NET GAIN: Princeton University women’s hockey goalie Kimberley Newell makes a save in a game earlier this season. Last weekend, senior Newell starred as Princeton defeated Colgate 4-2 on Friday and then blanked Cornell 5-0 a day later. Newell had 37 saves against Colgate and 30 in the shutout of the Big Red. She was later named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for her heroics. The win over Cornell clinched the Ivy League title for Princeton, the program’s first Ivy crown since 2006. Eighth-ranked Princeton, now 19-5-1 overall and 12-5-1 ECAC Hockey, hosts No. 5 Clarkson on February 12 and St. Lawrence on February 13. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

A year ago, the Princeton University women’s hockey came agonizingly close to an Ivy League title, ending up one win behind champion Harvard after dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker to Yale in the regular season finale.

In the wake of defeating Colgate 4-2 last Friday evening, Princeton learned that it had a chance to earn this season’s Ivy crown with a victory at Cornell on Saturday.

“After the Colgate game, we found out that Brown had tied Harvard,” said Kampersal. “The kids were pretty pumped about that so that gave them some extra incentive to close it out the next day.”

Princeton proceeded to close things out in style, defeating Cornell 5-0 in earning its first Ivy title since 2006 as it improved to 19-5-1 overall and 12-5-1 ECAC Hockey. The Tigers finished their Ivy games with an 8-2 record in league competition, ahead of Harvard in second at 6-2-1, which was eliminated from the race even though it has one game remaining.

“They played hard, we played hard,” said Kampersal, reflecting the Cornell game which saw the teams skate to a 0-0 tie through the first period.

“Then we got a goal in the middle of the second to start off and they called it back and it was clearly a goal. I was thinking of last year when we played against Yale and the refs made a tough call and thought this isn’t happening again. But our kids didn’t get flustered, they kept with it. We scored shortly thereafter and once that first goal got in, we started building momentum and doing a good job.”

Junior star defenseman Kelsey Koelzer and freshman forward Karlie Lund, who was later named both the ECACH Player and Rookie of the Week, did a very good job of triggering the Princeton attack in the weekend sweep.

“Kelsey had three assists in both games and Lund had that hat trick against Colgate, both of them were phenomenal,” said Kampersal, who also got a goal from freshman Keiko DeClerck in the win over Colgate with junior Cassidy Tucker, senior Cristin Shanahan, freshman Kimiko Marinacci,  junior Morgan Sly, and junior Hilary Lloyd finding the back of the net in the victory over Cornell.

“Kelsey just brings so much offense from the back, she is really tough to defend. Lund is awesome. She slows the game down and she makes the players that she plays with better.”

Senior goalie Newell has been raising her game as she had 37 saves against Colgate and 30 in the shutout of the Big Red.

“Kimberley was great all weekend so that was a big part of our success,” said Kampersal of Newell, who was later named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for her heroics.

“With all the seniors they know it is getting close to the end. They may have opportunities to play after school but they are coming to the end of their Princeton career. With Kimberley, you could sense the way she went through pregame practice, she is on a little bit of a mission.”

The Tigers started the weekend on a mission at Colgate as it broke open a tense 2-2 game with two unanswered goals in the third period.

“Colgate has got a really good team,” said Kampersal. “They are young, they are mostly freshmen and sophomores, they are well coached. They have some size and have some skilled players. They are good on the power play. They got one early on us but we didn’t get rattled. We got a chance to tie and then once we got ahead, I thought we played a little bit better, a little more confidently.”

In reflecting on winning the Ivy title, the seventh in program history, Kampersal said it was the product of his players’ daily commitment to excellence.

“It is awesome, our kids are great,” said Kampersal, whose team has climbed to No. 8 nationally in the the USCHO.com Women’s Division I poll.

“They chose a word at the beginning of the year, their team identity was to be ‘relentless’ and that is what they have been, bringing it to every practice, every game. So even if they are up two, they play hard; if they are down two, they play hard. They believe in the process so that has been a lot of fun.”

Now the Tigers are playing for home ice in the ECACH playoffs as the top four teams in the final regular season standings will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series.

“All the weekends are big now, we are at third now,” said Kampersal. “If we were to win, I think the highest that we could probably get is second. We want to try to stay in that two-three range and at least host a playoff series. Our next goal is to win the quarterfinals and progress as we go.”

Princeton will face some big tests this weekend as it hosts No. 5 Clarkson (23-3-4 overall, 11-3-4 ECACH) on February 12 and St. Lawrence (14-11-5 overall, 8-6-4 ECACH) on February 13.

“Clarkson is a tough team, they are big and physical, they have a lot of depth,” said Kampersal, noting that the St. Lawrence game will be a fundraiser for Tiger hockey alum Denna Laing, who suffered a severe spinal injury at the Winter Classic on December 31, featuring “14-Strong” beanies and a bake sale, among other things.

“They have great players. They are up there in the country. St. Lawrence is a little different. They just come at you in waves offensively. There are two different styles of play.”