The women’s hockey team has just one more shot at making the playoffs.
The Bulldogs (8–16–3, 7–11–2 ECAC) are just two points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, and will face two top-five ECAC hockey teams, Princeton (14–12–1, 11–8–1) and Quinnipiac (20–10–2, 12–8), in must win games tonight and Saturday at home.
St. Lawrence, RPI and Colgate are tied for the final two spots with 18 points, followed by Yale with 16. If the Bulldogs win both games this weekend, they will have 20 points in the ECAC standings, and will need some help for a berth in the conference tournament.
“We’ve been in this situation many times before when it comes down to the last game or two, and we need to win to hold onto a playoff spot,” captain Samantha MacLean ’11 said.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 4–2 win against Brown Tuesday night, a game in which forward Aleca Hughes ’12 scored two goals. Forwards Jenna Ciotti ’14 and Jackie Raines ’14 added the other scores for a Yale team that committed nine penalties, but killed them all in large part due to 32 saves from goalie Jackee Snikeris ’11.
In their last meeting, the Bulldogs bested the Tigers 3-1 at Princeton. Yet, since then, Princeton has gone a powerful 11–2, meaning that Yale will have its hands full in what is a must-win game Friday night.
The same is true for Saturday afternoon’s intrastate rivalry matchup with Quinnipiac, a team that has beaten the Bulldogs twice already this season. The Bobcats are led by freshman standout Kelly Babstock, this week’s ECAC Hockey MLX Skates Weekly Award winner and sophomore goalie Victoria Vigilante who is sporting a spectacular 1.66 goals against average to go along with a .934 save percentage.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but this is what we play for,” MacLean said. “If we can continue to work hard and get a consistent effort from everyone then it’s definitely something we can accomplish.”
The big weekend gets underway tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Ingalls Rink.