BULL RUN: Princeton University women’s hockey player Carly Bullock, right, battles in the crease during a game last winter. Last Friday, junior star Bullock scored all four goals as Princeton defeated Yale 4-1. A day later, she chipped in a goal and two assists in a 7-2 win over Brown. The Tigers, now 2-2 overall and 2-0 ECAC Hockey, play at Dartmouth on November 2 and at Harvard on November 3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Coming out buzzing as it hosted Yale in its home opener last Friday evening at Hobey Baker Rink, the Princeton University women’s hockey team outshot the Bulldogs 17-4 in the first period.

But the Tigers had nothing to show for their flurry of shots as the rivals were knotted in a scoreless stalemate heading into the second period.

“It felt nice to be able to get a lot of shots and generate a lot of offense,” said Princeton junior forward Carly Bullock. “It is definitely frustrating when you get all of those shots and you don’t get a goal.”

Bullock took care of that frustration, tallying 6:21 into the second period to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

“Their defense was kind of screening so I just tried to shoot it where I could see an opening and tucked it under,” said Bullock. “It was a great drop pass from Sarah [Fillier]; it really opened up the play.”

That goal opened the floodgates for Bullock as she scored scored two more goals in the period and then adding a fourth tally in the third period as the Princeton skated to a 4-1 win over the Bulldogs.

“Once you get one, it keeps coming,” said Bullock.” My line worked really well together; we definitely see each other on the ice. It was great to be able to get some goals in to really kick start our season after last weekend (4-3 and 3-0 losses at No. 2 Wisconsin).”

Being matched up with freshmen Fillier and Maggie Connors, who have both played for Canadian national teams, is proving to be a good fit for Bullock.

“I am really enjoying it, they are great players,” said Bullock, who added a goal and two assists in a 7-2 win over Brown on Saturday with Connors tallying three goals and Fillier chipping in a goal and two assists.

“Sometimes it is hard to adjust to college hockey and new line mates and a new team, but they are doing such a good job helping the flow of our team. The lines are clicking really well and it has been great playing with them.”

With two college seasons under her belt, Bullock is looking to click at both ends of the ice.

“I have been trying to focus on defensive play, d-zone skating, blocking shots, and more of the fundamentals,” said Bullock, a 5’7 native of Eden Prairie, Minn. who scored a team-high 24 goals last winter and now has 50 in her Princeton career.

“When you have strong
d-zone play you don’t have to spend as much time there and you get more time in the offensive zone. You don’t get as tired in the d zone when you have good habits. I would say that is a focus for us – good habits in the d-zone lead to good offensive plays.”

Princeton head coach Cara Morey wasn’t surprised to see Bullock trigger the offense.

“Carly is just a natural goal scorer; her line mates did a lot of work to make those plays,” said Morey.

“Those were gritty goals, those were tough goals. They weren’t pretty, fancy goals. They were hardworking, it was get the puck low, look for slot area. She just has a knack of finding that puck and putting it in the net.”

The combination of Bullock, Fillier, and Connors figures to score a lot of goals this season.

“They can be a really lethal line; they are really creative offensively,” said Morey.

“You wonder if there is enough puck to go around for all three of them tried it. I wondered after the first weekend if we were going to keep with it. We stuck with it and it ended up working.”

Morey liked the work she got across the board in the win over Yale.

“I thought it was a great team effort; we put all of the players in tonight,” said Morey.

“They all got significantly more ice time than last week against Wisconsin. Everyone stepped up and contributed, even if it was just neutral zone play, turning pucks over, or creating momentum.”

After having played well in the losses at Wisconsin to open the season, Princeton was happy to get into the win column last weekend.

“The girls felt really good after Wisconsin and during it, the mindset was really good,” said Morey, whose team, now 2-2 overall and 2-0 ECAC Hockey, will look to keep on the winning track when it plays at Dartmouth on November 2 and at Harvard on November 3.

“Both games were pretty much one-goal games against the No. 2 team in the country. They realized they can play with anybody, so then to come and finally see the results on the scoreboard was a big deal for them. It really helped boost their confidence.”

Bullock, for her part, feels good about Princeton’s prospects.

“Wisconsin is such a good team so we really wanted to go out there and play well,” said Bullock.

“It would have been nice to get a win, but to come home and win our first Ivy game is a great confidence booster for us going into Ivy and ECAC play.”