That's Hockey: Colgate 6, Princeton 4

Charissa Stadynk

As I mentioned in my last post, Princeton tends to play to the level of their competition. That was true again on Saturday, as after a night in which they hung in with Cornell, the second-ranked team in the country, they played a woeful two periods against Colgate, which, statistically speaking, is mediocre at best. No disrespect to Colgate, but they caught the Tigers napping.

But not in the first period. If the Tigers had tired legs after chasing Cornell all over the ice on Friday night, they didn't show it in the first period. Princeton led after the first stanza, 3-0. Two goals were scored surrounding a Colgate penalty, as the Tigers netted one on the delayed call (by Denna Laing) then added the extra-attacker goal (by Danielle DiCesare). For the Tigers' struggling power play, it was an embarrassment of riches. Princeton added a third goal in the period on a lovely feed from Julie Johnson to Charissa Stadnyk, who maneuvered her way through the slot and tucked one just inside the post.

Princeton sat back and expected the rout to continue, but perhaps a troubling sign was that the Tigers got those three goals on only eight shots. Colgate clearly made some adjustments, their goaltender, Kimberly Sass, bore down, and the Tigers only got one more goal the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Colgate chipped away, tying the game on three unanswered goals. Two were on power plays, which is normally a Tiger strength, and the rest were on defensive breakdowns or bad goaltending by Rachel Weber. Johnson, a forward-turned-defenseman due to injuries, was badly outclassed by Jocelyn Simpson, just minutes after Sally Butler had put the Tigers ahead 4-3 on another power play goal.

It looked like overtime until Colgate's Katie Case scored with less than three minutes to go. The Red Raiders added an empty net goal to finish the humiliation.

I did take away more admiration for Stadnyk, who started her career as a defensive forward, was then moved back to the blue line, and this year is co-captain. She scores very rarely, so to see her make moves like Bobby Orr on her goal in this game was revelatory. She also showed determination when she took a puck off the boot, necessitating her trying to crawl toward the bench. She went to the lockerroom, but was back the next period, showing no signs of wear.

I was talking to a Princeton player's parent, who had come a long way to see this weekend's games. He was disappointed but philosophical. "That's hockey," he said.