The Princeton Women’s Ice Hockey team (5–5 overall, 3–5 ECAC) beat No. 5 Colgate (14–4, 7–1) before falling to No. 8 Cornell (8–3–1, 7–1) on Friday and Saturday last week. The team showed they can compete with the best, but failed to win out against their Ivy League rivals.
Wunder goal sees Princeton upset No. 5 Colgate 4–3 in OT
Looking to jump ahead of Colgate, a quick power play sequence from junior forward Emerson O’Leary to sophomore defender Teja Gatfield had the Tigers on the scoreboard first. O’Leary drove the puck and found Gatfield right across the goal as she pounced for her first ever collegiate goal.
The Raiders returned the favor off their own power play opportunity as the Tigers were powerless to defend an onslaught of shots. Both sides ended the first period with a goal to their name, 1–1.
The second period was action-packed as the teams traded goals back and forth. First-year forward Mackenzie Alexander took the puck all the way to the house on her own to start the Tigers’ scoring in the period, taking possession in Princeton’s defensive home before getting the goal off her second shot attempt.
Colgate responded minutes later with a goal of their own, leveling the score at 2–2. The Tigers, however, were not going down easily as in the last few minutes of the period, Wunder found fellow junior forward Sarah Paul for a shot that was blasted from the left circle to make the game 3–2.
This was Paul’s team leading ninth goal for the season, just one ahead of Wunder.
The Orange and Black kept up solid defense but one of Colgate’s 10 shots in the third period snuck through and the teams were tied again at 3–3.
With the score tied 3–3 in regular time, the game headed into overtime as Princeton vied to upset No. 5 Colgate, having lost twice to the Raiders last season and four consecutive times total.
After three and a half minutes junior forward Issy Wunder skated past several Colgate players, weaving in and out before slotting the puck past the Colgate goalie for the Princeton win. It was Princeton’s first win over Colgate since the 2022–23 season and Wunder’s 16th point for the season.
The overtime period had just three shots combined from both teams before the Tigers pounced. Ultimately, it was Princeton who were able to leave triumphant on the night with Wunder’s goal being the difference-maker.
“Issy is a fantastic player and has become one of our most consistent forwards on the team,” head coach Cara Morey wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “She’s an offensive threat every time she touches the puck. She has always been a playmaker, but she has really stepped up her game by scoring goals instead of always passing the puck to teammates.”
“Issy is a major key to our team success as she is a leader, both on the ice and in the locker room. She’s a fierce competitor and always wants the best for the team,” she continued.
Second period onslaught negates Tigers’ early goals in Cornell loss, 4–3
In another close matchup, the Tigers fell to Cornell 4–3 despite an early rally which saw them lead 3–0. Princeton remained consistent shooting 11, 11, and 12 shots on goal across the three periods but couldn’t find the net in the latter half of the game.
The Tigers started strong as play between junior forward Jane Kuehl and Alexander set up a tap-in shot for junior forward Katherine Khramtsov and with 6 minutes left in the period, Princeton were up 1–0.
With less than a minute to go in the first period, Wunder doubled the Tigers’ lead with a goal reminiscent of her tally against Colgate. Unassisted, she drove down the ice and fired it home to take Princeton up 2–0 to end the first period.
Princeton 2, Cornell 0 | 19:01 (1st)
— Princeton Women's Ice Hockey (@PWIH) November 23, 2024
Hmm...think we've seen this move from Issy before😉 pic.twitter.com/4pbloQlq9q
This goal took Wunder to eight for the season — just behind Paul with nine — and increased her points total to a team-high of 17.
Princeton kept the run going into the second period. Within just three minutes, Alexander was able to tip the puck and score off a strong shot by sophomore defender Maggie Johnson, who was credited with the assist.
It was here that the Tigers fell apart. The Big Red were able to put four past senior goalie Jennifer Olnowich in eight minutes. In total, Cornell had 14 shots in the period — their most in the game by far — as Princeton seemed powerless to stop them.
The nail in the coffin came during Princeton’s sole penalty of the game as the Big Red took the power play opportunity to take their first lead of the tilt.
The Tigers tried to rally in the third but couldn’t break through and Cornell came away with the win to spoil the Tigers' bid for back-to-back wins.
The win and loss kept the Tigers at a .500 record for the season. Princeton travels to Boston University (10–4–1, 8–2–1 Hockey East) on Wednesday before two back-to-back matchups against Stonehill (5–11–1, 5–6–1 Northeast) on Friday and Saturday.
“I really like where our team is at right now,” coach Morey wrote to the ‘Prince’ about her evaluation of the team so far. “We started off strong, then had a little bit of growing pains as we have a fairly young roster. However, we have shown that we can play with, and beat, any team in our league.”
“We need to focus on consistency. Most of the games we’ve lost we have beaten ourselves,” coach Morey continued. “We need to minimize our mistakes and reduce our goals against average. But I think we are going to be a real threat in the second half of the year.”
Alex Beverton-Smith is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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