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Princeton University
8-4-1, 4-4-1
No. 7 Harvard
8-3-1, 5-2-1
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Koelzer Scores OT Winner Against No. 7 Harvard
December 05, 2015 | Women's Ice Hockey
BOX SCORE
PRINCETON, N.J. (12/4/15) - Junior Kelsey Koelzer scored 2:27 in overtime to lift the Princeton women's hockey team to a 2-1 victory over No. 7 Harvard on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink.
When the Princeton and Harvard women's hockey teams met at Baker Rink last season the Tigers skated away with a hard-earned 1-0 victory, so it was no surprise that goals were once again at a premium tonight.
In a game that was scoreless until over halfway through the third period, Harvard's Sydney Daniels broke the ice before a pair of Tigers' defenders scored back-to-back goals.
Less than a minute after Daniels' goal gave Harvard a 1-0 lead with 9:44 to play in regulation, junior Molly Strabley sent a shot from the point through a crowd and past Harvard goalie Emerance Maschmeyer to tie the game at 1-1.
Despite a Princeton 5-on-3 power play late in the game, with the second penalty carrying over into overtime the score stayed that way until Koelzer finally ended things.
Grabbing a puck from Morgan Sly at center ice on the defensive side of the red line, the junior skated into the Harvard zone and sent a laser beam from just above the right hand circle and into the corner of the net.
Princeton senior goalie Kimberly Newell (6-3-1) stopped 26 of 27 shots in earning the win. Maschemeyer (4-3-0) was outstanding in defeat for the Crimson, recording 37 saves including 22 stops in the second period when Princeton outshot Harvard, 22-3.
Coming off a weekend in which it allowed just one goal in two games in a weekend sweep at RIT, Princeton faced a big challenge against the visiting Crimson. Harvard entered the weekend second in the ECAC and ranked seventh nationally in the USCHO.com Division I poll.
The visitors controlled the game early and held an 11-5 edge in shots after one period. But as the game wore on the Tigers used their speed and a swarming performance from their top three lines to put steady pressure on Maschmeyer.
Princeton's intensity led to three power-play opportunities in the first two periods but the Tigers could not capitalize: eventually finishing 0 for 5 with the extra skater. The Crimson had two third period power-play opportunities but did not score.
Newell made back-to-back stops late in the second to keep the game even and had her most impressive save with 13:54 to play in regulation. Harvard's Karly Heffernan found an opening in front and redirected a hard shot off a nice pass from Mary Parker in the corner but the senior somehow squeezed the puck between her pads.
Daniels finally broke the scoreless tie on a rebound of Miye D'Oench's shot from in front before Strabley answered for the Tigers just 58 seconds later.
The last time the two teams played at Baker Rink, Molly Contini scored the game's only goal in the opening period and Newell recorded 32 saves, including 17 in the third period to earn a 1-0 shutout on January 31, 2015. This time it was the other goalie intent on stealing a win but some late game heroics prevented that from happening.
With the win Princeton moves to 8-4-1 and 4-4-1 in ECAC play. The Tigers are in fourth place in the league standings with nine points, one point ahead of St. Lawrence, which has played two fewer games. Harvard (8-3-1, 5-2-1 in ECAC) is in second-place, three points behind first-place Quinnipiac. Dartmouth, currently in third place, lost 7-1 at Quinnipiac tonight. The Big Green will visit Princeton tomorrow for a 4 p.m., game.