Princeton University Athletics
Games at Vermont and Dartmouth Up Next for Women's Hockey
February 18, 2005 | Women's Ice Hockey
Feb. 18, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - The ninth-ranked Princeton women's hockey team plays away from home for the second-straight weekend when it makes the trip to New England to face Vermont and Dartmouth this weekend. Princeton gained ground on Brown and Yale last weekend, but still finds itself in a three-way battle for that home-ice slot.
Face-off is set for 7 p.m. on Friday at Vermont and 4 p.m. on Saturday at Dartmouth. Live stats will be available through Gametracker, which can be found on the front page of GoPrincetonTigers.com or on the women's hockey schedule page.
Princeton enters the weekend following a three-point weekend on the road at Cornell and Colgate. On Friday, in a wild back-and-forth game at Cornell, junior Sarah Butsch scored three goals in a span of 2:37 reaching from late in the third into overtime as the Tigers erased a 5-3 deficit and posted a 6-5 overtime win. It was her first career hat trick and it led to her being named the ECAC Hockey League Player of the Week. She was Princeton's second honoree in the past three weeks as sophomore Dina McCumber earned the award following the Harvard/Brown weekend. Several other Tigers had big point nights at Cornell. Sophomores Liz Keady and Kim Pearce each recorded four points. Keady's came on two goals and two assists while Pearce had one goal and three assists.
The following night, the Tigers engaged in a more defensive battle with Colgate. In December when the Tigers and Raiders met for the first time this season, they played to a scoreless tie. Last Saturday there were more goals to talk about the teams played to a second tie this season. Senior Becky Stewart gave Princeton a 1-0 lead in the second period, only to have Colgate even the score at 1-1 in the second and take a 2-1 lead in the third before freshman Brittany Salmon scored with 13:40 remaining to force the tie.
Princeton climbed to a tie for fifth in the ECAC Hockey League after its three points. The Tigers are tied with Brown in the standings, after gaining three points on them last weekend when the Bears met Mercyhurst in non-conference action, but still have a game in-hand and hold the tiebreaker over Brown. Yale currently holds down fourth with a four-point lead in the standings. Princeton gained a point on Yale last weekend and has two games in-hand on the Bulldogs, with a head-to-head meeting as well, coming next Wednesday night.
This weekend Princeton and Yale face the same opponents, while Brown visits St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Colgate lies just two points behind the Tigers and Bears in the standings in seventh, and has two games at Union this weekend. All four teams - Brown, Colgate, Princeton and Yale - can finish as high as fourth in the final rundown, or as low as eighth, meaning all four have clinched a postseason berth.
Princeton enters the game having lost just twice in its 15 games, going 9-2-4 in the span. Princeton's win at Cornell on Friday marked the second time in a row that the Tigers allowed five goals in a game. Those came after the Tigers had a 149-game span in which they did not allow an opponent to reach five goals in a game, dating back to Feb. 19, 2000. Princeton had not allowed back-to-back five-goal games since the first two games of the 1992-93 season. Friday's two goals allowed was the 16th time this season that the Tigers have limited an opponent to two goals or less in a game.
The Tiger defense is currently ranked seventh in the nation, allowing just 1.88 goals per game, which outranks all but one ECAC Hockey League teams. The defense is anchored by Gaudiel, who ranks seventh in the nation in save percentage (.928) and eighth in goals-against average (1.85).
Offensively, the sophomore trio of Pearce, Keady and Watt continue to lead Princeton. After a pair of five-point weekends, Pearce and Keady have ascended to the top of the team's scoring charts. Pearce leads with 24 points, two more than she tallied during her freshman campaign a season ago. Keady's 23 is seven more than last season's total, while Watt is two points shy of the 22 she recorded last season.
Junior Heather Jackson had four points last weekend and sits fourth in team scoring with 20 points. McCumber added an assist over the weekend and rounds out the top five with 15 points. Butsch moved into a tie for sixth on the team in scoring and is two points away from becoming the sixth Tiger to reach double digits in points this season.
The Tigers begin the weekend Friday night at Vermont in a series that the Tigers have controlled since its inception. Princeton is 8-0 all-time against Vermont and has outscored the Catamounts 36-6. Princeton defeated Vermont earlier this season 4-1 in Princeton. Stewart led all Tigers with two goals in the win.
Vermont is 5-22-3 on the season and 3-13 in the league. The Catamounts have lost their last four games since a sweep of Union in late January. Vermont is one of three teams fighting for the final playoff spot.
The weekend continues Saturday at Dartmouth. Princeton is 32-21-3 all-time against Dartmouth and has split its regular-season games with the Big Green in each of the past three seasons. Princeton is 13-12 all-time in games in Hanover.
Dartmouth is 21-3 overall and 14-2 in the ECAC to rank second in the standings. Dartmouth only has three losses this season, but two have come in its last three games, at home to Harvard and at St. Lawrence. The other came in overtime against No. 1 Minnesota. The Big Green can finish anywhere from first to third in the league standings. Earlier this season, Dartmouth posted a 3-0 win over the Tigers at Baker Rink.
The Tigers close out the regular season next weekend with a trip to Yale on Wednesday night and a series at home with Union over the weekend.