Princeton University Athletics
Sixth-Ranked Women's Hockey Set For Two With No. 7 Mercyhurst
November 23, 2005 | Women's Ice Hockey
Nov. 23, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - The sixth-ranked Princeton women's hockey continues its season-long 10-game homestand on Friday and Saturday when No. 7 Mercyhurst visits Baker Rink for a pair of games. The teams play on Friday night at 7 p.m. and on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Gametracker live stats will be available for both games. Links can be found on the Princeton women's hockey schedule page. Friday night's game is part of the USCHO.com Game of the Week broadcast package and a link to the audio broadcast can be found on the schedule page.
The Tigers (4-2-2, 2-1-1 ECACHL) enter the weekend series ranked sixth in the nation, up two spots, after taking three points from then No. 9 Clarkson and No. 1 St. Lawrence. Princeton defeated the Golden Knights 2-1 and played to a 1-1 deadlock with the Saints.
Princeton's ranking of sixth marks the highest spot that Princeton has even been ranked in the women's poll. The Tigers leaped over Harvard, which went 0-1-1 against Brown and Yale, and Mercyhurst, which was idle.
Princeton began the season with six games on the road. The last four games of the road swing and the first four games of this homestand all feature games between Princeton and top-10 opponents. The two games with Mercyhurst (6-5, 2-0 CHA) complete the run of games, as Mercyhurst is ranked seventh, one spot behind Princeton.
Good team defense, excellent goaltending and timely goal scoring have been the early season recipe of success for the Tigers. Princeton held its opponents two combined goals over the weekend and has held opponents to one goal in five of eight games this season. Princeton has allowed two goals twice (one was an empty-netter) and has allowed three goals once. Last Saturday Princeton held St. Lawrence to one goal for the first time all season for an unbeaten team that was averaging almost four goals a game.
Senior Roxanne Gaudiel backstopped the Tigers in both wins and has played every game for the Tigers this season. She has a 1.35 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. She was named the ECACHL Goalie of the Week after holding both Clarkson and St. Lawrence to a single goal. Junior Kim Pearce took care of things in the offensive zone for the Tigers, figuring into the scoring on all three goals for Princeton over the weekend. On Friday in the win over Clarkson, she assisted on the first goal and scored the game-winner. A night later, she scored the game-tying goal with five minutes left to take St. Lawrence to overtime and the tie. She was named the ECACHL Player of the Week for the performances.
Princeton is 6-3-1 all-time against Mercyhurst and is 2-2 in games played at Baker Rink. The teams have met in each of the past two seasons and have split both two-game series. Last year the Tigers were shutout in the opener 3-0, but posted a 1-0 shutout the following game to earn the split. Gaudiel made 34 saves in the win and senior Heather Jackson scored the Princeton goal.
Mercyhurst and Princeton have faced two common opponents this season: Clarkson and St. Lawrence, and have had similar results. Mercyhurst won twice at Clarkson, while the Tigers defeated Clarkson in their only meeting. St. Lawrence swept Mercyhurst in a series, while the Tigers and Saints played to a 1-1 draw.
Princeton continues its homestand next weekend when it resumes its league schedule against Cornell and Colgate at Baker Rink. Those two games begin a stretch of five games in eight days for the Tigers, which includes a Tuesday night game against Quinnipiac and a weekend series with Wayne State.