Women's Hockey: Sudden-death periods yield loss, tie at home

The ice on Baker Rink had a bitter taste on Friday. Despite a respectable showing by junior goalkeeper Rachel Weber, Dartmouth defender Sasha Nanji stole the show, scoring all three of the Big Green’s goals.

The Tigers came out strong at the start of the first period, repeatedly maintaining possession in the offensive half but generating few goal-scoring opportunities. As the period wore on, Dartmouth began to assert control, and Princeton was forced to retreat into its defending zone with increasing regularity. Dartmouth’s first-period offensive onslaught began to stall when Nanji was relegated to the penalty box for tripping with eight minutes left in the period. Princeton regained the momentum toward the end of the period and took two promising shots on goal in quick succession, but as the first period ended, it became clear to both sides that a long game was in store.

As in the first period, the Tigers came out hot at the onset of the second period, with three freshmen — defender Gabie Figueroa, forward Denna Laing and forward Sally Butler — each finding serious scoring opportunities. Dartmouth turned back the Tigers once again and then took a 1-0 lead five minutes into the period when Nanji followed her own shot from inside the blue line.

Princeton delivered a response six minutes later. Freshman forward Olivia Mucha brought the puck up the left wing and then found sophomore forward Alex Kinney on the right in front of the crease. Kinney flicked the puck past Dartmouth goalkeeper Lindsay Holdcroft to even the score at 1. After eight intense and increasingly physical minutes, Mucha assisted again by dishing the puck to Laing in front of the goal. Laing then pounded the puck into the back of the net to give Princeton the lead. The Tigers pushed back Dartmouth for the last minute of the period and prepared to defend their lead in the third period.

The Big Green was physically unrelenting in the third period, applying pressure on every Princeton possession and checking often. Princeton slowed down the progression of play as much as possible, and two power plays — one nine minutes into the period and the other 13 minutes into the period — allowed Princeton to catch its breath.

With five minutes left in the third period and both teams back at full strength, the arena was energized. Princeton maintained possession in the attacking zone for a few minutes, but Dartmouth cleared the puck and made its final substitution with two minutes left. The Big Green intercepted a pass at the center line and passed the puck around in the neutral zone as the Tigers fell back into the defending zone and prepared for a final attack. With just 1 minute, 36 seconds left in the period, Nanji struck again, puncturing the back line and then flicking the puck into the upper left corner of the net from about 10 yards out.

Now tied at two, the teams mentally prepared for overtime. The last minute of regulation was quiet, although Laing did make another attempt at goal.

“Obviously, everyone was disappointed, but it made us want to bring [Dartmouth] back down to reality,” Mucha said about the second Dartmouth goal.

Princeton took the first look at goal during the five-minute overtime period with junior Danielle DiCesare managing possession for Princeton. The Tigers circled in front of the goal, taking shots and recycling the deflections for more than a minute, but they could not find the back of the net.

Dartmouth eventually intercepted a pass at the center line and broke for goal with three minutes left in the period. Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 called a timeout with 2 minutes, 33 seconds left in the period, trying to rally the Tigers one last time.

Dartmouth won the faceoff and then took two more dangerous shots on goal. After a scramble, Nanji received a pass from defender Katie Horner and ripped an uncontested slapshot from 15 yards out. The shot passed through traffic in front of the crease and found the upper right corner of the net.

“Overall, we battled hard, and we should have won,” Kampersal said. “We had it for the taking, and we didn’t close the door. Dartmouth is a good team, and they made us pay for it.”

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The team was disappointed but still felt good about its performance as a whole.

“There were ups and downs,” Mucha said. “When we came together, that was when we got our chances and got our goals.”

The team returned to the ice exactly 21 hours later to take on No. 10 Harvard (2-2-2, 2-2-2), and in contrast to the bitter result of the previous night, the outcome this time could instead be called bittersweet.

Sophomore forward Kelly Cooke struck first for Princeton 10 minutes into the first period.

“I got a pass from Kinney, and I took a shot and finished the rebound,” Cooke said. “We were all crashing the net and looking for shots.”

Princeton set the tone early in the second period with a hard shot by DiCesare from the right wing and a fast break by Mucha in the first two minutes. However, an icing violation in the attacking half broke the Tigers’ early momentum.

For the next 10 minutes, possession moved back and forth rapidly between Princeton and Harvard, at times favoring the Crimson. Weber recorded four dramatic saves in a minute, but eventually the onslaught proved too much.

With eight minutes left in the period, Harvard defender Marissa Gedman drew the defense onto the left wing and found forward Katharine Chute open two yards in front of the crease. Chute firmly flicked the puck into the upper left corner of the goal to make the score 1-1.

The remainder of the period had more play in the neutral zone and more aggressive body contact.

Sophomore forward Corey Stearns gave Princeton the lead 20 seconds into the third period on a pass from DiCesare, and Harvard immediately stepped up its intensity as a response. The game at this point took on an eerie similarity to the previous night’s game against Dartmouth.

Mucha kept the momentum on Princeton’s side when she took a promising close shot from the left wing with eight minutes left in the period, but Crimson goalkeeper Lauren Joarnt was able to make a spectacular glove save.

The game began to look even more like the Dartmouth match with just four minutes left, when Chute flicked a pass from senior forward Kate Buesser into the goal from just inches outside the crease. The game was tied at 2.

“We lost it in both with less than five minutes in the third period,” DiCesare said. “That doesn’t feel good.”

Princeton looked as if it might take the lead with a minute left, but Joarnt made two more dramatic saves, one with her glove and another with her stick. The last 30 seconds were tense, and the whole arena was electrified as each team offered shot after shot to no avail.

Regulation expired, and the Tigers were faced with their second 2-2 sudden-death overtime in two games.

The five-minute overtime was frantic, with possession trading hands several times each minute. Each team produced a number of shots on goal, and all but a couple were deflected as opposed to caught, so the clock ticked away quickly. When the clock expired, the score was still tied, and the game ended in a tie.

“Although we would have liked to get a win, it’s still better to get a tie than a loss,” Cooke said. “Everyone in our league is really good this year. There are no easy games.”

The Tigers will next face powerhouse Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday at 3 p.m.