Women’s Hockey dominates Brown and Yale, extends win streak to eight

The last time the women’s hockey team failed to pick up a win, Thanksgiving had not yet rolled around. In their most recent stories of success, they completed season sweeps over Brown and Yale to conclude a six game homestand.

With their back-to-back victories this past Friday and Saturday, the Tigers (13-4-1 overall, 7-4-1 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) pushed their winning streak to eight, maintaining their status as the top team in the Ivy League and the second best in the ECAC Hockey League. Indeed, their hot streak has come at exactly the right time as they leave the non-conference part of their schedule behind, playing only their fellow ECAC rivals from here on out.

After shutting out Brown (3-11, 1-7) 3-0 on Halloween, the Tigers came in looking ready to continue the success they had found at home. While averaging just over three goals per game during their homestand going into the battle against the Bears, they came out firing as well as they had all season. They found the back of the net six times on the day, tying a season high. The Tigers put themselves 3-1 by the close of the first period and simply continued to run away with it from there. Junior defender Kelsey Koelzer was the star in this particular outing, putting up a hat trick (and both of the team’s goals in the final period). Other scorers for the day included junior forward Hilary Lloyd and senior forwards Jamie McDonell and Cristin Shanahan.

The Tigers’ high goal tally is just another indicator of a team that continues to impress with their offensive prowess. Among the ECAC schools, Princeton currently ranks third in goals per game. In addition, two of the top ten goal scorers in the league represent the Orange and Black.

This knack at picking up goals was on full display the following day as well, as the Tigers welcomed the Yale Bulldogs (4-10-1, 3-4-1), from whom (unlike the Bears) the Tigers narrowly escaped with a victory. It would take a goal in the third period from junior forward Fiona McKenna to seal the win in that Oct. 30 showdown.

It was very much not the case when these squads faced off in Baker Rink. The Tigers jumped all over the Bulldogs, scoring the first three goals of the game en route to a 5-1 victory. While Koelzer picked up a goal and assist on this one, the leading scorer was freshman forward Karlie Lund, current team leader in assists and total points on the season. She found the back of the net twice in this calm Tiger victory.

With a pair of dominant wins behind them, the team can now look forward to seven straight games on the road, starting with a trip through the Empire State this weekend. They will do battle against Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, neither of whom have fared well so far in league play – Rensselaer is tied for eighth in the league standings, while Union lies in dead last.