Women's Hockey: Seniors honored in final games

Princeton will have seven seniors celebrating the last home games of their careers. The Tiger seniors who will be honored are Danielle DiCesare, Ann-Marie Elvin, Julie Johnson, Heather Landry, Charissa Stadnyk, Paula Romanchuk and steadfast goaltender Rachel Weber.

Both games are rematches from back in October, when the Tigers defeated Union 2-1 before finishing in a 1-1 tie with the Engineers. However, the Tiger are not overlooking their opponents despite their early season success.

“Like all the teams in the ECAC, RPI and Union are extremely tough teams to play against,” head coach Jeff Kampersal ‘92 said. “Both teams are very well-coached. We look forward to battling with them.”

In Princeton’s first game against RPI, the Tigers carried a 1-0 lead from the first four minutes of the game until Rensselaer knotted it up in the final two minutes. The Engineers were able to hang on through overtime to force a tie. Against Union, the Tigers built up a 2-0 lead before allowing a late goal in the final two minutes against a six-on-five disadvantage.

Princeton enters the weekend on a three-game skid following close home losses to Clarkson and St. Lawrence last weekend and a devastating defeat at No. 8 Harvard the week before.

“We have been a resilient team all year,” Kampersal said. “I am really proud of our players and honored to be their coach. We have been on the losing end of the last three games, but in the last two, it’s not for a lack of effort.”

The Engineers come into the series after ending their own three-game winless streak with a 4-2 victory over Dartmouth this past weekend. Following their bout with the Tigers on Friday, the Engineers will close out the season at Quinnipiac, which hosts Union in the weekend opener. The Dutchwomen are struggling of late, entering the weekend on a six-game losing streak.

The final games of the regular season may play a pivotal role in shaping the ECAC playoffs. The bracket features the top eight teams in the conference playing best-of-three series. The Tigers are currently slated seventh in the conference, with a four-point lead over RPI and Brown and a four-point deficit behind sixth-place Quinnipiac. RPI will clearly have motivation for the win this week as it hopes to avoid facing Cornell, leader of the ECAC and the nation’s third-ranked team, in the first round of the tournament.

“If we are to play well in the playoffs, we need 60-plus-minute efforts, and our will needs to be better than our skill. When it gets to that point, we will be ready,” Kampersal said.

The current conference rankings would send the Tigers back to Cambridge, Mass., for the first round of the tournament. Princeton shutout the Crimson at Baker Rink for a 3-0 victory earlier in the season before falling 10-1 to Harvard on the road a month later.