Women's Hockey: Unbeaten streak stopped at 5 games

The women’s hockey team took a road trip to central New York this weekend hoping to avenge a couple of home losses from earlier this season. The Tigers’ (8-10-4, 7-7-2 ECAC Hockey) last two games before they break for exams brought them to Hamilton and Ithaca for rematches against the Colgate Raiders and the No. 3 Cornell Big Red.

In November, Princeton suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of Cornell and followed that with a 6-4 loss to the Raiders at home. This time around, the Tigers’ were riding a four game unbeaten streak coming into the weekend matchup with their ECAC foes. Princeton kept its streak alive in the first game by beating the Raiders 5-3, before falling 1-0 to Cornell on Saturday.

Colgate (8-14-1, 3-8-1) entered the contest trying to right the ship after a 3-0 shutout versus the Big Red. Princeton came out of the gates fast however, building a 2-0 lead just six minutes into the first period. Sophomore forward Denna Laing opened the scoring by netting a rebound off of the stick of classmate Sally Butler at 5:04 in the first. Just 36 seconds later, junior forward Corey Stearns repeated the feat, this time off freshman defender Ali Pankowski’s rebound, for Stearns’ first goal of the season.

The score would hold at 2-0 through a goalless second period. However, after the quiet second period, both teams exploded to score six total goals in the final 13 minutes of the game. At 7:15 in the third period, Brittany Phillips brought the Raiders’ deficit to one before Miriam Drubel scored the equalizer four minutes later. Princeton regrouped with a timeout, and was able to respond by posting three scores in less than two minutes, starting with sophomore defender Rose Alleva’s power play goal assisted by Butler and senior defender Charissa Stadnyk. The go-ahead goal was the first of the Alleva’s career.

The eventual game clincher was scored barely half a minute later by Butler to give her three points on the night. The goal was assisted by senior forward Heather Landry. For good measure junior forward Alex Kinney netted an open net goal to extend Princeton’s lead to 5-2 with two minutes to play. However, Colgate’s Rachel Walsh was able to beat senior goalie Rachel Weber in the final minute to elevate the final tally to 5-3.

On Saturday, the Tigers took their five game unbeaten streak to Ithaca to challenge the ECAC leader and the nation’s third-ranked team, Cornell (15-2, 11-1). Cornell rolled in fresh off of a 4-1 victory over Quinnipiac and carrying a four game winning streak of its own. After scoring five times in their victory over Colgate, the Tigers’ offense was shut down by Cornell and produced only 14 shots on goal, yielding a 1-0 final score in favor of the Big Red.

Rebecca Johnston posted the game’s only goal just two minutes into the game. Brianne Jenner and Jillian Saulnier were credited with the assists. After allowing the early goal, Weber — who has been named ECAC goalie of the week three times during her senior campaign — would become a wall between the pipes, ending the game with 38 saves. The Tigers ended the game with a six-on-four advantage due to a Cornell penalty and the decision to play with an open net. However, Princeton’s offense came up short as Cornell’s defense closed out the game for the squad’s sixth shutout of the season. The loss leaves Princeton tied with Dartmouth for fifth place in the ECAC with 16 points.

The Tigers will have a two-week hiatus before concluding the season with the last seven games of their schedule. The team’s next contest will take place at home in Baker Rink against non-conference foe Robert Morris. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. face-off on Jan. 30.