Princeton University Athletics
Women's Hockey Plays at Baker Rink for First Time in Two Months
February 03, 2005 | Women's Ice Hockey
Feb. 3, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - The ninth-ranked Princeton women's hockey team plays its first games at home since early December this weekend when the Tigers host Clarkson and No. 5 St. Lawrence at Baker Rink. Princeton enters the weekend on a three-game unbeaten streak and has lost just once in its last 11 contests.
Live stats for both games will be available through Gametracker, which can be found on the front page of GoPrincetonTigers.com or on the women's hockey schedule page. Saturday's game against St. Lawrence is the U.S. College Hockey Women's Game of the Week and will be broadcast on the web. A link to the broadcast can be found by clicking here(scroll down to February 5 and click "Webcast"). Brian Schulz will handle the play-by-play and he will be joined on the air by Kathy Issel '95, Princeton's all-time leading scorer. She was the 1992 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, a 4-time 1st Team All-Ivy selection, a two-time All-ECAC selection, and a member of Team USA at the 1992 World Championships. Pregame will begin at 3:50 p.m., and intermission interviews will feature head coach Jeff Kampersal and junior goaltender Roxanne Gaudiel. Princeton gained two points on both Brown and Yale in the standings last weekend with its three-point trip at Harvard and Brown. It was the first time that the Tigers have taken three points from the Crimson and Bears, home or away, since the travel-partner set up was instituted for the 1999-2000 season. Princeton now sits sixth in the ECAC Hockey League standings, three points behind Brown and five behind Yale, but the Tigers have three games in hand on Brown and two on Yale, plus have a game with the Bulldogs later this month.
On Friday night, the Tigers used a timely goal by junior Sarah Butsch and stellar goaltending by Gaudiel to tie the sixth-ranked Crimson 1-1. Butsch scored her fourth goal of the season while Gaudiel made a career-high 43 saves to limit the potent Harvard offense to just one goal. For Butsch it was the second time she has tallied the lone Tiger goal in a 1-1 tie on the road against a teams ranked higher than the Tigers, which she did at New Hampshire on New Year's Day.
Butsch's goal was assisted by sophomore Dina McCumber, who had a pair of points on Saturday in a 4-3 Tiger win and was named the ECAC Hockey League's Player of the Week. She scored the Tigers second goal in the game and assisted on sophomore Kim Pearce's game-winner with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. She became the first defenseman and first Princeton player to win the award this season. Gaudiel made 34 saves in the game and received the league's Goaltender of the Week Award, her second of the season.
Princeton enters the game having lost just once in its 11 games, going 7-1-3 in the span and has only allowed an opponent three goals twice in that span. The Tiger defense is currently ranked fifth in the nation, allowing just 1.60 goals per game, which outranks all ECAC Hockey League teams. The defense is anchored by Gaudiel, who ranks third in the nation in save percentage (.941) and fifth in goals-against average (1.57).
Offensively, the sophomore trio of Laura Watt, Liz Keady and Kim Pearce continue to lead Princeton. Watt still leads the team in assists and points, despite being held pointless over the weekend. Pearce leads the team with 11 goals, including Saturday's game-winner. Princeton now has five skaters in double-digits, as McCumber's three-point weekend lifted her to 11 points on the season.
The Tigers begin the weekend Friday night against Clarkson. It is just the fourth game in the series between the two schools as this is the first season of ECACHL play for the Golden Knights. The two teams did play twice in the early 80's, home and away, with Princeton defeating Clarkson by a combined 20-4. The teams have already met once this season with the Tigers skating to a 3-0 win in Potsdam in early January.
Clarkson is 9-10-6 overall and 4-7-1 in the ECACHL. The Golden Knights enter the weekend 3-1-1 in their last five including wins over Vermont, Quinnipiac and Cornell. Clarkson has additional wins this season over Union (2), Northeastern and Niagara (2).
The weekend continues Saturday with a key game against fifth-ranked St. Lawrence. The Saints handed Princeton its only loss in the current 11-game stretch in early January in Canton, a 3-2 Saint win. Princeton leads the all-time series with St. Lawrence 21-13-1 but has only one win in the last 11 contests between the two, that coming in the 2002-03 season. The game has added importance as the Tigers hope to climb into a home-ice playoff slot and climb in the Pairwise rankings, which simulate the NCAA selection criteria for the Frozen Four.
St. Lawrence is 19-4-3 overall and 9-2-1 in the ECACHL. The Saints have also lost just once in their last 11 games (10-1), a 5-1 loss at Dartmouth in mid-January. St. Lawrence has swept its last two weekends, beating Union twice and edging Cornell and Colgate last week.
This is a brief homestand for the Tigers as they return to the road for the next two weekends and four games. Next weekend Princeton visits Colgate and Cornell, and then it is off to Vermont and No. 2 Dartmouth before a set with Union at home to close out the regular season.