Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Hockey Eyes Home Ice as it Enters Final Weekend at Brown and Yale
February 17, 2011 | Women's Ice Hockey
GAMETIME: Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.
RECORDS: Princeton (14-12-1, 11-8-1 ECAC); Brown (2-22-3, 1-16-3 ECAC)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 33-29-2 overall and 17-14-2 at Brown
LAST MEETING: Princeton won 4-0 on Dec. 4, 2010 at home
STREAK: 1 Princeton win
GAME 29: Princeton at Yale
GAMETIME: Saturday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.
RECORDS: Princeton (14-12-1, 11-8-1 ECAC); Yale (8-16-3, 7-11-2 ECAC)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 52-11-2 overall and 25-2-2 at Yale
LAST MEETING: Yale won 2-1 on Dec. 3, 2010 at Princeton
STREAK: 1 Yale win
LINKS: Livestats | Video (Brown/Yale)
PRINCETON (2/17/11) - The Princeton women's hockey team enters the final weekend of the regular season looking to climb into a home-ice playoff spot for next weekend's ECAC quarterfinals. Princeton travels to Brown and Yale just a point out of the fourth and final home-ice spot.
Princeton swept Union and Rensselaer last weekend to keep pace in the standings with Dartmouth and Quinnipiac, the two teams directly ahead in the standings. Princeton can finish as high as third, but could also drop to sixth in the final rundown depending on how the weekend plays out.
Cornell has wrapped up the top spot in the standings and Harvard currently sits second. Dartmouth is third with 26 points, two ahead of fourth-place Quinnipiac and three ahead of fifth-place Princeton The Tigers then hold a three-point edge on Clarkson. Princeton and Quinnipiac face identical schedules playing at Brown and Yale. Both teams are currently out of the playoffs, although Yale is still alive in the chase for a playoff spot as it lays just two points behind a seventh-place tie between Colgate, Rensselaer and St. Lawrence.
Princeton and Quinnipiac can both catch third-place Dartmouth in the standings. The Big Green close the regular season at home against Cornell and Colgate. Cornell has had the regular season title wrapped up for some time and is currently 19-0-1 in league play, while Colgate is currently in a battle with Rensselaer, St. Lawrence and Yale for the final two playoff spots.
Whatever the results from the weekend are, Princeton will be making its 10th-straight ECAC postseason appearance this season. The Tigers are currently 14-12-1 overall and 11-8-1 in ECAC Hockey. Princeton has won three of its last five games and has lost just twice since Dec. 4, going 11-2 in the 13 games since.
Last weekend the Tigers completed season sweeps of both Union and Rensselaer with wins at home. On Friday seven Tigers had points in a 3-1 win over the Dutchwomen. Sasha Sherry's unassisted power-play goal in the first period gave Princeton a lead it would never surrender and Denna Laing and Corey Stearns added goals.
A day later Sherry recorded a hat trick in leading Princeton to a 4-2 win over Rensselaer on senior day. All four goals in the game came from seniors as Caroline Park netted the Tigers' second goal. Princeton's third senior Laura Martindale added an assist on Sherry's first goal of the afternoon. The hat trick was Princeton's first of the season and first since another defenseman, Katherine Dineen, scored three times on Jan. 11, 2008 against Yale. Rachel Weber stopped 35 of 38 shots over the weekend to record the wins.
Sherry's four-point weekend moved her to first on the Princeton scoring charts with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points. Sherry's 74 career points rank fourth all-time among Princeton defenders. Olivia Mucha, who missed both games last weekend with an injury, but will return this weekend, ranks second with 18 points, while Sally Butler, Laing and Stearns round out Princeton's top-five scorers.
Princeton closes the regular season this weekend at Brown and Yale. The Tigers were 3-9-1 going into their series with Yale and Brown in early December and despite splitting the series with the two, Princeton had two well-played games, which sprung Princeton into its eight-game win streak and 11-2 span.
Princeton opens this weekend against Brown, a team it beat 4-0 on Dec. 4 to start a span of five shutouts in a six game-span. Princeton outshot Brown 42-19 in the win and was led by Mucha's two goals. Paula Romanchuk and Danielle DiCesare also scored in the win. The win was Princeton's third in four games against Brown as the Tigers hold a 3-1 record in their last four against the Bears.
Brown is currently 2-22-3 overall and 1-16-3 in ECAC Hockey. The Bears last won on Nov. 13 against Rensselaer and have tied Clarkson and Colgate in the 21 games since. Last weekend Brown dropped a pair of games at Cornell and Colgate and the Bears fell at travel-partner Yale 4-2 on Tuesday night.
The Tigers complete the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Yale. The Tigers dropped their first meeting with the Bulldogs 2-1 at Baker Rink despite outshooting the Bulldogs 27-8. Yale took a 2-0 lead in the game with two first period power-play goals, and Princeton tried to play catch up from there. Mucha scored a minute into the second period but Princeton could get no closer in the loss, which snapped a five-game Princeton win streak in the series.
Yale is currently 8-16-3 overall and 7-11-2 in ECAC Hockey and on the outside looking in for the playoffs with two games remaining. Yale was swept at Colgate and Cornell last weekend, but bounced back with a win over Brown on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are 3-2-1 in their last six games.
Following the weekend, Princeton will make its 10th straight ECAC Quarterfinal appearance. The location and opponent will be determined following this weekend's games.