A Season Ends in Tears

The 2008-2009 Princeton women's hockey season came to an end today, as the Tigers were eliminated in the ECAC quarterfinals by Renssalaer, two games to none. It was an unexpected and a bitter end to what was otherwise a pleasantly surprising season.

The quarterfinals are best two-out-of-three, and Princeton was the number three seed, so were able to host the series against the number six seeded RPI Engineers. Princeton, after a slow start, had cruised through the second half of the season, going 11-1-1 in their last 13 games. But a seed of doubt was planted in my mind when one of the parents told me that several of the players were battling flu-like symptoms. Sure enough, many of the players seemed to be off a bit. Still, though, they hung in there, due to some great goaltending by Kristen Young, and the score at the end of regulation was knotted at one.

Normally in women's college hockey, a five-minute overtime is played, and if no one scores it ends in a tie (some conferences added shootouts this year, but not the ECAC). But since this was a playoff game, it would go on until someone scored. So one overtime period of twenty minutes was played, with no one scoring. Then another, and at sixteen minutes, or the ninety-sixth minute of hockey, RPI scored to win the game. It was the sixth longest game in the history of Division I women's hockey, and by far the longest game in Princeton history.

It had to be tough to rebound from a loss like that, but the Tigers were still alive, mathematically speaking. However a long game like that takes its toll. Of course both teams played the same amount of time, but given that some of the Princeton players were already sick, it was brutal. Two key defensemen, Katherine Dineen and Sasha Sherry, had to receive IVs all night to replenish lost fluid. But there they were, ready to battle in game two.

Alas, there was no heroic ending. RPI got a power-play goal in the first, and Princeton, though outshooting the Engineers 32-12, couldn't capitalize. There were several chances, with wide-open nets missed, but the sand slowly drained out of the hourglass, and the season came to an end with a 1-0 loss.

It had to be tough on the players, particularly the seniors, like Young, who only allowed three goals all weekend. Also graduating this year are Annie Greenwood, who charged forward all game, almost trying to will a goal, Dineen, Monica Brennan, Christine Foster, and Megan Murray.

When the season began, I thought it would be a rough one. There were seven freshmen, and at one point in early December the team was below .500. Playoff-talk seemed fanciful at the time. But the freshmen started to gel, and seniors like Dineen, Greenwood and Foster put it together and the team took off, getting the third seed, and outdoing the '07 and '08 teams. If you would have told me they'd get home ice in the playoffs this year back in December, I would have scoffed. So the players have nothing to be ashamed of.

The image I will remember from this weekend is Sherry, a dynamic player who can rip a one-timer like nobody's business, on one knee as the RPI team celebrated their victory. After an evening spent in a student health center, she was clearly both mentally and physically drained. Murray, who was the third goaltender, crouched nearby, no doubt offering words of consolation. But Sherry was inconsolable, convulsed in sobs as she had to helped to her feet and off the ice by Murray the team's trainer. She's an eighteen-year-old kid, and this loss will sting all summer. The good news is that she'll be back next year, when the seasons starts anew.