Season Outlook: Princeton Ready to Build Upon Past Success

The Princeton women's hockey team enters the 2009-10 season looking to build on its third-place ECAC finish a season ago. The 2008-09 season marked Princeton's ninth-straight winning season and the Tigers finished in the top half of the league standings for the eighth year in a row, earning home ice in the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Princeton won 18 games last season to finish third in the ECAC's final rundown. It was the eighth year in a row the Tigers have won 14 or more games. With 140 wins over that span, the Tigers have averaged better than 17 wins a season since the 2001-02 season.

Success for Princeton in that stretch has been centered on strong team defense, timely scoring and exceptional goaltending, and Princeton will once again look to those areas as the 2009-10 season nears. Princeton's 2009-10 roster is made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores. The two younger classes comprise 12 of the 19 players on the roster, with the class of seven sophomores the biggest on the team.

Princeton head coach Jeff Kampersal and his staff will look to its class of four seniors to lead the way for its young lineup. The class is made up of two defensemen and two forwards. Senior Stephanie Denino is the team's captain after serving as an assistant captain last season as a junior.

"Steph has brought a lot of energy to the table," says Kampersal. "She is a phenomenal leader and is very mature and responsible. By serving as an assistant captain last year, she knows and understands the role and responsibilities that come with the ‘C' on her jersey."

Denino and her classmates-defenseman Maddie Endicott and forwards Julie Flynn and Melanie Wallace-have worked with their teammates in the preseason on the physical and mental aspects of preparing for the season.

"The senior class has taken on a strong leadership role," says Kampersal. "They have worked to help us focus and prepare for overcoming the obstacles that come up during the course of a long season."

FORWARDS (Returning - 9, Lost - 3, Newcomers - 3)

Princeton's forwards are comprised of two seniors, a junior, six sophomores and three freshmen. The collection of nine returning forwards is Princeton's highest number of returning forwards in recent years and the Tigers hope that familiarity will lead to offensive success this season.

"Overall, in terms of our forward group, we have good balance," says Kampersal. "We have depth, we have speed, we have players that can score, and we players that can defend."

The Tigers have three returning upper class forwards-Flynn, Wallace and junior Caroline Park. Wallace tied for the team lead in scoring a season ago with 22 points on six goals and 16 assists, which led the team. She is also Princeton's leading active scorer with 17 goals and 47 career points.

"We have only have three upper class forward, but we are lucky to have Mel, Flynner and Parkie," says Kampersal. "They bring a tremendous amount of leadership, humility, and responsibility to our program. Mel is savvy on the ice and was one of our leading scorers last year. Flynner is versatile, smart and works hard all the time and Parkie is a great conditioned athlete. She uses her speed to pressure the puck and make things happen."

Last season, the group of freshmen, now sophomores contributed from the drop of the puck in October and helped spark Princeton through much of the season. All five ranked in Princeton's top 10 in scoring and are expecting better seasons this year.

"Our five sophomore forwards really did a good job for us last year as freshman," says Kampersal. "They played a lot right form the start and pretty much carried us from the start of the season until the three-quarter point when our seniors and upperclassmen took over. As a group, they bring a lot of enthusiasm to the rink and are a very close class. They have a lot of energy and great hockey knowledge."

Paula Romanchuk led the group with nine goals and nine assists for 18 points, which ranked fourth on the team in scoring. Heather Landry added seven goals and nine assists for 16 points, while Charissa Stadnyk contributed 14 points on six goals and eight assists. Danielle DiCesare and Julie Johnson also reached double digits in points with 13 each.

Princeton will welcome three freshmen forwards to the group this season and all have the potential to have immediate impacts when games begin. The group of Alex Kinney, Kelly Cooke and Corey Stearns all bring intelligence and energy to the ice.

"All three have the capability of meetings the standards set by our Class of 2009 forwards," says Kampersal. "Alex is a pure athlete with naturally superior hand-eye coordination. Kelly has a phenomenal motor and can really get around the rink. She has a great sense of the game and can put the puck in the net. Corey changes speeds well and does a great job possessing the puck and making the right play."

Sophomore Ann-Marie Elvin, who didn't play as a freshman while she recovered from an injury will also bolster the Tiger offense.

DEFENSE (Returning - 4, Lost - 1, Newcomers - 1)

Princeton enters the 2009-10 season with a wealth of talent and experience on the blue line. The Tigers return one of the best corps of defensemen in the nation as the group allowed a stingy 58 goals last season, the third lowest goals-against total in the nation. Princeton's defensemen also contributed in the offensive end of the ice, leading the nation in goals by defensemen per game as four Tiger defenders had at least 13 points last season.

"I know it's a biased opinion, but I thought we had five of the better defensemen in country last season," says Kampersal. "Not only are they are strong defensively, but they can carry the puck up ice, make passes and score goals."

The Tiger lose graduated senior Katherine Dineen, a two-time ECAC Hockey Defensive Defenseman of the Year, but do return four upper class defenders that have seen a lot of ice time in their collegiate careers.

Junior Sasha Sherry tied for the team lead in scoring as a sophomore with eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points. She has 43 points in two seasons and became Princeton's first All-America honoree when she received second-team recognition last year. Sherry was also one of the final cuts this summer for the 2010 U.S. Olympics Team.

Denino, the team's captain, and Endicott have three full seasons of experience. Both are solid defensively, excellent on ice leaders and enter the season after recording career highs in points as juniors. Junior Laura Martindale is Princeton's fourth upper class defenseman and she has also been a valuable piece of the Princeton defense. She was on the ECAC's All-Rookie team as a freshman.

Freshman Krystyna Bellisario will join the group of returning defensemen and step right into the lineup.

GOALTENDING (Returning - 1, Lost - 2, Newcomers - 1)

The race to determine who will start in goal for the Tigers this season is wide open as the team has two goaltenders on the roster with a combined 21 minutes of collegiate experience.

Sophomore Rachel Weber served as a back-up last season to graduated senior Kristen Young. The four-year starter for the Tigers finished with 45 career wins, a 1.96 career goals-against and 14 career shutouts, leaving a void between the Princeton pipes.

Weber appeared in two games last season and stopped both shots she faced in 21 minutes of action. Prior to Princeton, Weber played for the Minnesota Thoroughbreds.

She is joined by freshman Cassie Seguin, an Ontario native that played for Team Canada at the 2009 IIHF Under-18 World Championships. She also played for NCCP/Ottawa Senators and had 34 wins, a 1.07 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage last season.

"In every year and for every team, hockey ultimately comes down to goaltending," says Kampersal. "It is definitely the most important position. Younger carried us over certain stretches for the past several years and we hope that Rachel and Cassie will step in to fill that role. Both are relatively untested and we hope that one will emerge and fill the shoes of Younger. It will be a tough task, but it is something we need in order to be successful."