Jekyll and Hyde: Clarkson 2, Princeton 1

Corey Stearns

Last weekend's road trip to Dartmouth/Harvard best illustrated the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of Princeton's women's ice hockey team. Both opponents were in the top ten, far above the Tigers in the ECAC standings. Yet the Tigers hung on for a tough 2-1 over Dartmouth (largely through the efforts of their goalie, Rachel Weber), and then took a 1-0 lead after one period against nemesis Harvard. But then the wheels came off, spectacularly, and Weber allowed seven goals in the second period en route to a 10-1 loss. How could this be the same team?

Last night, back home for the beginning of a season-ending four-game home stand, Princeton played well, but lost to a superior Clarkson squad, 2-1. It has to be disheartening to Weber that she has to be almost perfect to win--Princeton has only scored 2.04 goals per game, which is 29th out of 35 teams in Division I. She played well enough to win last night, but the Tigers just can not mount an effective offense.

After a scoreless first period, the Golden Knights struck first, with Kali Gillanders blasting a shot in from the blue line over Weber's left shoulder. The Tigers knotted the score at one in the same period, when Charissa Stadnyk's slap shot rebounded off Clarkson goalie Erica Howe's pads and Brianna Leahy gathered it and fired it in.

But in midway through the third period, Brittany Styner of Clarkson managed to knock the puck past Weber, who was unable to corral a rebound. Tiger fans were discomfited; they had to score one goal to force overtime, two to win, and that seemed impossible.

The Tigers had their chances. Sally Butler snuck out on a breakaway, but her shot went too high. My game puck goes to Corey Stearns, who was all around the opponent's goal this game, but just couldn't convert. In fact, the Tigers out-shot the Golden Knights, 25-24, but from my eye Princeton had better scoring chances.

Princeton seems locked in the seventh position of the ECAC standings, which means they will go to the playoffs, but will be on the road (likely against Harvard, where Bright Arena has turned into a chamber of horrors). Since the realignment of the ECAC ten years ago, this is the lowest seed the Tigers have had, by two notches. Clearly something needs to be done to address the incompetence in scoring.