SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's hockey team earned the program's first win over a ranked opponent as they knocked off #15/14 Princeton by a final of 4-1. Four Union players found the back of the net and sophomore Sophie Matsoukas stopped 56 shots as the Dutchwomen earned the win on Saturday afternoon from Messa Rink.

Matsoukas was the story of the night for Union, setting a new career high with 56 saves that tied her for 10th place on the school's Division I single-game saves list. Her previous best was 54 saves against Harvard in the final game of the year in 2022. The 56 stops are the second-most ever in a win by a Union netminder, behind only the 59 stops of Shenae Lundberg '15 in a 1-0 win over Northeastern University on December 2, 2014.

Eight Union skaters registered a point in the win. Goals came from senior Emily King, sophomores Maren Friday and Ashley Adams, and first-year Riley Walsh. King, Adams, and Friday all grabbed assists as well.

Juniors Celeste Beaudoin and Kaitlyn Ehmann, as well as senior Carmen Merlo and sophomore Paige Greco each chipped in with assists. Ehmann tallied her first collegiate point with her assist.

With just over 30 seconds remaining in the first period, Ehmann dumped a puck into the zone from the red line. Beaudoin skated onto the loose puck and whipped a centering pass over to Walsh. Walsh made no mistake and beat the Princeton netminder over the shoulder for a 1-0 lead. This was Walsh's team leading ninth goal of the season.

In the second period, the Dutchwomen extended their lead about seven minutes into the frame. Adams deflected a pass from the Tigers and the puck settled nicely for Merlo, who entered the zone on a two-on-one with King. Merlo threaded the pass between two defenders onto King's forehand, and the senior buried the puck into the top corner past the blocker of the goaltender to double the Union lead.

The Tigers cut into the Union lead with under two minutes to play in the period, but Matsoukas made 21 stops in the second period alone as Union was outshot by a 22-3 margin.

In the third period the Tigers continued to apply pressure and dominated the offense zone. Union forced a quick chance and made the Tigers pay. After Greco won the face-off in the defensive zone, Friday swooped in and wristed a clear off the glass and out to center ice. Adams gathered Friday's clear and raced down the near side boards, before sending a wrist shot at the net and beating the goalie over her blocker side and into the top corner. This goal regained the two-goal lead for the Dutchwomen.

The Dutchwomen closed out the game three minutes later. Princeton pulled their goalie and with three minutes to go in the third period. King won a puck battle at center ice and her pass drifted towards the center ice dot. Friday grabbed the loose puck and buried the 100-foot shot into the open goal to seal the win for Union. This goal coming as Union was in the process of also killing a penalty. Friday's goal was Union's second short handed goal of the season. 

The Dutchwomen won their second game in program history over Princeton and their first since the 2014 season when Union won 2-1. Princeton had beaten Union 14 straight times entering today's game.

Union was outshot 57-15 in the game. The power-play went 0-3, but one of the better stories was the team's penalty kill, going a perfect 8-8 as they faced 18 shots on the player advantage alone.

The Dutchwomen played their final home game of 2022, posting a 5-1-1 record at Messa Rink.

Union (8-6-1, 3-3-1) will hit the road as they travel to Providence, R.I. and skate against Brown on Friday, December 9. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m.