Women's Hockey Season Preview

Cara Morey

Tomorrow night the puck drops for the opening of the 2011-2012 Princeton women's ice hockey season, when the Huskies of Northeastern University pay a visit to Hobie Baker Rink. With a sport like this, that doesn't get a lot of coverage even on the Internet, it's difficult to know what to expect. The traditional powerhouses from the midwest, like Wisconsin and Minnesota, figure to be there again, while the toughest schools in the east are once again expected to be Cornell and Boston University.

Princeton, even since I have been watching them, has been a workman-like team that hovers slightly above the .500 mark. They have never finished below fifth place in the 12-team ECAC, occasionally flirting with a higher ranking. They have won one Ivy League title in that time. But given that it's a basketball school with certain recruiting difficulties (no scholarships, stringent academic requirements, and a long way from traditional hockey hotbeds) the team performs better than expected. Coach Jeff Kampersal, who has 15 seasons at the helm, always manages to put a competitive team on ice.

Princeton has graduated three seniors, two of them making a big impact. Sasha Sherry and Laura Martindale were mainstays at the blue line, with Sherry providing an occasional offensive spark with her booming slapshot. Also lost to graduation is Caroline Park. Since I don't follow prep hockey, it's difficult to know how newcomers will fit in, but the Tigers have added two defensemen: Brianne Mahoney and Ali Pankowski. Returning D are sophomores Rose Alleva and Gabie Figueroa, junior Krystyna Bellisario, who is oft-injured, and senior co-captain Charissa Stadnyk. The loss of Sherry and Martindale leaves a scoring vacuum on the blueline, as Alleva and Figueroa were not scoring threats. Perhaps one of the freshman will be effective on the power play.

As far as forwards are concerned, the Tigers return all their top scorers. Senior co-captain Paula Romanchuk and Danielle DeCesare are usually the top threats, although DeCesare saw a big decline in points. Some of the slack was picked up by now sophomores Olivia Mucha and Sally Butler, and last year's Rookie of the Year Denna Laing. Kelly Cooke, a speedy skater, hasn't been the scorer I anticipated she would be as a rookie, while Julie Johnson, Heather Landry and Alex Kinney are steady but unspectacular performers. Anne-Marie Elvin, who has missed most of her career with injuries, and served as the team manager last year, is back on the roster this year, so hopefully she will get playing time. Only one freshman is added to the forwards, Brianna Leary.

Lee-J Mirasolo

Goaltending has always been a strength for the Tigers. Last year's MVP was Rachel Weber, who went on a historic hot streak, setting an ECAC record for most consecutive scoreless minutes. She had a 1.77 goals against average, and at times was uncanny in stopping shots. She would seem to the main goalie this year, as Cassie Seguin, who missed a lot of time due to injury last year, transferred to the University of Ottawa. I don't know whether it's because of lack of playing time or just homesickness. New recruit Ashley Holt is Weber's backup, and walk-on Katie Jones, who doesn't figure to get any playing time, is the third goalie.

Perhaps the biggest change in the Tigers this year is one that is difficult to the layman to comprehend. Two new coaches will be on the Tiger bench this year. Amy Bourbeau is off to be the head coach at Brown, while Jessica Link has also parted ways. Replacing them are Cara Morey and Lee-J Mirasolo. The way I understood it, Bourbeau coached the offense, but I don't know how the new coaching configuration will work.

In any event, I'll be at the game tomorrow night. Go Tigers!