SENIOR MOMENT: Princeton University women’s hockey player Molly Contini (No. 9), center, battles for the puck in game this season. Senior star forward Contini scored two goals as Princeton defeated Union 4-1 on Friday and then assisted on the winning goal as the Tigers defeated Rensselaer 4-2 a day later on the program’s Senior Day to clinch home ice for the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs. The victory improved No. 8 Princeton to 18-8-3 overall and 14-6-2 ECACH as it finished fourth in the league standings and will now host fifth-place and 10th-ranked Quinnipiac (20-8-6 overall, 13-6-3 ECACH) in a best-of-three quarterfinal series starting on February 24. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With the Princeton University women’s hockey team trailing Rensselaer 2-1 in the third period last Saturday, and its hopes of earning home ice for the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs in serious jeopardy, the Tigers’ stellar group of seniors wasn’t about to be denied.

Culminating the program’s annual Senior Day in style, five members of the Class of 2017 figured in the scoring as the Tigers tallied three unanswered goals to pull out a 4-2 win and stay at home for the ECACH quarterfinals.

Early in the third period, Princeton evened the game at 2-2 as senior Molly Strabley scored a goal on an assist from classmate Fiona McKenna. About 10 minutes later, the Tigers forged ahead for good as senior Molly Contini picked up an assist on goal by freshman star Carly Bullock. The final score of the day came on an empty net tally by senior Cassidy Tucker with classmate Kelsey Koezler getting credited with an assist.

Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal was not surprised that his senior group came up big when it counted.

“It is definitely fitting; all of them have stepped up at different times over the year,” said Kampersal, whose senior class also includes Morgan Sly and Audrey Potts.

“They have been a really good group, a bunch of good hockey players no question but a really good character group as well.”

The victory improved No. 8 Princeton to 18-8-3 overall and 14-6-2 ECACH as it finished fourth in the league standings and will now host fifth-place and 10th-ranked Quinnipiac (20-8-6 overall, 13-6-3 ECACH) in a best-of-three quarterfinal series starting on February 24.

Princeton started the weekend with a good performance, topping Union 4-1 on Friday as Contini scored two goals with Karlie Lund and Bullock chipping in one apiece.

“I thought Union played really well,” said Kampersal. “They are much improved, their culture is awesome, and their kids work hard. They made it hard. It was a good game for us. It was tough competition.”

Kampersal knew that Rensselaer was going to compete hard against the Tigers.

“RPI was playing for their playoff life, they needed a point to move on,” said Kampersal.

“As it turned out Brown beat Harvard so it didn’t matter but they threw everything they had at us. We got down in the second period 2-1 but showed good grit and good heart to come back in the third period to win it.”

Contini showed heart and skill in her final regular season weekend. “She is just a really savvy hockey player,” said Kampersal of Contini.

“She is good with her stick, she has good vision. She makes good passes. She got a good power play goal there against Union to give us a 3-0 lead. The next day she set up Bullock with a nice pass for Bullock’s game winner against RPI.”

In Kampersal’s view, his senior class is determined to keep winning. “They are on a mission; their sophomore year was hard because we lost out on the Ivy championship by a point,” said Kampersal.

“In their junior year, they got a taste of it and won the Ivy but in terms of ECAC play, we had that tough series against St. Lawrence and lost in overtime in game 3, which is in the back of their minds. They have experienced a lot. They have a mission to play as long as they can here.”

While Princeton is thrilled to be at home in the friendly confines of Baker Rink, Kampersal acknowledges that having home ice doesn’t guarantee anything.

“We love Baker, no question,” said Kampersal. “Sometimes it is OK to be on the road where there are no distractions. It is a matter of who plays better and what team is going to show up and play the best regardless of being home or away.”

Despite having swept the season series against Quinnipiac, topping the Bobcats 3-2 on January 1 and 3-0 on January 31, Kampersal knows the Tigers are in for a big challenge.

“They are so stingy on defense; they are very disciplined,” said Kampersal. “They play a good system, they layer you so if you beat one kid, you have to beat another. They are a tough team to get shots against because they block shots like crazy. We just have to do what we do best in terms of things that we worked on all year and just try to get our chances. Nothing comes easy against them.”

With Princeton having gone 13-2-2 in its last 17 games, the Tigers are looking to keep up the good work.

“We need to play our systems, be disciplined in them, not take penalties, and not try to cheat plays and to just play good solid hockey,” said Kampersal.

“Our approach has been really good each week in terms of preparation. They are a really solid group. We are playing well. We are getting good goaltending from (Steph) Neatby and Sils (Alysia DaSilva) and the defense has stepped up and has been breaking the puck out well. Our offense has been pretty good. We got in a 2-0 hole against St. Lawrence (a 4-2 win on February 12), and 2-1 against RPI, and we were good enough to come back.”