(PRINCETON, N.J.) - The UConn women's hockey team (4-11-2) led early and was tied after two periods, but a late surge from Princeton (8-6-2) helped the Tigers to a 4-1 victory on Thursday night at Hobey Baker Rink.
Three of Princeton's four goals came on the power play, as the Tigers went 3-for-5 with the man advantage against a UConn penalty kill that came into the game ranked second in Hockey East. Conversely, UConn went 1-for-7 on the power play in the setback and was out-shot 34-23. Sarah Moses (New Hamburg, Ontario) made 30 saves and Leah Buress (Windsor, Ontario) scored the lone UConn goal in the loss.
Princeton got two goals and an assist from Kelsey Koelzer in the victory, while Kimberly Newell made 22 saves to keep UConn at bay. After UConn fired 14 shots on goal in the first period, Princeton held the Huskies to just nine over the final forty minutes.
The two squads played even the majority of the first period, with neither side finding the back of the net in the early going. UConn earned a power play 13:07 into the opening stanza, but couldn't convert. Princeton tried their luck with an extra man three minutes later, but a pair of late blocked shots by Emily Snodgrass (Eagan, Minn.) and Michela Cava (Thunder Bay, Ontario) thwarted the Tigers' advantage.
UConn went back on the power play seconds later, after a hooking call on Princeton at 18:21, and was able to break the deadlock barely thirty seconds later. Buress corralled a rebound off a Sarah MacDonnell (Quispamsis, New Brunswick) blast from the point at 18:56 and buried her third goal of the season, second on the power play, to send UConn to the first intermission up 1-0. Moses made 14 saves in the first frame to keep Princeton off the board.
Moses kept Princeton off the board early in the second, before Snodgrass went off for tripping at 12:42 of the period. The Tigers capitalized soon after, with Sally Butler connecting off traffic in front of the net to make it 1-1 11:53 into the second frame. Princeton held the majority of possession over the next few minutes, before it was called for interference 15:37 into the second. Rachel Farrel (Cheshire, Conn.) made a bid from the doorstep at the tail end of the advantage, but Newell was there for the stop and kept the contest tied.
UConn went right back on the power play at 18:27 of the second, but couldn't convert before the period ended with the score tied at 1-all.
The Tigers killed the remainder of the UConn power play in the opening moments of the third period, and the contest remained tied after Princeton killed off another power play that concluded 6:10 into the frame. The hosts then jumped ahead midway through the period, capitalizing on the power play for the second time with a Koelzer goal at 10:02.
Princeton tacked onto its lead late in the third with a pair of goals in a span of less than a minute. Gabie Figueroa scored the third power play goal of the day for Princeton at 12:56, blasting one home from the blue line, before Koelzer took advantage of a UConn turnover and made it 4-1 at 13:34.
The Huskies and Tigers turn right around for game two of their series tomorrow afternoon. Puck drop from New Jersey is set for 4 p.m.