Women's Hockey: Final games at Baker for Sherry, Princeton

The Tigers are 12-12-1 this season and 9-8-1 in ECAC Hockey, but they have won nine of their last 11 games. Union (2-25-3, 1-15-2) is struggling through a difficult season in the conference cellar while Rensselaer (10-12-7, 8-8-2) is in the middle of the pack.

Despite the lower positions of Union and Rensselaer in the standings, the Tigers still expect this weekend to be tough.

“Our league this year is unpredictable,” sophomore forward Corey Stearns said. “Anyone can beat anyone else on any given night. There is no such thing as an easy game anymore, and we know that we have to play our best every night. These games against Union and RPI are huge for us.”

“Every team in our league is a challenge,” senior defenseman Sasha Sherry said. “We had a really close game with Union earlier this season, winning in overtime. They are an extremely hard-working and disciplined team.”

“Whenever we play RPI, it is always a battle,” Sherry continued. “We need to play disciplined, tough hockey for the full 60 minutes against both of these teams. As the end of the season rolls around, every team will be playing with a renewed sense of urgency.”

Freshman Sally Butler leads the Tigers in scoring with eight goals. Following closely are freshman forward Olivia Mucha and junior forward Paula Romanchuk, who both have seven goals, and Stearns, who has six. Stearns and Sherry are tied for the lead in power-play scoring with three goals apiece. Butler also leads the team with three game-winning goals.

“We’re looking to bring our top game this weekend,” Butler said. “Our Harvard-Dartmouth road trip was emotional; we followed a huge high off of our win over Harvard with a disappointing low at Dartmouth.”

“I think the key this weekend will be to remain consistent as a team,” she added. “We need to bring our best every shift.”

“During these two games, it is essential that we convert on our power-play opportunities,” Sherry said. “The five-on-five play will be back and forth and closely-matched, so picking up a goal on special teams would be a great help to our cause.”

This weekend’s games are also critical for determining postseason play.

“With only four regular season games left, we are in a battle for home ice for the first round of playoffs,” Sherry said. “Each game is worth two points, and we need every point we can get in order to move ourselves up in the standings. It will be really tight going though this home stretch, so these two games are crucial.”

“We’re looking for four points this weekend, especially since [they are] potentially the seniors’ last home games,” freshman forward Denna Laing said. “We want them to be able to remember their last games in Baker [Rink] as wins.”

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“These games are key in determining playoff spots,” Stearns said. “There is still a chance we could get home ice for the first round of the playoffs, and we want to put ourselves in a position where this is a possibility.”

“We just have to play our game and focus on one game at a time,” she added.

The Saturday match against Rensselaer is also the team’s annual “Skating with the Tigers” event.

“‘Skating with the Tigers’ is great,” Butler said. “We get a chance to skate, sign autographs and talk with some local youth after the game. It’s a nice opportunity to spend time with young, up-and-coming hockey players and Princeton hockey fans.”