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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Lawrence
Pair of Fellow Ranked Foes Up Next as No. 14 Princeton Heads to St. Lawrence, Clarkson
October 24, 2023 | Women's Ice Hockey
Princeton is No. 14 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live national rankings, and the Tigers will have the chance for a pair of wins against fellow ranked opponents this weekend at St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
at No. 10/11 St. Lawrence, Friday, 3 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats
at No. 6/8 Clarkson, Saturday, 3 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats
In the Rankings: Princeton is No. 14 in both national polls this week, and it has the opportunity for wins against two fellow ranked opponents in No. 10/11 St. Lawrence and No. 6/8 Clarkson. In both polls, ECAC Hockey has seven teams ranked, ahead of the WCHA (five), Hockey East (two) and College Hockey America (one).Â
Team Effort: Princeton has seen seven players score goals over the first two weekends with Sarah Fillier in a familiar spot atop the stats list at a team-best four goals and six points. Already, 15 Tigers have scored a point, just three short of the 18 players who scored a point in all of last season.Â
Fillier Climbs the Charts: Sarah Fillier has one more season to further cement her place in the Princeton record books. Her 157 career points stand seventh, two back of former teammate Carly Bullock '20 for sixth, and a stand-alone fourth-place finish is 20 points away. With 43 points, she'd become the fourth player in program history with 200 career points, and Katherine Issel '95 holds the record at 218. Fillier's 67 career goals are 15th, and with 29 more goals, she'd become Princeton's highest-scoring player of this century, surpassing former teammate Maggie Connors '23 (78), Gretchen Anderson '04 (87) and Bullock (95). Kelly O'Dell '84 holds the record at 121 and is one of three players in program history to score 100 goals. Fillier's 90 assists are fourth all-time, and stand-alone second place is seven assists away. With 10 more assists, Fillier would join record holder Issel (121) as the only players in program history with 100 career assists.
The Staff: Head coach Cara Morey is back for her seventh overall year and sixth competitive season (2020-21 lost to the pandemic) leading the program. Her 91 career wins are second-most in program history to predecessor Jeff Kampersal '92 (327). With nine more wins, Morey would become the second Princeton women's hockey coach and sixth hockey coach between the men's and women's programs to reach 100 wins. The four men's coaches who have reached 100 are Richard Vaughan (158 from 1935-59), Jim Higgins (130 from 1977-91), Don Cahoon (122 from 1991-2000), and Guy Gadowsky (105 from 2004-11). Along with Dan Gould, who returns and coaches the goaltenders, Morey has two new assistant coaches in Jamie Lundmark, who played professionally from 2001-18 including parts of six seasons in the NHL with the Rangers, Coyotes, Flames, Kings and Maple Leafs, and Melissa Samoskevich, who stands among the highest-scoring players in Quinnipiac history after graduating in 2019.Â
Series History: Princeton leads the all-time series with St. Lawrence 38-32-4 overall and 19-14-2 in Canton. The teams split last season and the Saints have won three of the last four meetings. Clarkson leads the all-time series with Princeton 24-17-2 overall and 11-9-1 in Potsdam. The Golden Knights have won the last four since Princeton beat Clarkson in the 2020 ECAC Hockey Tournament semifinal.
Clarkson Connections: Rachel McQuigge '22 wrapped an outstanding Tiger career in goal two seasons ago as a three-time All-Ivy League honoree. Her sisters are continuing their careers at Clarkson this season, both forwards in grad student Brooke and senior Kirstyn. Clarkson assistant Tony Maci was on staff with Cara Morey at Princeton as the Tigers went 22-9-2, won the Ivy League title and earned an at-large NCAA bid. Maci also shared a rink with Princeton men's head coach Ron Fogarty for two seasons (2012-14) when both worked at Adrian College in Michigan, Fogarty heading up the men's team and Maci as an assistant coach with the women. Fogarty left in 2014 to take over the Tiger men and Maci followed a year later to serve on Jeff Kampersal's staff with the women.Â
On St. Lawrence and Clarkson: Both the Saints and the Golden Knights enter the weekend with outstanding records to start the season, St. Lawrence at 6-1-0 and Clarkson at 7-0-1 with each set to start ECAC Hockey play this weekend. Both are also fellow top-15 teams with Princeton, St. Lawrence at No. 10 in the USCHO poll and No. 11 with USA Hockey/The Rink Live, and Clarkson at No. 6 and No. 8. Fourteen Saints have already contributed a goal, led by Julia Gosling's six, and Emma-Sofie Nordström has played most of the minutes in goal, holding a 1.85 GAA. Twelve Golden Knights have scored a goal this season with Anne Cherkowski's six leading the way. Michelle Pasiechnyk has played nearly two-thirds of the minutes in goal and has a 1.14 GAA. Julia Minotti has played the rest of the minutes and has an 0.73 GAA. Vermont is the lone non-win on each team's schedule, with the Catamounts tying Clarkson 2-2 on Oct. 7 and defeating St. Lawrence 3-0 on Oct. 13.
Stat Rankings: Princeton's national team rankings include being perfect on the PK so far this season and a national-best .670 faceoff winning percentage. The team is also seventh nationally in goals allowed/game (1.25), team GAA (1.25), and shutouts (two). as well as ninth in scoring margin at +2.00 goals/game. Princeton's top-25 individual rankings include Uma Corniea's fifth-ranked two shutouts, sixth-ranked .970 save percentage, and sixth-ranked 0.672 GAA, Sarah Fillier's seventh-ranked 1.00 goals/game, Corniea's 15th-ranked .667 winning percentage, Fillier's 15th-ranked 1.5 points/game, Emerson O'Leary's 18th-ranked 0.75 goals/game and Fillier's 21st-ranked 75 faceoff wins.
