Top-Ten Battle Ahead as No. 7 Princeton Heads to New England

Friday, January 10

Hanover, N.H.

6:00 PM

Princeton University

Dartmouth

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Top-Ten Battle Ahead as No. 7 Princeton Heads to New England

January 08, 2020 | Women's Ice Hockey

Friday at Dartmouth, 6 p.m.: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday at No. 9 Harvard, 3 p.m.: ESPN+ | Live Stats

For the sixth time this season, the seventh-ranked Princeton women's hockey team will face a fellow national top-10 team when the Tigers head to No. 9 Harvard Saturday afternoon. Before the Tigers get there, though, they'll have to get past Dartmouth, a team that the Tigers got past only 2-1 on Nov. 9, the day after Harvard came to Baker Rink.

The ECAC: Harvard enters the first full weekend of ECAC Hockey League play since before the holiday break with a two-point lead in the standings on a 9-0 record. Princeton is second, at 16 points with an 8-3 record, with Cornell (15, 7-0-1) and Clarkson (12, 5-1-2) the only other teams with more than eight standings points.

Earlier this season: Princeton hosted Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 8 and 9 at Baker Rink. The Crimson got off to a strong start, leading 3-0 at the first intermission, and Harvard never let that lead go in a 6-2 win. Anne Bloomer had two of the goals for Harvard while Becca Gilmore had four assists. Mariah Keopple and Sharon Frankel had Princeton's goals, and Carly Bullock assisted on both goals. Rachel McQuigge (3 GA) and Stephanie Neatby (3 GA) split time in goal.

The next day against Dartmouth, the Tigers and Big Green traded first-period goals, with Frankel scoring for Princeton and CC Bowlby for Dartmouth, and the 1-1 tie persisted until Maggie Connors had the game-winner less than four minutes into the third. McQuigge went the distance in goal for the Tigers.

Recent history: Princeton swept the Harvard-Dartmouth road weekend a year ago, winning 4-1 and 5-2. That was the first time Princeton swept that road weekend since 2009. Maggoe Connors had two goals against the Crimson with Sarah Fillier and Shannon Griffin adding one each. Connors had two again the following day against Dartmouth with Fillier also getting two.

Milestone ahead: Sophomore Sarah Fillier is up to 89 career points as her second year at Princeton continues, and 11 more points would make her the second active Tigers, along with senior Carly Bullock, to reach 100. Bullock is at 128 career points, 14 out of the top 10 in program history. Katherine Issel '95 holds the program points record at 218. Bullock's 77 career goals are tied for seventh in program history, and she's 10 goals out of sixth.

Up next: The games are Princeton's last before first-semester finals. The Tigers will resume Jan. 28 at Quinnipiac.