In a two-game weekend, the No. 12 Princeton women’s hockey team (8–4–2 overall, 4–4–2 Eastern College Athletic Conference) added three points to their conference total, with a win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers (RPI) (7–9–3, 2–8–0) and a tie against Union (4–12–2, 1–7–2).
Women’s ice hockey romps RPI to start off a strong weekend
Starting off the weekend on Friday, the Tigers made quick work of RPI, blanking the Engineers 6–0.
The first period opened with little action on both sides, as neither side established sustained offensive pressure until halfway through the period. On Princeton’s first power play of the game, for example, the Tigers managed no shots during the two-minute advantage. However, this changed on Princeton’s second power play of the period, when Rensselaer’s forward Nina Christof went to the box with an interference penalty.
Just nineteen seconds into the advantage, Princeton sophomore forward Sarah Paul connected on a goal, assisted by senior forward Annie Kuehl and senior defender Kate Monihan. The first period ended 1–0, and the Tigers were quick to add on to the lead in the second. In the opening minute of the second, senior forward Sarah Fillier scored her ninth goal of the season, with assists from sophomore forwards Issy Wunder and Emerson O’Leary.
Five minutes later, senior forward Catherine Kerin committed a game misconduct penalty, as she was whistled for a hit from behind. The Tigers withstood three minutes of the five-minute major until RPI’s Aylah Cioffi was called for a slashing penalty, nullifying the rest of the RPI advantage.
Later, on another Princeton power play opportunity, Fillier made it 3–0 in favor of the Tigers, with assists once again from Wunder and O’Leary. During the third period, the Tigers only pushed further on the accelerator, scoring three goals to cement their win. Five minutes into the final frame, senior forward Emma Kee connected off a pass from junior defender Dominique Cormier, and Paul later scored her second goal of the day.
The Fillier-O’Leary-Wunder line worked its magic one final time in the dwindling seconds, but Wunder was the goal-scorer this time, scoring with just under thirteen seconds left in the game to wrap up the win.
“[Filler, O’Leary, and Wunder] are very creative,” head coach Cara Morey told The Daily Princetonian. “They see the game really well offensively, and so they have an instinct of where each other is going to be on the ice.”
Morey indicated that the first line is a relatively new change as well, saying that “we just put those three together a couple weeks ago, but I think that they’re really clicking right off the bat.”
Junior goalkeeper Jennifer Olnowich was consistent in goal as well, saving all of RPI’s 22 shots on the day.
“I feel really good,” Olnowich told the ‘Prince.’ “Last year, looking back on it, I had some games that looked like this and then some games where I struggled a bit more, and so I think getting in a groove and trusting my defense … has been really helpful.”
After this emphatic win, the Tigers had little time to rest, with a Saturday matinée coming up against Union. While Union’s record suggests an easier foe, the Tigers knew not to expect such a game.
“Any team can beat any team in the ECAC, and … it doesn’t matter. We have to show up and compete the same way every single time,” Olnowich said.
Tigers outshoot Union 45–24, but come away with a 1–1 tie
Riding the momentum of Friday’s six-goal outburst, the Tigers wasted no time jumping to a lead against Union. First-year defender Teja Gatfield wrestled the puck away from Union’s Maddie Suitor behind the net and passed it to Monihan, who fed sophomore forward Jane Kuehl deep behind Princeton’s blue line. Skating past the Union defense, Jane Kuehl streaked all the way down the ice and snuck a wrist shot past goalie Sophie Matsoukas.
The Tigers continued to press in the first period, dominating possession. Although Princeton outshot the Chargers 14–4, the game remained knotted at one at the first intermission.
Union skated out of the break with a fire under them, pressuring the Princeton defense. Their efforts led to forward Riley Walsh’s equalizer, assisted by defender Stephanie Bourque, to tie the game at one goal apiece. Following the goal, the second half was far more balanced than the first, and Princeton outshot Union 11–8 during a chippy period of play featuring four total penalties.
Morey suggested the relatively slow second period was a common trend this season, saying that, “I think we’ve been struggling in the second periods for some reason. We’ve come out pretty hot, and then we take a little lull and then we battle back.”
The battle continued into the third, and the Tigers’ attack strengthened, as they outshot Union 6–2 to begin the frame. Despite one opportunity from point-blank range and a rifle by Fillier, the score remained knotted at one apiece going into the final ten minutes.
O’Leary was the next Tiger to have a good look, wrapping around from behind the goal to fire a shot off Matsoukas’s left pad. As the final horn approached, Princeton had a prime opportunity to score, with Union being called for having six skaters on the ice. However, the Tiger offense could not seize the opportunity. The power play, along with the rest of the third period, fizzled out, and the Tigers and the Chargers headed into overtime knotted at one.
Overtime began with an offensive attack from the Tigers, as Wunder fired a shot twenty seconds in that was saved by Matsoukas. Despite Princeton peppering five more shots on goal in overtime, none found the back of the net. Matsoukas finished the game with 44 saves, proving to be a difficult foe for the Tigers after saving 56 shots against Princeton last year.
“[Matsoukas] seems to really give us trouble,” Morey said. “I don’t know if there’s a mental thing there or some sort of a jinx that this goalie really stands on her head against us, but it’s crazy because, if those pucks go into the net the way they did the night before, it’s 7–0 going into the second period.”
On the Princeton side of the net, Olnowich did her part for the Tigers as well, saving three shots in the extra frame to complete her total of twenty-three saves on the day. Adding together Saturday’s total with Friday’s, Olnowich completed the weekend with a two-game save percentage well over .950.
While the scores from this weekend’s slate of games suggests a Friday blowout and a Saturday struggle, Morey painted a different picture.
“We were much better against Union than we were against RPI,” Morey said. “If you were to actually break down and look at the game and rewatch it … the RPI game was actually a really close game. It’s just that sometimes the puck goes in and then sometimes it just doesn’t, and, at Union, it easily could have been 7–0 after the first period with the scoring chances we created.”
On a similar note, Olnowich suggested the biggest area for improvement was consistency.
“Playing the same way game in and game out first through third period will be really important for our team going forward, especially going into the second half of the season.”
The Tigers now head into their last week of play in 2023 with a Tuesday game against Long Island University (12–4–0, 12–0–0 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance), followed by a weekend showdown against powerhouse No. 7 Quinnipiac (16–3–0, 7–3–0 ECAC) before a pause in competition.
Max Hines is a contributing writer to the Sports section of the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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