Women's Hockey: Season ends in quarterfinals for 5th straight year

The two teams had faced off twice in the regular season, with the home team taking each matchup. Quinnipiac (22-11-3 overall, 12-9-1 ECAC Hockey) dominated Princeton (16-14-1, 13-8-1) in their first meeting, 5-2, but the Tigers took revenge at home and blanked the Bobcats 3-0. It looked like it would be a battle of defenses between Quinnipiac, ranked second in the ECAC in goals allowed, and Princeton, ranked third.

The Tigers have not been to the semifinals since the 2005-06 season, and they will have to wait at least one more year. Princeton could not get past the tough Quinnipiac defense and the Bobcats swept the series 2-0. Quinnipiac took Friday’s game 2-1 and Saturday’s 2-0, securing a spot in the ECAC semifinals for the first time in program history.

The Tigers struck first in the opening game of the series. After a scoreless first period, senior defender Sasha Sherry slipped the puck past Bobcats goalie Victoria Vigilanti on a rebound off of junior forward Danielle DiCesare’s shot. But unfortunately for the Tigers, the Bobcats quickly turned the tide and held the Tigers scoreless for the rest of the series.

“Quinnipiac played very well defensively and limited the amount of quality shots we were able to get on net,” Sherry said. “They blocked many of our point shots and kept a lot of the play in the corners instead of in front of their net.”

The Bobcats scored an equalizer midway through the second period, and the two defenses held strong for much of the third quarter. It looked as if the teams were headed for overtime until Quinnipiac forward Brittany Lyons broke the deadlock on a pass from freshman forward Kelly Babstock, an ECAC Player of the Year nominee, five seconds before the final buzzer.

Princeton faced off against Quinnipiac again the following afternoon, hoping for a different outcome. The first period ended in another scoreless tie as they headed into the locker room. In the second period, Quinnpiac defender Felicia Vieweg took a strong shot on goal only to be denied by junior Rachel Weber. Babstock followed close behind, however, and struck the puck right through Weber’s legs to make the score 1-0.

The Tigers had a few chances throughout the game, including a couple close shots in the third period by freshman forwards Denna Laing and Olivia Mucha, but did not convert.

“I wouldn’t say we struggled on offense,” junior forward Paula Romanchuk said. “In both games we could have shot the puck more and created more traffic in front, but at the end of the day, we had our opportunities to score and it didn’t happen. We hit three posts and had several very good scoring chances, but their goalie came up with big saves on a lot of them, and we failed to execute when we needed to.”

Princeton took Weber out of goal in the final minutes of the game in an attempt to tie the score, but this only allowed the Bobcats to seal the game with a late empty-net insurance goal.

Princeton fought hard in the series and in the regular season. The team appeared to be headed for a subpar season but quickly turned things around and finished fourth in the ECAC. Despite these regular season results, for the fifth year in a row, the Tigers qualified for the playoffs but failed to emerge from the first round.

“We’re disappointed with the result,” said Romanchuk. “I can’t say it was because of a lack of effort, but just a lack of execution. We battled and had our opportunities to score and make plays but didn’t bury it when we needed to. Again, it’s really disappointing — a decent regular season and then nothing to show for it in the postseason. There’s not much else to say.”