Women’s hockey shut out by No. 10 Harvard, rebounds against Dartmouth

This past weekend, women’s hockey (7-7-1 overall, 5-4 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) took on Ivy League opponents Harvard (6-2-2, 5-1-1 ECAC) and Dartmouth (4-5-1, 2-4-1 ECAC) away on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Despite its valiant efforts, Princeton fell 3-0 to the star-studded Crimson. However, the Tigers were able to revive their spirits and walk away with a 5-2 win against Dartmouth on Saturday.

In Cambridge, the Crimson scored once in each period with Brianna Liang, sister of Princeton’s Dennia Liang ’14 earning a shutout in goal. Liang stopped 27 shots that Princeton took on Harvard. Junior goalie Kimberly Newell played the entire 60 minutes and stopped a total of 28 shots on goal.

Although Princeton was able to outshoot Harvard in the second and third periods, the team struggled to come out onto the ice strong. After having time to reset in after the first period, the team was able to change the pace of its game, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“Harvard was a tough game,” junior forward Jaimie McDonnell said. “When playing teams that are in the top 10, we cannot afford to take a shift off, let alone a period. Scoring has been something we have definitely been struggling with, so hopefully we’re just saving that for the second half of the season.”

Even with the tough loss the Tigers took on Friday, they were able to revive their spirits and come out with a win on Saturday. McDonnell and sophomore forward Audrey Potts both found the back of the net twice. Sophomore defender Kelsey Koelzer also scored on a breakaway.

“Dartmouth was a completely different game. They have a weak defensive unit, and we took advantage of that. We were taking shots from everywhere, and somehow it was just happening for us,” McDonnell said.

The Tigers were able to pull away 2-0 in the first period, but Dartmouth was able to tie it up by the end of the second period – a scoreless period for Princeton. However, that was the last time the Big Green found the back of the net. In the third period, the Princeton took control, scoring three times. McDonnell scored first, making it her first two-goal game in her career. Potts scored twice in the third period. Newell made 26 saves for the win. On the whole, offense and defense were very strong on Saturday with Princeton capitalizing on its fore-check, which yielded great results.

“I think scoring breeds scoring and just the added confidence helped lead to the five goal game,” McDonnell said. “I was fortunate enough to score two goals, but that was only the end product of great work by my wingers.”

The Tigers will enjoy a break until Jan. 2 and 3 when they take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College away.

“I think that the win was big for us. It’s nice to go for Christmas break having ended a tough stretch with a good team win. Hopefully we can continue building on this come the new year and be a real contender come playoff time,” McDonnell said.