The Tigers, looking for a different result from their 5-1 loss to Cornell on Oct. 30 at Baker Rink, played a very close game against the Big Red, one of the best teams in the country. Princeton’s defense played well and held Cornell scoreless through two periods, in which junior goalie Rachel Weber recorded 20 of her 30 saves.
The offense also had its chances against the Big Red and had 15 shots on goal, all of which were stopped by Cornell’s goalie Amanda Mazzotta in her second shutout of the season.
“Against Cornell, we had our chances offensively,” junior forward and co-captain Paula Romanchuk said. “Their goalie made some nice saves, and we were unable to convert.”
Despite focusing more on power plays this week in practice, the Tiger offense’s power-play struggles continued as it failed to capitalize on five power plays against Cornell and another four against Colgate, bringing the streak of goalless power plays in the last five games to 17.
“Our power play is struggling a bit right now. We don’t have too many issues breaking out and getting set up in the zone, but we have trouble putting the puck in the net,” Romanchuk said. “We need to focus on moving the puck faster and making quicker decisions to get the defenders moving to open shooting lanes.”
The Big Red, on the other hand, scored its lone goal during the first of its three power plays of the third period. Defender Laura Fortino made a short pass to forward Brianne Jenner, who was waiting wide open at the corner of the crease. Jenner smacked the puck past Weber and into the back of the net to put Cornell up for good.
While she did give up the only goals of the Cornell and Colgate games, Weber did play admirably against the Big Red, as she held a team that averages almost five goals per game to just one.
“The one big plus from the weekend was our goaltending,” Romanchuk said. “Rachel Weber stood on her head in the Cornell game and was very solid in the Colgate game. It was nice to see her step up like that.”
The Colgate game was similar to the Cornell game in that it was characterized by failed offensive opportunities for the Tigers and solid goaltending. However, the Tigers probably did not expect to get shut out by a Colgate team that ranks second-to-last in the league.
“We played well as a team against Cornell. Everyone was doing their job and played well individually,” Romanchuk said. “At Colgate, I don’t think we were as strong individually on top of not executing our system very well.”
The Tigers created many chances to score, especially in the first period, when they had two power plays and 17 shots on goal. The Tigers outshot the Raiders 37-25 but simply could not get anything past the Colgate goalie.
Colgate’s first goal came midway through the second period on a shot that was at first blocked by Weber but then picked up by Colgate forward Jocelyn Simpson, who easily fired it into the back of the net.
In the end of the third period, as the Tigers were looking to tie the game, Colgate caught Weber out of goal as Princeton was substituting her for another player, and the Raiders capitalized with their second goal.
Colgate extended Princeton’s winless streak to four, its longest of the season. The Tigers will look to get back on track this weekend in Boston in two games against No. 5 Boston University (8-2-3).
“It’s never a good weekend with two losses, but we need to learn from it and move on,” Romanchuk said.
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