Women's Hockey: Stearns shines in shutout win against Union

On Friday, Princeton (10-9-4 overall, 8-4-4 ECAC Hockey) skated to a decisive 3-0 win at Union (5-22-1, 1-14-1) with the aid of two goals and an assist from freshman forward Corey Stearns. To continue the trend, freshman forward Alex Kinney scored the lone goal in a 1-1 tie at Rensselaer (11-10-6, 8-4-4) on Saturday afternoon. The tie locked both teams at an 8-4-4 conference mark, putting them in a three-way tie for third in the ECAC Hockey standings.

The Tigers traveled to Schenectady, N.Y. to face the Dutchwomen on Friday night. When Princeton saw Union at home in October, it notched a 6-3 win. This time, though head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 noted that Union was much improved, the Orange and Black shut out the team that currently sits at the bottom of the league standings.

With four minutes, 33 seconds left in the first period, senior forward Melanie Wallace seized a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal, assisted by Stearns and sophomore forward Danielle DiCesare. In the second period, Wallace and Stearns traded roles, as Wallace and sophomore forward Paula Romanchuk had assists for the freshman’s fourth goal of the season, coming in at 4:58.

Stearns then put home the game’s final goal at 13:53 into the second period, assisted by senior defender Maddie Endicott. In the Tigers’ fourth shutout of the season, sophomore goaltender Rachel Weber made all 16 saves, while the Dutchwomen’s Alana Marcinko stopped 38 shots for the loss.

“We started a little slow at Union, but after getting used to game-like conditions again, we picked up our speed,” Kampersal said in an e-mail. “The key to that game was execution on our power play. We moved the puck around well, found the open person and finished.”

Junior defender Sasha Sherry attributed the team’s success on Friday to Weber.

“Rachel played really well in net,” Sherry said in an e-mail. “She was a source of confidence and saved us when we ran into problems on defense. Union never really got in the game because we continued to deny them on their scoring chances.”

On Saturday, Princeton made the short trip from Schenectady to Troy, N.Y., to visit Rensselaer. While the Tigers won both games of the season against Union, they tied twice against RPI. In October, the teams found a 2-2 result, and this weekend, the draw was 1-1.

In the beginning of the first period, things were looking up for Princeton. At 2:06, Kinney scored the first goal of her Princeton career assisted by Stearns. Rensselaer then evened up the score at 6:50, however, and neither team scored again for the final 53 minutes.

It isn’t a coincidence that both Princeton-RPI games this season have turned out as ties, as the teams are actually very similar, Sherry explained.

“Both teams are quick, aggressive and hard working,” Sherry said. “We both have good goaltending and defense, with a handful of difference-makers up front. In our games, it usually comes down to one person being able to step up above everyone else and break the tie … We needed a power-play goal to win it [Saturday], but could not come through.”

Kampersal agreed that the most glaring error of the game was a missed opportunity on the power play.

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“Against RPI, we played a solid game, but didn’t capitalize on our chances,” Kampersal said in an e-mail. “RPI played solid as well. They are a good team. It seems like every time we play them, we go to overtime. We didn’t take advantage of a power play with six minutes to go that could have put the game away.”

The game on Saturday was especially important because the Tigers were looking to gain an edge on RPI in terms of points, as the two teams are tied (along with Harvard) for third in the ECAC standings — and for the final two home-ice playoff spots.

“Tying in general is very frustrating, but even more so against RPI,” Sherry said. “We had matching records going into this game, and a win, worth two points in the league, would have given us an edge on them. Both goalies played really well. In the end, it is disappointing to not come out of this weekend with four points.”

She added, “Tying RPI leaves a bitter taste in our mouths, but there is a chance we will see them in the postseason and have a chance to finally put them away.”