SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Union College return to ECAC Hockey action by hosting rematches with Princeton and #10 Quinnipiac on Friday at Saturday.
The Dutchwomen will welcome the Tigers to the confines of Messa Rink on Friday at 7 p.m. Union fell to Princeton 4-1 on December 7 at Hobey Baker Rink in the previous meeting. Junior defenseman
Alex Tancrell-Fontaine was the lone goal scorer for the Dutchwomen
Union will then rematch with #10 Quinnipiac on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Dutchwomen fell to the then eighth ranked Bobcats 4-2 on December 6 in the last meeting. Dutchwomen leading scorer sophomore
Kathryn Tomaselli tallied her sixth and seventh goals against one of the top goaltenders in the country, Chelsea Laden.
Last Time Out
The Dutchwomen tied the program record in wins on Friday with a dramatic 2-1 overtime win against RIT. The Dutchwomen finished out their non-conference play as they skated to a 1-1 draw with the Tigers on Saturday.
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The Dutchwomen were the first to allow a goal when Celeste Brown fired a wrist shot past junior goaltender Shenae Lundberg halfway through the third period.
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Senior forward Stefanie Thomson scored the tying goal with a little over five minutes left in the third period. Thomson broke through two defenders and dove to push the puck through RIT goaltender Ali Binnington's sprawled pads. She was set up by junior forward Christine Valente and sophomore forward Jamie Smith.
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Sophomore forward Kathryn Tomaselli stole a puck from a defender in the corner and powered her way to the front of the net for her team-leading ninth goal of the season with only 1:09 left in the overtime session.
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Lundberg racked up 19 saves to improve to 7-12-0 on the season.
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The Dutchwomen held the high powered Tigers power play off the board on their three attempts in the first two periods. Both teams stayed out of the box in the third period.
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The overtime win was their first since Oct. 22, 2011 when they took on the Orange from Syracuse.
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On Saturday the Dutchwomen opened up the scoring midway through the first period on their first power play. Junior defenseman Alex Tancrell-Fontaine fired a shot from the point that was redirected by sophomore Jessica Kaminsky past Tiger goaltender Ali Binnington and into the back of the net. Senior captain Maddy Norton also picked up an assist after feeding Tancrell-Fontaine along the blue line.
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The Dutchwomen held the Tigers scoreless until midway through the third period when Marissa Maugeri received a feed she exited the penalty box after serving a two minute minor for interference. Maugeri broke through the Dutchwomen defense and deked the puck past sprawling sophomore goaltender Madeleine Dahl. The teams traded power play opportunities following the tying-goal but neither team could find the back of the net as the game went to overtime.
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In overtime RIT was awarded a power play after senior forward Mac Purvis received a penalty for checking. Dahl and the Dutchwomen defense killed the late penalty as the teams skated to the 1-1 draw.
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In only her second career start, Dahl led the Dutchwomen defense in once again shutting down one of the nation's top power plays including an extended 5-3 in the first period. She made a total of 18 saves on RIT's six power plays. Her impressive performance also included an astounding 26 saves in the first period and 48 saves overall.
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The Dutchwomen defense helped Dahl all day, blocking 23 pucks through the four stanzas. Senior captain Ashley Johnston led the way with five blocks, including multiple on the penalty kill.
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Union was also victorious in the faceoff circle 35-30, with junior Christine Valente leading the way with 13 wins.
Scouting the Tigers
Princeton currently finds themselves in the upper tier of the ECACH standings with a record of 9-7-2 overall and 6-5-1 in conference play. The Tigers head into the weekend after a mid-week loss to #10 Quinnipiac on Tuesday. Before the loss the Tigers were on a four game winning streak after a sweep of UConn last weekend. Their winning streak started when the two team last met in December as the Tigers swept their weekend series with Union and RPI.
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Like Union, Princeton has struggled on the penalty kill, killing off penalties only 79.4% of the time in the first half of the season. The Tigers have also struggled on the power play, recording only eight power play goals on 67 attempts (11.9%).
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Princeton is led offensively by senior forwards Denna Laing (5-7-12), Sally Butler (2-9-11) and Olivia Mucha (7-3-10). Sophomore Jaimie McDonell has also chipped in nine points (4-5-8) on the season.
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Senior Rose Alleva leads the Tigers along the blue line. The offensive defenseman is currently second on the team lead in goals (5). She leads a seasoned blue line that boasts two seniors and two juniors.
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Goaltending duties have been handled mainly by sophomore Kimberly Newell. She has amassed a record of 7-6-2 while posting a .900 save-percentage and 3.04 goals-against-average. Junior backup Ashley Holt has seen action in five games while posting wins in both her starts with a goals-against-average of 1.99 and save-percentage of .922.
Scouting the Bobcats
The tenth ranked Bobcats are off to a fast start this season. They currently sit third in the ECAC standings with a 6-2-4 record against league opponents but are 15-2-5 overall. The Bobcats come in hot, boasting the seventh longest unbeaten streak in the nation and haven't lost since they played Clarkson on November 25. They defeated Union's other weekend opponent, Princeton, on Tuesday in a 3-1 decision.
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Quinnipiac boasts the fourth best scoring defense in the country, allowing only 1.16 goals/game through their first 19 games.
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The Bobcats have been a middle-of-the-pack team on the power play an penalty kill so far this season. Their power play has been slightly better than their penalty kill as they are converting 18.8% of the time.
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Like the Dutchwomen, the Bobcats stay out of the penalty box. They currently sit last in the nation in penalty minutes (6.6/game).
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The Bobcats are led offensively by senior forward Kelly Babstock, who currently is fourth in the nation in scoring with 1.62 P/GM (12-22-34). Most recently, Babstock registered a hat trick against Princeton in Tuesday's matchup. She comes into the game riding a six-game point streak. Babstock is followed by junior transfer Shiann Darkangelo who has racked up 21 points (14-7-21) in the first half of the season.
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The Bobcats are relatively young along the blue line but still boast a wealth of talent. Senior Shelby Wignall is the only upperclassmen on defense for Quinnipiac as she comes into this weekend with as a +8. Sophomore Cydney Roesler leads the defensive corps in offensive categories with eight points (1-9-10) and is a +15. All six Quinnipiac defensemen are +8 or better on the season.
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The Bobcats strongest position has been between the pipes this season. Junior goaltender Chelsea Laden ranks top five in the nation in shutouts (5), save percentage (.945) and goals-against-average (1.11). She has allowed only 21 goals in 19 appearances this season.
