Women's Hockey: Postseason opens with series at Harvard

“It was exciting to finish the regular season with two wins. It was especially thrilling for our spectacular goaltender [senior] Rachel Weber to earn a shutout in our final home game,” senior defender Charissa Stadnyk said. “Skate with the Tigers was a wonderful way to celebrate Senior Day — all of the seniors’ parents were able to come on the ice after the game for pictures, which was special for all.”

Game one of the best-of-three quarterfinal matchup between Princeton and Harvard (20-8-1, 17-4-1) takes place on Friday at 4 p.m. Game two will be at 3 p.m. Saturday and the rubber game, if necessary, will occur at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The Tigers and the Crimson split the season series, with each team winning decidedly on its home ice. Sophomore forward Sally Butler, who leads the team in goals and points, was responsible for two of the three goals in Princeton’s 3-0 blanking of Harvard in early January.

“Our coaches have done a great job going over video with us and making sure that we know what to expect from Harvard,” Butler said. “They are a strong, fast and talented team. We will have to bring our top game this weekend.”

The victory against the Crimson took place amid a five-game unbeaten streak in which the Tigers tied Ohio State twice and Dartmouth once. But the season went downhill from there as Princeton lost four of its next six games — including a 10-1 loss to Harvard — before ending the season strong with two straight victories at Baker Rink.

Harvard enters the series winning four straight games and has won nine in a row against ECAC opponents, outscoring them 43-6. The Crimson is led by two Patty Kazmaier Award nominees, forward Jillian Dempsey and defender Josephine Pucci.

Weber was among the top three in saves and save percentage this season and shut out Harvard in the first matchup this season, and she earned the ECAC Goaltender of the Week award, her fourth of the season and eighth overall. It was also announced on Wednesday that head coach Jeff Kampersal ’92 was named the head coach for the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team in the 2012-13 season. Kampersal has served as head coach of the women’s team for the past 15 years. The average wins per season increased by four once Kampersal arrived, and he is now leading his team to an 11th straight quarterfinals birth.

One of the key differences between the two lopsided Princeton-Harvard games this season was the shot differential. In the Princeton victory, the Tigers outshot the Crimson 26-20, whereas in the 10-1 thrashing Harvard outshot Princeton 42-15. Conventional wisdom says that if a team gets the puck on the net enough, some will beat the goaltender for a score. In fact, the Tigers outshot their opponents in all but two of their victories and were outshot in all but four of their losses.

Princeton and Harvard have twice faced each other in the ECAC tournament. In both 2002 and 2010, the Crimson handily beat the Tigers, 2-0. But Princeton still has confidence, especially in light of its 3-0 victory against Harvard earlier this season.

“No team can be taken lightly. This is what makes our league exciting; any team can win on any night,” Butler said. “We need to stay focused and keep up our intensity. We can’t afford to take a shift off. Our team can get the job done when everybody is going for the full 60 minutes.”

The Tigers have been streaky this season, with two losing streaks of at least three games and two unbeaten streaks of at least four games. Princeton looks to play more consistently in order to advance to the championship round, which will consist of do-or-die semifinal and final matchups.

“Our team has placed a strong emphasis on the little things this season, which may include on-ice plays such as a blocked shot or a tape-to-tape first pass on the breakout,” Stadnyk said. “We believe if we consistently execute all the little things and bury our offensive chances, then we will be consistent.”

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“I think one area that is crucial to our success in the playoffs is our power play. When we get the opportunities, we need to produce a few solid scoring chances,” senior forward Paula Romanchuk said. “We won’t necessarily score every time, but we need to get quality shots and have some zone time. Sometimes we struggle getting into the zone and taking our positions, but we’ve worked on that a lot this week, so hopefully we can take advantage of the opportunities when we get them.”