Despite losing its first five games of the season, the women’s hockey team is looking to rally back this weekend at Quinnipiac and at Princeton.

“We have gotten off to a rough start, but we are motivated to turn things around,” team captain Aleca Hughes ’12 said Thursday in an email to the News, adding that the Bulldogs have only played two conference games this season.

The team’s conference play is on the heels of Tuesday’s non-conference game loss to Providence College. The Bulldogs (0-2-0 conference, 0-5-0) will take on the Bobcats (2-0-0 conference, 3-5-0) on Friday night and the Tigers (1-0-1 conference, 2-1-1 overall) on Saturday afternoon.

“They are both very strong teams,” head coach Joakim Flygh said of Quinnipiac and Princeton, adding that they finished fifth and fourth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference last year. “I am expecting them to fight for those spots again this year, so we will have our hands full this weekend.”

Quinnipiac defeated Rensselaer and Union last weekend in its first conference games of the season; Princeton won against Union and tied against Rensselaer.

“Overall our first five games have been tough losses, but we will not let that define our season,” forward Danielle Moncion ’13 said. “We have been talking a lot about changes that need to be made, but we have to start putting them into play.” She added that Tuesday’s game saw the team generating more offensive opportunities and capitalizing on them, scoring the most goals in one game this season.

Flygh said the team “is not the most confident group right now,” but that it is focusing on improving defensively. Moncion added that the team has lots of talent but needs to break down the game and do its indivdual jobs in order to garner collective success.

“Playing a crosstown rival and an Ivy rival in the same weekend is exciting,” Hughes said. “We are looking forward to the challenge and an opportunity to prove ourselves.”

Hughes added that if the team gives a consistent 120-minute effort this weekend, it will be in a good spot moving forward.

Yale tied for eighth place in the ECAC last year with Rensselaer and Colgate.