When Is a Rout a Squeaker? Princeton 1, Brown 0

Olivia Mucha

The Princeton Tigers had a three-point weekend last weekend, beating Union 2-1 and tying RPI 1-1. They are back home this weekend against fellow Ivies Brown and Yale, and the game against Brown had an extra interest because it was the first return of former long-time assistant coach Amy Bourbeau in her new position as Bear head coach.

The game was probably the most one-sided 1-0 game I've ever seen. Princeton won the game by that tight score, but otherwise overwhelmed the Bears. They out shot them 39-9, but only one goal, a power play shot by Olivia Mucha, snuck through. Thus, in a game that Princeton was handling with relative ease, there remained the possibility that a fluke goal could lead to heartbreak.

The final minute of the game provided that opportunity. With the Brown goalie pulled, and Brown already up an attacker, Denna Laing was whistled for slashing. For 45 seconds Brown was skating up 6-4, but Princeton and their goalie, Rachel Weber, was up to the task, and hung on for the victory.

Princeton should have won this game by about 5-0. Several shots came close. Sally Butler clanged one of the post in the second period, and poor Alex Kinney had several opportunities (including missing an empty net in the final seconds). Part of this was due to a solid presence of Brown goaltender Aubree Moore, but Princeton has got to learn to take better shots--too many of them were straight into the goalie. Butler, I find, has a better knack of hitting the corners, and in addition to her post shot she just missed a top-shelf goal in the first period. Division I goalies can stop point-blank shots if they are right in their bread basket. Good scorers learn how to find a goalie's weakness, which Princeton must do to be competitive.