October 29, 2011
Women's Hockey Preview Capsules
by Mike Zhe/Staff Writer
Women’s ECAC Hockey preseason rankings
1. Cornell
2. Quinnipiac
3. Harvard
4. Dartmouth
5. St. Lawrence
6. Clarkson
7. Princeton
8. Colgate
9. RPI
10. Yale
11. Union
12. Brown
BROWN BEARS
Last season: 2-23-4 (1-17-4 ECAC, 11th)
Who’s gone: Erica Kromm (F),
Samantha Stortini (D)
Who’s back: Jennifer Nedow (D), Katie Jamieson (G), Laurie Jolin (F), Alena Polenska (F)
Outlook: Longtime Princeton assistant Amy Bourbeau replaces Digit Murphy behind the bench, and this is what she inherits: a team that averaged 1.31 goals last season (second-lowest in league), allowed 3.83 a game (by far the most). After going 2-0-2 against Sacred Heart, Union, RPI and Clarkson in early November, the Bears didn’t win again, closing the year on an 0-21-2 stretch. … Jolin and Polenska tied for the team lead last season with 17 points apiece. Only four seniors departed, including team MVP Stortini. … Bourbeau played on the boys’ team at Coventry (R.I.) High School and was a four-year letter-winner at Providence in the early 1990s.
CLARKSON GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Last season: 14-17-6 (10-8-4 ECAC, sixth)
Who’s gone: Lauren Dahm (G), Melissa Waldie (F)
Who’s back: Juana Baribeau (F), Jamie-Lee Rattray (F), Carly Mercer (F), Danielle Boudreau (D), Kately Ptolemy (D), Erica Howe (G)
Outlook: Sixteen letter-winners are back for Clarkson. … The sting of losing Waldie, the program’s all-time leading scorer with 67 goals, should be eased by the return of Rattray (7-18-25), Baribeau (10-11-21) and Mercer (8-14-22), among others. … Howe, a sophomore, wrested away the label of No. 1 goaltender last season, posting a 10-7-5 record, 1.82 GAA and .928 save percentage. … Fans are hoping the Golden Knights can pick up where they left off a year ago, when they closed out the regular season on a 6-2-3 run and nearly upset ninth-ranked Dartmouth in their ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series.
COLGATE RED RAIDERS
Last season: 11-19-3 (8-12-2 ECAC, tied for eighth)
Who’s gone: Jessi Waters (F/D), Jacquie Colborne (F), Hannah Milan (F)
Who’s back: Amanda Kirwan (D), Brittany Phillips (F), Jenna Klynstra (F), Kimberly Sass (G)
Outlook: The Red Raiders look to have some building blocks in place after just missing out on the league playoffs last season. Juniors Phillips, last year’s team offensive MVP, and Klynstra led the way last season with totals of 15-17-32 and 13-14-27, respectively, but they’ll need help on an attack that averaged just 1.91 goals. … The good news: Waters is the only loss among last year’s top nine scorers. … Senior goalie Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, N.Y.) had a 2.92 GAA and .899 save percentage last season. She’ll be pushed by three freshman goalies, including Taylor Craig, the daughter of 1980 U.S. Olympic hero Jim Craig.
CORNELL BIG RED
Last season: 31-3-1 (20-1-1 ECAC, first, won tournament), lost to Boston University in NCAA semifinals
Who’s gone: Hayley Hughes (F)
Who’s back: Laura Fortino (D), Lauriane Rougeau (D), Brianne Jenner (F), Rebecca Johnston (F), Catherine White (F), Amanda Mazzotta (G)
Outlook: Impossible to find a weakness at this point, at least so say the other coaches in ECAC Hockey, who unanimously picked the Big Red to win a third consecutive league title. … Jenner (23-27-50) and Johnston (26-24-50) finished tied for second in scoring in the league. Karpenko (23-26-49), White (21-22-43) and Fortino (9-31-40) also were productive. … Defense should be rock solid again behind a unit led by Fortino and Rougeau, and the goaltending of Mazzotta, who did the heavy lifting last season, and sophomore Lauren Slebodnik, who was impressive as a spot starter.
DARTMOUTH BIG GREEN
Last season: 22-12-0 (15-7-0 ECAC, third), lost to Cornell in NCAA quarterfinals
Who’s gone: Amanda Trunzo (F)
Who’s back: Sasha Nanji (D), Lindsay Holdcroft (G), Camille Dumais (F), Kelly Foley (F), Reagan Fischer (F), Jenna Hobeika (F)
Outlook: The Big Green were the textbook definition of a tough out last season. They were the only team to beat Cornell in league play, rallied from a game down to get past Clarkson in the conference semifinals, beat Harvard on the road in the semifinals and secured an NCAA berth by finishing the season on a 13-3 run. … Just about everyone is back from that team, including leading scorer Dumais (18-20-38); team MVP Foley, who put up 17-15-32 totals; defensive pillar Nanji; and Holdcroft, who was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Tournament team.
HARVARD CRIMSON
Last season: 17-11-4 (14-5-3 ECAC, second)
Who’s gone: Leanna Coskren (D), Liza Ryabkina (F), Kate Buesser (F)
Who’s back: Jillian Dempsey (F), Katharine Chute (F), Josephine Pucci (D), Marissa Gedman (D), Laura Bellamy (G)
Outlook: The Crimson put themselves in a tough spot last season with a rough first half against an unapologetic schedule. Even finishing 11-4-2 left them just off the postseason bubble. … A stroug group of returners is led by Dempsey and Pucci (Pearl River, N.Y.), who should be among the best at their positions in the league. … Harvard will be looking for stronger goaltending. Bellamy started 29 of 32 games but finished with a save percentage of just .895. The other goalies on the roster are sophomore Lauren Joarnt and freshman Tiana Press, a prep school star in Minnesota.
PRINCETON TIGERS
Last season: 16-14-1 (13-8-1 ECAC, fourth)
Who’s gone: Sasha Sherry (D)
Who’s back: Olivia Mucha (F), Sally Butler (F), Denna Laing (F), Paula Romanchuk (F), Corey Stearns (F), Rachel Weber (G), Gabie Figueroa (D)
Outlook: The Tigers will be aiming for another top-four finish with five of their top six scorers returning, a group headlined by Mucha (9-12-21) and Butler (9-10-19), and one that also includes Laing, Romanchuk and Stearns. … That said, defense was the main reason for the Tigers’ strong league record. Weber was solid (1.77 GAA, .931 save percentage) and the team’s 1.97 goals allowed average was third-best in the league. … Ironically, the biggest loss will be felt on defense, where Sherry (8-11-19), the program’s first All-American, heads to the U.S. national team.
QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS
Last season: 22-12-3 (12-9-1 ECAC, fifth)
Who’s gone: Kelley Davies (F)
Who’s back: Kelly Babstock (F), Erica Uden Johansson (F), Kate Wheeler (F), Brittany Lyons (F), Bethany Dymarczyk (D), Victoria Vigilanti (G)
Outlook: The Bobcats reached the league tournament semifinals for the first time and took eventual champ Cornell to the wire, losing 4-3. … Quinnipiac returns its top nine scorers, including sophomore sniper Babstock, who was ECAC Player of the Year after putting up 30 goals and 58 points. … Wheeler, Uden Johansson, Lyons and Dymarczyk also topped the 20-point mark last year. … The other end of the ice is in good hands with goalie Victoria Vigilanti, who posted a .932 save percentage as a sophomore after leading Division 1 (.950) as a freshman.
RENSSELAER ENGINEERS
Last season: 10-18-7 (8-12-2 ECAC, tied for eighth)
Who’s gone: Sonya van der Bliek (G)
Who’s back: Alisa Harrison (F), Taylor Horton (F), Jordan Smelker (F), Sierra Vadner (D), Andie Le Donne (D)
Outlook: RPI had issues at both ends last season. The team’s average of 1.80 goals was fourth-worst in the league and the save percentage of their goalie (.895) ranked dead last. Nonetheless, van der Bliek was named team MVP. After junior Shannon Ramelot, who started four games last season, no goalie on the roster has played a minute of college hockey. Freshman Kelly O’Brien and graduate student Alicia Miksic are the others. … The good news is that just about everyone else is back, including Smelker, a sophomore winger who recorded 10-9-19 totals. … Le Donne is the anchor of a veteran defense that returns almost everyone.
ST. LAWRENCE SAINTS
Last season: 16-18-2 (11-11-0 ECAC, seventh)
Who’s gone: Maxie Weisz (G)
Who’s back: Kelly Sabatine (F), Brooke Fernandez (D), Vanessa Emond (F), Alley Bero (F), Michelle Ng (F)
Outlook: The Saints might not be quite good enough to win the league this season, but they should as entertaining as anyone, especially offensively, where Sabatine, Emond and Fernandez combined for 36-50-86 scoring totals. … The only goalie on the roster with experience is sophomore Caitlyn Lahonen, who saw action in 14 games last season as a backup and posted a .905 save percentage behind Weisz. She’ll be pushed by touted freshman Carmen MacDonald, who won a pair of New England prep titles at Westminster School and gold with the Canada Under-18 team in the 2010 Women’s World Championship.
UNION DUTCHWOMEN
Last season: 2-29-3 (1-19-2 ECAC, 12th)
Who’s gone: Perri Maduri (D)
Who’s back: Kate Gallagher (G), Maddy Norton (D)
Outlook: No surprise that Gallagher was named team MVP last season. Only one goalie in the league saw more rubber and her .916 save percentage was a reminder that things could have been even worse. … Bigger problems were on offense, where the Dutchwomen managed just 33 goals all season, fewer than one a game. … Norton was named the team’s top rookie after logging 33 games as a freshman. … Gallagher figures to get pushed by freshman Shenae Lundberg, who four times attended USA Hockey’s Under-18 development camp and was among the best prep goalies in New England at Deerfield Academy.
YALE BULLDOGS
Last season: 9-17-3 (8-12-2 ECAC, tied for eighth)
Who’s gone: Jackee Snikeris (G), Bray Ketchum (F)
Who’s back: Aleca Hughes (F), Jackie Raines (F), Heather Grant (D)
Outlook: The Bulldogs lacked punch a year ago, averaging just 1.79 goals and relying heavily on since-graduated Snikeris in goal to keep them in games. Senior Genny Ladiges posted respectable numbers in eight starts in net, while the team is high on incoming freshman Jaimie Leonoff. … Jackie Raines was Yale’s top scorer as a freshman (9-10-19) and senior Aleca Hughes will serve as team captain. … The entirety of last year’s season was played in the shadow of the illness of senior center Marci Schwartz, who passed away from acute myeloid leukemia April 3. “Our whole program has shown so much strength and resilience,” Hughes said.
This article originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of New York Hockey Journal. Mike Zhe can be reached at mzhe@nyhockeyjournal.com
