This weekend, the women’s hockey team fought for a pair of league wins to stay in the race for home-ice advantage in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Tournament. Princeton (14-12-1 overall, 11-8-1 ECAC Hockey) dismantled Union (2-27-3, 1-17-2) 3-1 on Friday night and took down Rensselaer (10-14-7, 8-10-2) 4-2 on Saturday, improving to fifth in the league.
Princeton came into the match against cellar-dwelling Union confident that it could pick up the win and a couple of points to move up in the standings. The Tigers needed only six minutes to take the edge over the Dutchwomen when senior defenseman and co-captain Sasha Sherry found her own rebound in a crowded left circle and shot back for the goal past Union goaltender Alana Marcinko.
At just under four minutes into the second period the Tigers dug a deeper deficit for Union when freshman forward Denna Liang put Princeton up 2-0. On a power play, Liang picked up a rebounded shot from teammate freshman forward Sally Butler on the doorstep and stuffed the puck into the left side of the net.
Liang has six goals and 10 assists this season for a total of 16 points and boasts a plus-8 plus-minus ratio.
Only two minutes later, the Tigers dashed all hope for the Dutchwomen. Sophomore forward Corey Stearns flew up the right side of the ice and shot across the goalie to put Princeton up 3-0 with a period and a half left in the match.
Union switched to goaltender Kate Gallagher, perhaps in an attempt to avoid falling into a deeper hole. Gallagher fended off the Tiger assault from that point on, saving 19 Princeton shots. The visitors managed a goal eight minutes into the third period but could not find the net again as Princeton held onto the lead for the win.
Saturday’s match against Rensselaer was a necessary win for the Tigers. A loss to Rensselaer in their final regular-season home game would have made it virtually impossible for the Tigers to receive a high enough playoff seed to return to Baker Rink in two weeks. In the end, Sherry led the Tiger offense, scoring a hat trick in her attempt to earn a chance to play at home again.
Sherry started Princeton off with a power-play goal 7 minutes, 25 seconds into the first period. She took a pass from senior defender and co-captain Laura Martindale and shot off the blue line, stuffing the puck into the net past Engineers goaltender Sonja van der Bliek.
Rensselaer answered the call with a goal four minutes later, but senior forward Caroline Park brought Princeton back ahead by finding a rebound off the goalie and putting it back into the net with 43 seconds left in the first period.
The Engineers tied the game when Rensselaer forward Taylor Horton rushed up the ice and blasted a slapshot from the blue line past junior goalkeeper Rachel Weber.
Four minutes later Sherry put in another goal from the blue line to put Princeton up 3-2, a lead it never relinquished. Sherry finished the hat trick later in the period when she took a pass from freshman defender Gabie Figueroa and blasted another shot into the net.
The Tiger defense held off another five shots in the third period to hold on for the win.
Sherry was excited about her first hat trick. “It was pretty surreal,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to end my Princeton career at home and to get us the win.”
Sherry has seven goals and 12 assists this season for a team-leading 19 points.
Princeton is currently one point behind Quinnipiac and the final home-ice spot for the ECAC Hockey Tournament quarterfinals. The Tigers need Quinnipiac to lose or tie against league bottom-feeders Yale and Brown to overtake the Bobcats. They also have a chance to overcome a three-point deficit behind third-place Dartmouth, which will face an undefeated Cornell squad next weekend.
Sherry said Princeton needs to stay vigilant to stay in the race for home-ice advantage in the tournament.
“Playing Brown and Yale are definitely two very winnable games,” she said. “But before we even think about winning home ice we need to make sure to focus and win those games first.”
The Tigers will finish the regular season on the road next weekend. They will travel to New England and face Brown and Yale on Friday and Saturday.
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