Women's Hockey: No. 10 Harvard falls, but Big Green nets 7 goals

The Tigers (12-12-1 overall, 9-8-1 ECAC Hockey) rolled into Cambridge, Mass., red-hot, having won eight of their last nine games, while the Crimson (13-8-2, 12-4-2) were riding a six-game winning streak. The game was a back-and-forth affair between the two teams, but the Tigers came out on top 3-2 thanks to freshman forward Denna Laing’s game-winning goal.

About six minutes into the third period, with the teams tied at 2, Laing recovered fellow freshman forward Olivia Mucha’s shot on goal and slapped the puck into the back of the net for her fifth goal of the year. The goal was especially meaningful for Laing, a native of the Boston area, whose family and friends watched as she put the Tigers ahead for good. The forward, however, remained humble, giving much credit to her teammates.

“It was a very exciting goal but it couldn’t have happened without the hard work from every member of the team throughout the game,” Laing said. “On the goal, my linemates [freshman forward] Sally Butler and Olivia Mucha did a lot of hard work to set things up.”

The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, but the Crimson quickly turned the tide. Harvard answered with two goals of its own in the second period, taking a 2-1 lead. After Laing’s goal, the hosts appeared determined to send the game into overtime. The Tigers’ defense stayed strong, holding off the Crimson offense during two power plays, though Harvard nearly tied the game on a shot that hit the post.

“Harvard was taking it to us in the first period, but we withstood their pressure and in the second and third periods we were able to counterattack,” head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 said. “On the scoreboard, we went down 2-1 but showed good resolve and got a goal at the end of the second period, which helped our confidence heading into the third.”

With the victory, the Tigers had won nine of their last 10 games and set off to Dartmouth looking to climb further up in the conference rankings. The Tigers were set to face the Big Green (15-9, 11-7), which had won five of its last six games. Princeton found itself just one point behind Dartmouth and Quinnipiac, both tied for third place. With a win, the Tigers would have taken sole possession of third place behind first-place Cornell and second-place Harvard.

Princeton was unable to capitalize on this opportunity, however, and could not keep it close against Dartmouth. The Tigers were shut out for the first time since Nov. 20 and allowed a season-high seven goals.

“We came out flat with no energy against Dartmouth,” junior forward and co-captain Paula Romanchuk said. “We picked it up a little in the second and third but at that point we had already dug ourselves a big hole. We weren’t connecting on our passes and couldn’t seem to get anything going.”

Dartmouth piled on the goals from the start and had a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period. The Tigers uncharacteristically struggled on both offense and defense in the blowout loss.

“We had a bad day against Dartmouth,” Kampersal said. “It’s as simple as that.”

The Tigers hope to put the last loss behind them in preparation for their last two home games of the regular season. Princeton will look to get back to its winning ways against conference opponents Union (2-25-3, 1-15-2) and Rensselaer (10-12-7, 8-8-2).

“Team morale is good as we approach our last four games,” Romanchuk said. “It’s our last home weekend of the regular season, so it’s senior weekend. It’ll be great to honor our seniors before the games and to have the opportunity to play our best hockey in front of a home crowd.”