Women's Hockey: Women turn Orange to pulp in set of wins

The women’s hockey team (6-10-1 overall, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey) had an exciting and successful end to the first half of its schedule this weekend, beating Syracuse (8-9-2) twice. On Friday night, Princeton outscored the Orange 4-2 and followed that performance with an even more decisive 5-0 win on Saturday. The Tigers have now won their last three games in a row.

On Friday, the Tigers went up by four goals before allowing Syracuse to score two goals late in the game. Freshman forward Sally Butler scored twice in the first game of the series. Her first goal came late in the first period off assists from senior defender Laura Martindale and freshman defender Rose Alleva. Her second goal of the night came off a rebound during the third period with assists from freshman forwards Denna Laing and Olivia Mucha.

The Tigers were able to convert one of their power-play opportunities midway into the second period. The Syracuse goalkeeper saved shot attempts by Mucha and senior defender and co-captain Sasha Sherry, but the puck rebounded back into play and was left for Laing to finish. Junior forward and co-captain Paula Romanchuk also had a goal Friday night. Syracuse capitalized on a power-play opportunity in the third period, and forward Julie Rising scored two goals for the Orange.

Romanchuk said that the Tigers played well for the first two periods but were not as focused in the final period, which caused the team to give up the two goals and miss a few offensive opportunities. On Saturday night, the Tigers wanted to make sure they retained their focus for the entire 60 minutes.

When asked if the team made any changes between the games on Friday and Saturday, head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 said: “We made a few very minor adjustments. It is hard to beat a team twice, especially a good one like Syracuse, so the key was to match and try to surpass their will. Our team did that.”

On Saturday, Syracuse was held scoreless for the first time all season. Junior goalie Rachel Weber recorded 14 saves and achieved her second shutout this season.

“Rachel Weber has been phenomenal in many games for us this year,” Romanchuk said. “The more games she plays, the more confidence she is getting, which carries over to the team and makes us very comfortable seeing her in the net. I’ve been very impressed with her play. She has definitely been our MVP for the first half of the year, no question.”

Kampersal added that he was impressed with how his team’s defense played in the last five games.

Butler also noted the solid defensive performance this weekend: “[We] were strong on the puck in the defensive zone and made a lot of quality, heads-up passes on the breakout.”

Also of significant note in Saturday’s game was the Tigers’ offense. Princeton dominated the faceoffs, winning 40 out of 55. The Tigers outshot their opponents 27-14, with an especially dominant second period for the Tigers in which they attempted 15 shots. Butler credited her team’s offense with successfully creating traffic in front of the net, which distracted the Syracuse goalie, Kallie Billadeau, and allowed Princeton to finish some rebounds before she could set up.

“To have good and steady offensive pressure, you have to be solid in your D-zone and be able to break the puck out quick,” Romanchuk said. “Our defensemen did a very good job of getting the puck up the ice, which gave our forwards the opportunity to get shots and put pucks in the net. Yesterday, we had a couple of great team goals in which several players touched the puck and made good decisions that led to the goal. Saturday was by far one of our better games this year overall.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

During a power play in the first period, sophomore forward Corey Stearns carried the puck into the zone and dropped a pass to Martindale, who nicely set up Sherry for a hard outside shot which went into the goal to put the Tigers up 1-0. Near the end of the second period, after dominating possession and nearly scoring on several occasions, the Tigers scored their second goal. A shot from up top by freshman defender Gabie Figueroa was saved, but the rebound was left in front for Romanchuk to lift into the net. In the first two minutes of the final period Butler passed to Sherry in the middle, but her shot was blocked. Butler was able to retrieve the loose puck and put it in for the team’s third goal. Midway through the period, Mucha collected a turnover that she converted into a backhand goal at the far post. The team’s final goal came with three minutes remaining in the game. A pass across the top led to a shot that popped out in front of Romanchuk, who scored on the rebound for her second goal of the night.

One aspect of their game that the Tigers have been struggling with all season is converting power-play opportunities into goals. This weekend, the team scored one goal each night off a power play. Romanchuk said that it is nice to see that part of the team’s game starting to come together. Kampersal, Romanchuk and Butler all said they were pleased with the improvement but felt that the team still has room to improve in this area.

“Two wins this weekend is big,” Butler said. “We went through a bit of a rough patch, but these wins have set us up to get back on track after the break.”

The Tigers will hold practice as usual at the beginning of this week and will then take a well-deserved 10-day break. With momentum and confidence on their side, the Tigers will return Dec. 31 recharged and ready to take on a very strong No. 5 Boston College team (11-2-4).