RALLYING POINT: Princeton University women’s hockey player Ali Pankowski thwarts a foe’s shot in a game last season. Last Friday, senior defenseman and co-captain Pankowski scored the game-tying goal in the third period as Princeton rallied from a 3-0 deficit to edge Rochester Institute of Technology 4-3 in overtime. The Tigers, now 4-1-1 overall, host Union on November 14 and Rensselaer on November 15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With the Princeton University women’s hockey team trailing Rochester Institute of Technology 3-0 after the first period last Friday, Ali Pankowski decided to speak up in the Tiger dressing room at the first intermission.

“There was a lot of negativity, everyone came in the locker room upset,” said senior defenseman and co-captain Pankowski.

“It is my job as a captain to stifle it so we turned it around in the locker room and the tone totally changed.”

The Tigers scored two unanswered goals in the second period to get back into the game and then Pankowski added a tally early in the third period on a power play goal to make it 3-3.

“We have been working on that power play,” said Pankowski, reflecting on her goal. “In the second intermission, I told Molly [Contini] that pass back to me is open for the one timer and it came through.”

After the game went into overtime with the teams knotted in a 3-3 deadlock through regulation, Princeton came through as sophomore Morgan Sly notched her first career goal to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory.

In Pankowski’s view, the comeback win reflects Princeton’s work ethic. “We work hard, and we want it really bad,” said Pankowski. “We might not be a team of big names, we don’t have a bunch of national team players. We are a bunch of hard workers, we play our systems and we come out and try and play every period as hard as we can.”

A renewed commitment to conditioning has helped Princeton play hard to the final buzzer.

“We have a lot of buy-in this year, coach says this is what we are going to do and that’s what we do,” said Pankowski.

“We go to the weight room twice a week. A lot of us hit the weight room really hard this summer to come back as strong as we could. We have done more cardio and long distance running this year, just trying to cross train and be the best athletes we can be.”

In looking to be the best defenseman she can be, Pankowski has focused on the fine points of her position.

“I have been working on my footwork and getting quick in the corners,” said Pankowski, a 5’10 native of Laguna Hills, Calif., who has two goals and an assist so far this season.

“My shot has always been my strength. I am working on staying out of the box. I think I have the least amount of penalties that I have had so far in a season. It is just being smart and knowing what to do when the play moves forward.”

As a co-captain, along with classmate Brianna Leahy, Pankowski is looking to be a strong leader for the Tigers.

“It is a lot of responsibility,” said Pankowski. “I really have to lead by example and come out every day ready to play. If I am not ready to play, it probably means that the rest of the team is not ready to play so it is trying to set the tone early.”

Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal didn’t like the way his team came out to play on Friday.

“It was a really lousy start, a focus for us is to be consistent for 60 minutes,” said Kampersal. “If we are focused and intense and make mistakes, they are livable but to be lazy and get walked around, that is not acceptable.”

Kampersal was heartened by the focus he saw from his players over the rest of the contest.

“We turned it around in the next 45 minutes and I thought we played great,” said Kampersal.

“We had a bunch of chances to score. RIT is a solid team, they are well- coached. Their power play is like tic-tac-toe. They scored in five seconds on that first power play in the first period. We defended a little bit better as we went.”

Kampersal credits Pankowski and fellow senior Brianne Mahoney with leading the team’s defensive unit.

“She and Mahoney have been great in the back, they have logged in a lot of minutes,” said Kampersal, whose defense stood tall on Saturday as the Tigers and RIT skated to a scoreless tie as Princeton moved to 4-1-1 overall.

“It is tough. We have to monitor their minutes but they are also really necessary to be on the ice so it is a hard balance. They have both been great.”

In Kampersal’s view, the mental toughness the team showed in topping RIT will make it hard to beat.

“It is huge to be down three and not give up,” said Kampersal, whose team hosts Union on November 14 and Rensselaer on November 15.

“In years past we could easily pack it in. Last year, we had a game where we  were down 5-0 to Cornell after the first and scored four goals in the next period. That was the first start of our fightback ability, that we are not going to just fold, and showing we can be tough.”

Pankowski, for her part, likes Princeton’s blend of talent and character. “We have a lot more depth than we have had in the past, we have four lines that we can put out there and seven defensemen,” said Pankowski.

“Really having depth has helped a lot. Also, having the knowledge that if you come out in that first period and don’t do so well, you can come back to the locker room, reset, and come back out there and play as hard as you can. It is a really resilient team.”