PAINFUL EFFORT: Princeton University women’s hockey player Kelsey Koelzer fires the puck last weekend during the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinals between the Tigers and St. Lawrence. Junior star defenseman Koelzer left game two on Saturday with an injury only to return to the contest and tally a goal and an assist to help the Tigers rally to a 4-3 win and force a decisive game three. In the finale, Koelzer injured her shoulder late in the first period and didn’t return as the Tigers fell 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With the Princeton University women’s hockey team trailing St. Lawrence 2-1 in the second period last Saturday and already down 1-0 in the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series between the foes, things looked bleak for the Tigers as Kelsey Koelzer hit the Baker Rink ice with a thud.

Absorbing a crunching hit, the Princeton star defenseman lay face down on the ice for minutes as the Baker Rink crowd was hushed. She finally got up with assistance and gingerly skated off the ice, heading to the hallway behind the bench to get medical assistance.

“I was trying to bring the puck in on a power play and I cut across the blue line and one of their girls decided to step up and take the body instead,” said Koelzer, recalling the collision that resulted in a five-minute penalty for Hannah Miller of the Saints.

“It was the mid-section area, the doctor was looking at me and I was trying to convince him to get me back out there.”

After she looked to be done for the day,  Koelzer got the medical OK,  reappearing on the bench and quickly rushed on to the ice with the power play from Miller’s penalty still going, taking the puck in stride and firing it past the St. Lawrence goalie to tie the game at 2-2.

“The power play did a great job of breaking the puck in and retrieving it, all four of their players were below the goal line,” said Koelzer, a 5’9 native of Horsham, Pa., reflecting on the goal.

“Cassidy (Tucker) was able to get it to me and I was actually looking for Karlie Lund on the back door but I think it went off of one of their girls and went right in the five hole. It was a pretty good bounce but I would say it was a product of hard work.”

After Princeton went down 3-2 in the third, Koelzer came through again, assisting on a goal by Keiko DeClerck to knot the game at 3-3, showing why she has been named Ivy League Player of the Year, a top-10 finalist for the 2016 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, and a finalist for the ECACH Women’s Best Defenseman Award.

“The main problem was that our shots weren’t getting through at the beginning of the game so what we tried to do was change the angle of the shot just to get it through,” said Koelzer, who moved to 32 points on the season with 17 goals and 15 assists as a result of the helper.

“Once again, I think it hit a couple of people and found its way to the back of the net. We had a good net drive and it was just hard work. it was getting the puck high and go to the net.”

The Tigers pulled out the game as freshman star Lund found the back of the net with 2:42 left in regulation to give Princeton a 4-3 win.

In reflecting on Koelzer’s courageous effort, Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal saw a parallel with a basketball great.

“I was telling the team in the locker room that I grew up a Boston Celtics fan and that Larry Bird towards the end of his career smacked his head on the parquet and then left a playoff game against Indiana (in 1991),” said Kampersal, a native of Beverly, Mass. and a former men’s hockey star at Princeton.

“He came back and came through the tunnel and dropped however many points for them to win game five and that reminded me of Kelsey getting hurt and coming back and scoring 10 seconds into her shift.”

A day later, Koelzer got hurt again, injuring her shoulder in the first period after she crashed into the board going after the puck. The star defenseman didn’t return to the contest and Princeton went on to a 4-3 loss in overtime. Even as the Tigers went down, they were inspired by Koelzer’s tenacity.

“I definitely think that when it comes down to it, everyone is willing to throw their body in front of the puck and do whoever takes to make sure that the puck doesn’t go in the back of the net,” said Koelzer. “I think that is the biggest thing.”