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Princeton University
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Dartmouth (Skate with the Tigers)
Players Mentioned
Women's Hockey Continues ECAC Climb With Tie Against Dartmouth
January 08, 2012 | Women's Ice Hockey
The Princeton women's hockey team needed every point it could get this weekend in the ECAC standings, and it killed off 10 power plays Saturday afternoon to make it sure it picked up a point against a strong Dartmouth squad.
One day after a hard-fought 3-0 shutout of No. 10 Harvard, Princeton got goals from Gabby Figueroa and Brianna Leahy to earn a 2-2 home tie against the Big Green. The effort moved Princeton to 6-6-2 in ECAC play and third place in the league standings.
Of course, the schedule won't play in Princeton's favor for the remainder of January. A road trip next weekend, including a tough matchup at second-place Cornell, precedes a two-week break from ECAC play during the Finals break at Princeton. Other teams will have as many as four games to play to catch or surpass the Tigers in the standings.
That is what made this weekend's successful three-point performance at Baker Rink so important. Following the Harvard shutout by Rachel Weber Friday night, the veteran goaltender came back with a huge 39-save effort against a Big Green team that had countless efforts on the power play to grab a lead.
Princeton jumped out to a 1-0 edge when Paula Romanchuk hit Figueroa with a pass from the top of the circle; Figueroa did the rest, beating Dartmouth goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft with a shot from the right point for her third goal of the season.
Dartmouth's Kelly Foley scored on a wrister near the crease for the lone goal of the second period, but Leahy fired in a shot midway through the third period on a power play to give Princeton the lead. It stood that way until there were only 2:16 left on the clock, when Reagan Fischer took a long pass from Foley and scored on a partial breakaway to even the game at 2-2.
Denna Laing nearly gave Princeton the win nearly the end of the overtime session, but her point-blank shot was saved by Holdcroft just before the buzzer.
Princeton will return to Baker Rink Jan. 30 for a post-Finals game against Robert Morris at 3 p.m.