Women's hockey drops back-to-back games against Boston University

The Princeton women’s hockey team had a rough Thanksgiving weekend, dropping back-to-back games against Boston University. The Tigers suffered a rough 4-1 defeat to the Terriers on Friday before giving up a much closer 3-4 loss in overtime to them on Saturday.

Boston jumped out to an early lead in their first game against the Tigers, as Maddie Elia scored just 54 seconds in and Samantha Sutherland added another just a minute later to move the tally to 2-0.

The Tigers fought back, with freshman Sylvie Wallin cutting the lead to 2-1 at the opening of the second period. Despite outshooting their opponents 42-29 over the course of the match, the Tigers had difficulty converting these chances into points.

The Terriers prevented Princeton from making any further inroads on their early lead and ultimately pulled away with a decisive goal at the close of the final period. After an empty-net goal in the closing seconds of the game, Boston handed the Tigers a disappointing 4-1 defeat.

In the teams’ rematch the next day, Princeton again came out fighting. The Tigers jumped to a 2-1 lead after the first period, with freshman forwards Karlie Lund and Carly Bullock scoring for the Tigers. However, the Terriers battled back, with Elia scoring to even the game. However, the Orange and Black would quickly respond to give the Princeton squad a slight 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

The Tigers would maintain their lead until the final five minutes of the third period. Abby Cook blasted a shot through heavy traffic to score her first goal of the season. This would prove to be a crucial moment, as neither team would manage to find the back of the net in the third period. And for the fourth time this season the Tigers would play in overtime.

Despite the resolve showed by the Princeton squad throughout the match, the Terriers found an opening in under a minute into overtime. A two-on-one led to a goal from Mary Parker. The leading goal scorer notched her 15th goal of the season to help the Terriers edge past Princeton.

The loss drops Princeton to 4-6-1 this season. However, the Tigers will have an opportunity to rebound as they face conference rivals Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College. This presents the Tigers a perfect opportunity to climb up the table from their sixth place position. Princeton will travel to New York this coming Friday and Saturday to face these next two teams.