Oh, So Close: Princeton 2, Dartmouth 2

Brianna Leahy

It would be hard to top yesterday's tie between Princeton and Dartmouth for pure excitement. My friend, after the game had completed, turned to me and said, "That overtime period was the best hockey I've seen all year." I had to agree. Unfortunately, the Tigers let a point slip away on a defensive lapse.

After dominating Harvard the night before, I was half expecting the Tigers to show tired legs the next day, but they came out strong and, as with the Harvard game, took a lead near the end of the first period. This time it was on a shot by Gabie Figueroa from the point. But Dartmouth tied it in the second on an artful shot by Kelly Foley, who impressed me the entire game with her skating ability. She took the puck in front of the crease, skated out a few feet, whirled and fired the shot seemingly without looking, hitting the roof of the net past a helpless Rachel Weber.

Weber had a great game, making 39 saves, but her opposite, Lindsay Holdcroft, was making some acrobatic saves of her own. The Tigers had plenty of chances, but it was still 1-1 halfway through the third period. Then, on a power play, Ali Pankowski boomed a shot from the point that was tipped in by Breanna Leahy. I looked at the clock, saw less than ten minutes to go, and said aloud, "Now it's time to hold on for dear life."

The Tigers, who had a marching line to the penalty box all game, held off Dartmouth for over a minute down 5 on 3, but with less than three minutes to go, somehow Reagan Fischer of the Big Green slipped past defensemen Charissa Stadnyk and Brianne Mahoney, without being offside. A pass from that damn Foley girl went right through to her, and she skated unopposed against Weber. Her shot hit the top shelf of the net and the game was tied.

The remainder of the game and the entire five minutes of overtime was perilous for both teams, as there were many scoring chances. A big crowd cried aloud with each attempt. Both teams were whistled for penalties in the extra frame, both were killed off. The Tigers, in fact, killed off ten penalties and were perfect on the penalty kill, though the officials missed a call on Dartmouth when a player absolutely leveled a Tiger at mid-ice, and somehow the Tigers got called for the infraction.

The game ended with a flurry of shots at Holdcroft, and as time expired Denna Laing put one right at the Big Green goalie, but Holdcroft held on and the game was over.

The Tigers now have a road trip to Colgate/Cornell before breaking for exams. As with previous years, the battle will be for home ice in the playoffs, which will require some help and some exemplary play. With their inability generally to score goals, they can't afford to make mistakes like they did yesterday. We'll take the tie, but they should have won that game.