Women's Hockey: Women put end to 7-game winless streak

In its first home game in three weeks, Princeton (4-10-1 overall, 3-6-1 ECAC Hockey) was unable to overcome its recent power-play struggles against Yale (4-8-2, 3-4-1). The Tigers failed to score on three power-play opportunities and extended their streak of scoreless power plays to 27.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog offense took advantage early and often of their own power plays. Yale got on the board first with a power-play goal 11 minutes, 2 seconds into the first period, and just two minutes later, the Bulldogs struck again with another power-play goal. This time Yale scored on a shot that deflected off the foot of Yale forward Alyssa Zupon and past junior goalie Rachel Weber to increase lead to 2-0.

Princeton controlled the pace for the rest of the game by relentlessly attacking the goal and ultimately outshooting Yale 28-7. Freshman forward Olivia Mucha converted early in the second period as she took a pass from fellow freshman forward Denna Laing, skated around the net and slipped the puck past the Bulldog goaltender.

Mucha brought the Tigers to within one but Princeton ultimately proved incapable of finding the back of the net again.

“Against Yale, we played pretty well overall,” junior forward and co-captain Paula Romanchuk said. “Once again, our power play did not help us, and we gave them too many opportunities due to mistakes whether they were turnovers, penalties, etc.”

Princeton hit the ice with a vengeance against Brown, determined to end its losing streak. The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead just 4:01 into the first period. Senior defender and co-captain Laura Martindale was far on the left wing of the attacking zone as she centered the puck to junior forward Charissa Stadnyk. Standnyk got rid of the puck and sent it closer to the net toward junior forward Danielle DiCesare who smacked it into the back of the net.

The Tigers were in control on offense and defense for the rest of the game. They kept the Bears from creating offensive opportunities and capitalized on many of their own. Princeton took a 2-0 lead toward the end of the second period on a power-play goal by Romanchuk, which was the Tigers’ first in their last nine games. She quickly got the rebound off of senior defender Sasha Sherry’s blocked shot and directed the puck just past the Brown goalie.

Mucha added two goals in the final period, extending the Princeton lead to 4-0. On the first goal, Mucha cut toward the net and flicked a pass from freshman forward Sally Butler into the top of the netting. The second goal came as the Tigers were shorthanded late in the third period.

“On the second one ... once I got the puck, I immediately threw it on net and rushed towards it,” Mucha said. “I honestly didn’t know it went in until my teammates skated towards me since it was a flukey goal.”

With her two goals, Mucha extended her personal scoring streak to three games, providing offense for a team that has struggled to put points on the board.

“I can say that I have gained a whole ton of confidence by just getting used to this new highly competitive play and level and by learning from my teammates,” Mucha said. “I have gotten to know my teammates well and in turn I learned how to work with my teammates on the ice, which was highlighted by our goals yesterday.”

The Tiger defense was dominant in its second shutout of the year, especially in the first and second periods when it limited Brown’s offense to just six shots. Unlike the Bears, the Tigers were firing on all cylinders on offense as they outshot the Bears 42-19 and scored a season-high four goals. The 4-0 score represented the largest margin of victory for Princeton this year.

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“We had pretty good offense going against Brown,” said Romanchuk. “We had some nice quality chances point-blank in the slot and around the front of the net which led to a handful of goals.”

The Tigers will look to build on their first win in almost a month when they host Syracuse for a two-game series this weekend.

“It’s great to finally get that win that we’ve needed for a while, but it doesn’t get any easier,” said Romanchuk. “I think it gives us a little confidence that we may have started to lose so hopefully we can carry that over and gain some more momentum in our final games against Syracuse before the holiday break.”