Women’s hockey falls to St. Lawrence and No. 10 Clarkson over the weekend

Princeton women’s hockey (9–11–4, 7–8–2 ECAC) dropped two games this past weekend against the St. Lawrence Saints (14–10–5, 10–5–2) and No. 10 Clarkson (21–6–3, 12–5–1). The Tigers lost 3–0 to the Saints on Friday, followed by a tough 7–1 loss to the Clarkson Golden Knights, both on the road. Princeton now sits eighth in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) standings, five points ahead of ninth place Brown, as the season winds down. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the conference tournament.

In their first game of the weekend, the Tigers were stymied by St. Lawrence goalie Lucy Morgan, who stopped all 37 shots to keep Princeton off of the board. Princeton outshot St. Lawrence 37–19 but could not break through. For the Tigers, senior goaltender Rachel McQuigge stopped 16 out of 18 shots.

The Saints scored one goal in each period. Forward Jessica Poirier tallied the first period marker for St. Lawrence, burying a wrister to give the Saints a 1–0 lead.

Off of an assist from defender Rachel Bjorgan, defender Suyeon Eom doubled the lead in the second period for St. Lawrence, scoring her first career goal in the process.

In the third period, the Tigers pulled the goalie to gain player advantage but were held off by the Saints. Forward Abby Hustler tacked on an empty net goal to seal the 3–0 win for St. Lawrence.

Things did not get much better for the Tigers against Clarkson. The tenth-ranked Golden Knights put up seven goals against the Tigers — the most they have given up in a game this season.

Clarkson struck three times in the opening period. Forward Brooke McQuigge scored on the power play to make it 1–0 with 6:34 to go. Then, forward Caitrin Lonergan scored twice 17 seconds apart in the final minute to give the Golden Knights a 3–0 heading into the second period. Defender Nicole Gosling added a tally in the second to make it 4–0.

In the third, Clarkson’s McQuigge scored on the power-play for her second goal of the game and fifth point of the night to make it 5–0. Shortly after, Lonergan completed the hat trick with a power-play goal of her own, giving Clarkson a 6–0 lead.

Princeton’s junior defender Solveig Neunzert broke the shutout two minutes later and cut the lead to 6–1, thanks to assists from sophomore forward Annie Kuehl and first-year forward Ellie Marcovsky. With 2:05 remaining, Clarkson restored the six-goal lead when forward Florence Lessard scored to make it 7–1.

The Tigers are back in action Friday night in Cambridge as they look to bounce back against the Harvard Crimson.

Ben Burns is an Associate Sports Editor at the ‘Prince’ who typically covers basketball, hockey, and soccer. He can be reached at bwburns@princeton.edu.