Women's Hockey: Power-play woes extend losing streak to 6 games

The women’s ice hockey team traveled to New England over Thanksgiving weekend for two non-conference contests. The Tigers faced stiff competition in their games against the No. 4 Boston College Golden Eagles and the New Hampshire Wildcats. Princeton struggled over the holiday weekend, dropping both games and extending its losing streak to six games.

The Golden Eagles handed Princeton a jarring 6-1 defeat on Friday before the Wildcats came back from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Tigers 3-1 on Saturday.

Power-play goals seemed to be the difference this weekend as the Tigers (4-7-1 overall, 3-4-1 ECAC Hockey) surrendered four to the Golden Eagles (10-4-1) and two to the Wildcats (5-9-2) while picking up only one themselves. Princeton actually had a 15-13 advantage in power-play opportunities, but the Tigers went 1-for-6 on their chances against Boston College and 0-for-9 against the Wildcats.

The Tigers knew their first game of the weekend would be a tough one, as they traveled to nationally ranked Boston College. The hosts jumped out to a big lead, scoring the first three goals of the game in the first period, two of which came less than four minutes before the break. Forward Taylor Wasylk netted the first and the last goals of the first period, her sixth and seventh of the season with defender Jackie Young contributing her third goal of the year on the power play at 17 minutes, 20 seconds.

Senior forward Heather Landry answered swiftly for the Tigers, scoring a power-play goal at 1:14 in the second period. The score, Landry’s first of the season, was assisted by senior forward Paula Romanchuk and senior forward Julie Johnson. The Tigers’ attempt at a comeback was stifled quickly, however, as Boston College’s Emily Field scored her fifth goal of the season on a power play at 2:12 in the second period. The Golden Eagles then closed out the period with another power-play goal in the final seconds.

The final goal of the contest came midway through the last period as Blake Bolden beat Princeton senior goalie Rachel Weber for her only score of the game and third of the season. Weber finished the night with 40 saves, one short of a career high, but the Golden Eagles outshot the Tigers by a wide margin of 46-28. The five-goal loss was Princeton’s worst of the season.

Princeton scored first against New Hampshire but still lost the game 3-1 after a succession of power-play goals. The loss is Princeton’s sixth straight, forcing the team to regroup after it looked like one of the teams to beat in the ECAC Hockey conference when it opened the season on a hot streak.

Wildcat forward Nicole Gifford was the key player of Saturday’s contest. She entered the game with three scores on the season, but Gifford netted all three of her team’s goals with a hat trick to double her total by the game’s end.

Sophomore forward Sally Butler put the Tigers on the board first with her sixth goal of the season, coming just shy of eight minutes into the first period. But Princeton did not hold the early lead very long, as Gifford scored an equalizer in the final minutes of the first period on a power play.

Going into the second period with an even score, New Hampshire outshot Princeton 11-6, netting two of the attempts to go up 3-1 by the 12th minute of the period. The Tigers conceded their final power-play goal of the weekend to Gifford at the nine-minute mark, and she completed her hat trick with an even-strength goal three minutes later.

The Tigers valiantly tried to rally with 13 shots on goal in the third period to their opponents’ four, but they were all saved by Wildcat goalie Jenn Gilligan, even when the Tigers had a 6-on-4 advantage at the end of the period. Gilligan concluded the game with 24 saves, while Weber racked up 23. New Hampshire outshot Princeton by just one attempt.

Next week, Princeton will hit the road again as it travels to New Haven and Providence to take on Ivy League and ECAC foes Yale and Brown. The Tigers exploded for a 7-1 victory against the Bulldogs and edged the Bears 1-0 at home in November, and they hope to repeat that performance to stop their six-game slide.