Team Notes: Princeton Looks to Keep Streak Alive

PRINCETON, N.J. - The Princeton women's hockey team looks to keep its streak alive as it heads to Central New York to take on Colgate and No. 3 Cornell this weekend, Jan. 13 & 14. The Tigers will visit Colgate on Friday at 7 p.m., and Cornell on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Princeton is on a four-game unbeaten streak after posting a shutout over No. 10 Harvard and tying Dartmouth last weekend. The Tigers are third in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-6-2 record, and are 7-9-4 overall. A trio of sophomores led the squad in scoring. Sally Butler has 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points. Denna Laing has a team-best nine assists and six goals for 15 points and Olivia Mucha adds 10 points with four goals and six helpers. Freshman defender Ali Pankowski also contributes 10 points with one goal and a team-best nine assists. Senior Rachel Weber is the Tigers mainstay in goal. The ECAC Goalie of the Week, Weber boasts a .933 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average.

The Tigers hold a substantial lead over Colgate in the all-time series 20-6-2. The Raiders however have won the last two meetings including a come-from-behind 6-4 victory in November at Baker Rink.

Colgate owns an 8-12-1 overall record and are in eighth place in the league standings with a 3-6-1 mark. The Raiders most recently lost a 3-0 game at Cornell on Tuesday night. Junior Brittany Phillips leads the team with 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. Freshman Melissa Kueber has also scored 10 times and has chipped in five helpers for 15 points. Sophomore Jocelyn Simpson adds 15 points as well, with classmates Shannon Doyle following up with 12 points. Senior Kimberly Sass has started in all but one game between the pipes. She has a 2.47 GAA and a .914 save percentage. The Raiders score 2.33 gpg and are allowing 2.57. Colgate averages 13.7 penalty minutes per game, the most in the league, and its penalty kill is 104/126 (82.5%). It has scored 16 power-play goals on 117 chances (13.7%)

Princeton owns a 40-26-3 lead in the series with Cornell. The Tigers are looking to get back on the winning track in the series, as the Big Red are 5-0-1 in the last six meetings.

Cornell's 13-2 overall record positions them third in the national rankings. They are second in the league standings with a 9-1 mark, but have played four fewer games than first-place Quinnipiac. The Big Red own the top three scorers in the league led by sophomore Brianne Jenner. Jenner has 29 points on seven goals and league-high 22 assists. Senior Rebecca Johnston has 27 points on 10 goals and 17 helpers, and freshman Jillian Saulnier has scored a league-high 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points. Six other skaters are in double figures in points. Cornell uses a two-goalie system. Senior Amanda Mazzotta has started in seven games and has a 2.23 GAA and an .895 save percentage, while sophomore Lauren Slebodnick has made eight starts with a 1.12 GAA and a .940 save percentage. The Big Red lead the nation in scoring offense, averaging 5.60 gpg while keeping team's to 1.73. Cornell has the second-best power-play unit in the nation at 31.5% (28/89), while it's penalty kill is at 86.7% (65/75).