saturdayís game came down to the wire. The teams played a game of give-and-take, with neither leading for more than three minutes at any point. Every goal was followed by a quick rebuttal from the opposing team within a few minutes.
The Big Green struck about a third of the way into the second period, but sophomore forward Heather Landry evened the game at 1-1 just under a minute later. Junior defender Laura Martindale gave the Tigers the lead with less than three minutes to play in the second, but Dartmouth forward Amanda Trunzo responded with her second goal of the game, to tie the score at 2-2 heading into the final period.
The teams continued to trade the lead in the third period. Dartmouth jumped out to a 3-2 lead midway through the period. Landry’s second goal of the game tied the score at 3-3, and the Tigers finally pulled away for the win on Romanchuk’s goal with 2:45 left in the game.
This capped an excellent weekend for Romanchuk, who credited her linemates — sophomore Danielle DiCesare and senior Melanie Wallace — for setting her up well on a weekend when she tallied five points, including three against Harvard on Friday.
With nationally ranked Harvard in town, Romanchuk scored twice to help the Tigers to a 3-3 tie. Romanchuk’s first goal came just 5:27 into the first period and gave Princeton a 1-0 lead. The Tigers extended their lead to 2-0 on freshman forward Corey Stearns’ power-play goal three minutes later, but Harvard brought the score to 2-1 at 11:45 into the period.
After its strong finish to the first period, Harvard got off to a fast start in the second, tying the score at 2-2 on Kelsey Romatoski’s goal. Romanchuk put Princeton ahead, 3-2, with three minutes left in the period to break the tie.
That was not enough for the win, however, as a Harvard power-play goal with just 3:29 left in the third tied the game for good. Neither team could score in the overtime period, and the sides left the ice with a 3-3 tie.
Coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 9 Northeastern, in which the Tigers were unable to capitalize on 52 of their shots, Romanchuk said she felt that the Tigers did a better job of getting good shots on goal this weekend.
“In our game against Northeastern, we had some chances, but we either didn’t have traffic in front of the goalie or we shot it right into her glove,” she explained. “Against Harvard and Dartmouth, we had higher quality shots and had people in front to screen the goalie and knock in rebounds.”
These higher quality shots are what the team will need in the coming weeks when the Tigers close out the season with eight straight league games that could put them in a position to contend for the ECAC title. The Tigers are currently tied with Quinnipiac for second place behind Clarkson, and, barring further setbacks like the Northeastern game, the team could finish atop the league standings.
The loss to Northeastern represented a significant letdown after the team’s 1-0 win over Quinnipiac just days before, and the Tigers will need to tighten up their game to end the season strong.
“Too often we play a really great game and then follow it with a not-so-great one, but if we can consistently do the little things right and strive to play our best each game, we can have a really good finish to the year,” Landry said.
When it maintains its intensity, the team is a tough match-up for anyone in the league. Princeton’s main challenge will be figuring out how to focus at the start of every game.
The Tigers will need that aggression for the rest of the season. With a chance to finish in the top two of the ECAC, there’s no question that the Tigers will compete hard down the stretch. Princeton’s next game is on Jan. 29, when it travels to Union.
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