(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) OAKLEY SHADES: Princeton University women’s hockey star forward Marykate Oakley glides up the ice in recent action. Last Saturday, Oakley notched the game-winning goal in Princeton’s 2-0 win over visiting Brown. The victory improved the Tigers to 8-8-4 overall and 6-6-1 in ECAC Hockey League play.

Tiger Women’s Hockey Edges Brown 2-0 to Salvage a Weekend of Missed Chances

Bill Alden

For much of last weekend, the Princeton University women’s hockey team was frustrated as it failed to cash in on one scoring opportunity after another.

Last Friday, Princeton outshot visiting Yale 43-26 only to lose 5-3 as the Bulldogs made their shots count.

A day later, the Tigers built a 25-8 edge in shots against Brown after two periods but went into the third period locked in a scoreless tie.

But when it looked like the Tigers could be headed for a lost weekend, Tiger senior captain Marykate Oakley converted on a power play with 13:06 left to give Princeton a 1-0 lead.

With seconds remaining, Princeton’s other senior captain, Lizzie Keady, notched an empty-net goal to give the Tigers a final margin of 2-0 as they improved to 8-8-4 overall and 6-6-1 in ECAC Hockey League play.

Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal wasn’t surprised that the game with Brown turned into a dogfight even though the Bears came into the evening with just two wins on the season.

“Our league is very good, all the teams from top to bottom are very good,” said Kampersal, whose team ended up outshooting Brown 41-17. “We don’t expect any nights off.”

Noting that his team was a bit off effort-wise early against Yale on Friday, Kampersal was happy with the intensity he saw in the Brown game.

“I thought we worked really well tonight,” said Kampersal. “I thought in the first period against Yale, we got outworked by them. That’s the first time in a while that I thought we got outworked. Today it was hard to get goals, Nicole Stock is an awesome goalie. It’s not easy but it’s not from lack of effort.”

With Princeton going on a 17-day break for exams before its next game, Kampersal said the win over Brown was vital.

“It’s important,” asserted Kampersal, whose team isn’t in action until January 29 when it plays at Quinnipiac.

“You can’t underestimate the value of two points; this is huge. It’s actually painful that we have another break here.”

Kampersal readily acknowledges how huge Oakley was for the Tigers both on Saturday and through the season.

“She’s been good all year,” said Kampersal of the forward from Buffalo, N.Y. who leads Princeton with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists.

“She’s one of the better offensive players we’ve had here. She can make something out of nothing. On that particular sequence, our power play got done what it wanted to accomplish. There a nice low shot by Maddie [Endicott] and MK was there for the rebound.”

The play of senior defenseman Katherine Dineen helped Princeton rebound from Friday’s setback.

“Dineen is awesome; that’s the one word I would say for that kid,” added Kampersal of Dineen who had all of Princeton’s three goals in the loss to Yale.

“She is sick as a dog, coughing up a lung and she was superior out there today with her skating ability. She was just blowing by people; it was fun to watch.”

With Princeton currently sitting fourth in the ECAC Hockey League standings, Kampersal is hoping his club will be a team to watch after it gets back in action. “I hope we ramp it up down the stretch and get firing on all cylinders,” said Kampersal.

“We are getting shots, we are outshooting people now. We need to make a concerted effort to get the puck to the net in traffic so the goalie can’t see our shot.”

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