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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
22-9-2
No. 3 Minnesota
33-4-1
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
No. 7 Princeton Falls to No. 3 Minnesota in the NCAA Quarters, 6-2
March 13, 2016 | Women's Ice Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (3/12/16) - Princeton senior Jaimie McDonell had only dreamed of that moment. Scoring a goal on her first shift and to have it come in the NCAA quarterfinals no less. McDonell scored just 29 seconds from the opening face off to give No. 7 Princeton a 1-0 lead over No. 3 Minnesota. The defending national champions took over however, going on a six-goal run en route to a 6-2 win to advance themselves into their 12th Frozen Four.
McDonell's goal was the fastest goal that Minnesota has allowed all season by nearly six minutes, besting Minnesota State's goal at 6:26 of the first on Jan. 17.
Junior Kelsey Koelzer started the play with a shot from the top of the point. Junior Molly Contini was on the doorstep but after being pushed off the puck by a defender the puck squirted free to the right post and McDonell roofed it over the shoulder of Amanda Leveille.
“You dream of it, think about it, visualize having a goal on your first shift but to have that actually become a reality was a big start unfortunately it didn't continue and go our way,” McDonell said. “We set the tone and did our best.”
Three Minnesota special team goals followed as the Golden Gophers took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. Senior captain Hannah Brandt converted on the first power-play opportunity at 4:47 as she slipped by her defender along with extended red and skated to the front and went back door on senior netminder Kimberly Newell.
A short-handed goal by Olympian Amanda Kessel followed after Lee Stecklein sent a long wrap around to the opposite side of the boards and Kessel skated down the left side and crashed into Newell, scoring the goal. It would be the first of three goals for Kessel, who finished with four points including a hat trick. Kessel added the team's second power-play goal at 17:35 with Brandt and Stecklein assisting.
"We had 27 shots on goal and we had good ideas in how we wanted to set things up," Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal said. "But they capitalized and produced goals and we didn't. We had a number of three-on-one, four-on-two...we had chances to score and didn't get it done. But it was exciting to have those opportunities to score. There are times in the East where you can have 20 shots on goal and it's an absolute grind. This was a little more wide open. It hurt us some times and helped us at other times."
Minnesota scored three goals in a span of 3:22 in the second period to increase its lead to 6-1. Left winger on the Brandt-Kessel line, Sarah Potomak got things started at 14:24 when she put a shot under Newell as she fell on her back trying to prevent the goal from going across the goal line. Dani Cameranesi picked up a great outlet pass from Kelly Pannek right after Leveille had made a stop on ECAC and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Karlie Lund. Kessel completed the hat trick at 17:02 of the second.
After trailing 31-18 in shots after 40 minutes, the Tigers never gave up hope and outshot the Gophers in the third period.
Junior Molly Contini scored with 2.8 seconds left, tipping in a shot by senior Karen MacDonald. Junior Fiona McKenna earned the secondary assist.
Newell finished the game with 37 saves. She finishes an illustrious career as the program's all-time winningest goalie with 52 wins, 3,096 career saves and a .921 save percentage.
Minnesota's all-time winningest goalie Leveille stopped 25 shots.
Princeton completes its season at 22-9-2, the most wins in program history. During the season the Tigers set a program record for longest win streak, at 16, and won the Ivy League title and earned the No. 3 seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament. This was Princeton second bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We had an awesome season, an emotional season," Kampersal said. "Our kids battled all year long and were relentless all year long. Even in the third period, we played hard until the final whistle blew. I'm really proud of our group. We have a good process in place. We have an awesome culture. Winning the Ivy League and having a tough quarterfinal series. We've had tough real-life issues that have gone on in our program, but they've preserved and have really been relentless."