With the close of conference play drawing ever closer, women’s hockey coach Hilary Witt has continued to remind her team about taking the season one game at a time. And that tactic seems to be working — the Elis have racked up a 3-1 record in their last four contests.
The Bulldogs (7–11–3, 5–8–1 ECAC) will look to extend their recent success this weekend when they take on Brown at home Saturday before traveling to Providence for a second game against the Bears on Sunday.
Yale’s squad will also be looking to keep up in the ECAC standings with important conference points on the line. Currently sporting 11 league points and tied with Dartmouth for eighth in the conference standings, the Bulldogs are just holding onto the last place good for a spot in the ECAC playoffs.
“We’re just trying to take it one game at a time,” Witt said. “For us going forward, every game is a playoff game.”
The Bears (2–14–4, 0–11–3) sit at the bottom of the conference rankings with only three points and no wins from ECAC play this season.
A bright spot for the Bears this season has been freshman goaltender Katie Jamieson, whose .917 save percentage puts her sixth in ECAC hockey.
“Their goaltending has been solid this year,” Witt said of Brown. “They’re a feisty team who is good at one-on-one battles and such, so we just have to make sure we play our game.”
But even the Bears’ feisty nature and Jamieson’s efforts have not been able to compensate for the squad’s offensive struggles. Brown has suffered eight shutouts this season and is second-to-last in the nation in goals scored per game.
Still, Witt said she tries never to underestimate any team’s capabilities.
“There is no easy game,” Witt said. “Right now things are going well for us, but you have to make sure you stay focused and make sure you show up because any team in our league can win any game. I think that has been proven again and again throughout the season.”
This Saturday also marks Youth Day at Ingalls Rink. Special events such as raffles and face painting will run throughout the contest, and Yale players will stick around after the game to sign autographs.
The first of this weekend’s two Yale-Brown contests is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.