The Level of Competition: Cornell 3, Princeton 1

Danielle DiCesare

In the 11 years I've been attending Princeton women's hockey, there has only been one coach: Jeff Kampersal. On the whole, I think he does a great job--since realignment of the ECAC in 2001-02 he has taken the Tigers to the playoffs every year, and never with a seeding lower than fifth. He has taken a lot of heat on the USCHO forum for his inability to win playoff games, but considering that Princeton is primarily a basketball school, not a hotbed of hockey, I think on balance he is steady and a winning presence.

There are certain characteristics I've noticed of the teams he's coached over the years that are not great, though. For one, his offenses have never been sterling. At times this team goes through long stretches unable to score. I'm not an expert enough on the game to understand why. Is it that scorers are hard to find and recruit? That his offensive schemes are pedestrian? Don't know. The Tigers had one of their scoring drought road trips last week, scoring only one goal over two games in losses to St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

The other bugaboo about Kampersal's teams are their tendency to play to the level of the competition. They hardly ever get blown out; against great teams they can really show off their good side. But against mediocre teams they can look listless--they rarely blow other teams out, the game against Yale an exception.

Cornell, which is unquestionably the best team in the ECAC, came into Baker Rink last night. A friend asked me what chance I gave Princeton, and I said slim, though with a great game by goaltender Rachel Weber anything was possible. They got the great from Weber, and played their hearts out, but ultimately they didn't have enough and fell, 3-1.

The Big Red dominated the game, controlling the puck most of the time and out shooting the Tigers 39 to 18. Interestingly, Weber made several outstanding saves, but the two goals she allowed (the third was an empty-netter) were on soft goals. The first, in the second period, glanced off her right pad. The Tigers fought back, though, getting a goal by Danielle DiCesare, later in the period.

Shortly afterward the Tigers were whistled for a penalty. I said at the time that if they could kill off this penalty it would be a great momentum booster. But, with five seconds left in the advantage, Cornell slipped one past Weber. I didn't get a good look at what happened, and I don't think Weber did, either. She appeared to be screened on the goal, and the puck went untouched and hit the back of the net.

The Tigers, despite the Big Red's buzzsaw attack, had plenty of chances. I counted at least four breakaway with odd-man rushes, but none of them converted into goals. At times I wonder if Kampersal has his charges ready for such instances, because on these breakaways the Tigers sometimes act like the dog that catches the car: now what?

Still, they did themselves proud against a team that has a chance to win a national championship.