Saturday afternoon at Meehan Auditorium found the Princeton Tigers using
their superior team speed to pull off a big 4-6 Ivy League victory over
the Brown Bears.  Skating three lines, Princeton looked poised for the
win and proved they can beat any team in the ECAC.  Brown looked tired
and played with a split personality: at times making the simple heads-up
play, at times lacking direction.
 
There was no scoring in the first period.  At this stage of the season it
was nice to see both teams using a number of interesting set pieces.  The
Tigers were using an overload on one side of their power play and then
running a double roll to leave the trailer on that side with a free
shot.  Brown was using a low point shot directed wide of either side of
the net for the deflection.  In the second, Joy Woog (Molly Driscoll) was
setup at the point after a break in play. She drilled her slap shot high
glove side to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.  Kathy Issel (Karen Chernisky,
Heather Cowans) tied the match after a Brown defensive give away and back
in.  The Tigers took the lead with a shorthanded goal when Sue Reece
(Shari Seibert) let it rip from the point.  Princeton made it 1-3 when
Mandy Pfeiffer (Sophie Caronello) made a tremendous move out of the
corner.  Pfeiffer had been making wonderful plays all day and it was
fitting that she was able to tuck that one under the goalie's pads.  On
the ensuing face-off, Danielle Solari hit the jets and scored a lovely
solo oh-la-la goal to help bring the Bears back (2-3).  However before
the end of the period, the key play of the game occurred.  Issel
(Chernisky) made a big break up play in her own end and sent Chernisky up
wing.  Somehow Issel managed to burst up ice and get in position on the
far post.  When she got the perfect centering pass from Chernisky, Issel
buried her shot between the tender's legs.  Fantastic goal!  At the start
of the final period, Solari (Woog) brought Brown back again (3-4) when
she pulled right and knock the puck in left.  Excellent move!  With six
minutes left, Becky Kellar (Katie King, Woog) was setup all alone during
a break in play.  Kellar drilled home her shot to tie the match at four.
One minute later, Chernisky (Paula Rose Stark, Issel) finished off a nice
1-2-3 break in play.  Action had been up and down the ice, but the Tigers
seemed to have more zip in their play.  Princeton finished the scoring at
4-6 when Pfeiffer scored after much Tiger fore-checking.
 
Princeton played at the level I knew they could today.  The key was the
team speed they had from playing three lines.  A smart move was putting
the very skillful Mari Fukuda on the third line.  She held that line
together and made it a force on the ice.  The combined skating of the
Tiger's three lines verus Brown's two lines is what won the game.  In
addition goalie Liz Hill played super.  She made sure that the Bears did
not get any easy goals.  She was helped by the strong partnership of
defensive pair Reece and Margaret Grant.  Their good reads and quick
reactions deflected many plays.  The woman of the match was Mandy
Pfeiffer.  Centering the second line, the sophomore intercepted numerous
passes and was bursting in on net all afternoon.  Pfeiffer played a
stunning game.  On the first line, Issel and Chernisky were powerhouses.
Issel turned it on and pulled off some incredible moves.  In addition she
provided extra help in her own end of the ice.  Chernisky was flying and
demonstrated lovely puck skills.  Together they are playing hockey at its
highest level.  I am very pleased to see Princeton playing so well.  The
stretch run for the league title and the play-offs beyond should be more
thrilling with the Tigers on song.
 
Brown started slow and finished tired.  Head coach Degidio-Murphy was
back behind the bench.  There were times today when the Bears started to
turn it on with their marvelous puck control and ability to make the
simple play.  However, as I have feared, when they play teams that can
skate three lines against them, the fatigue factor can become large.  At
this point they need to go back to the simple directive game they were
playing and seriously consider a third line.  The defense needs changes
too, as two of the goals would not have occurred if a "real" defender had
been on the blue line.  The Brown woman of the match was Danielle
Solari.  She pulled off a number of great moves and almost brought her
team back into the game.  The partnership of Nan Gorton and King looked
wonderful at times, but like many other Bears, they disappeared for
periods of the match.  I do not know if the problem is the split
direction I see the team having or what.  I do know I saw Gorton and King
make a number of excellent 1-2 plays on one shift, and than nothing on
the next shift.  On defense Woog made many fine setup passes by keeping
it simple.  I also liked the play of Andrea Spruell who made several good
rushes from her blue line.  I would not count the Bears out of anything,
but they do need to get their collective minds on the same page.  When
they do that, they will again have the most firepower in the league.
 
TV note:  The Brown-Harvard women's league match on Sunday Feb 19th will
be shown on SportsChannel New England!
 
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 good shooting
 rhun-hungerf
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