Winners of five in a row, the Princeton women’s hockey team will put that streak on the line this week when they head to a pair of top-15 opponents in Colgate and Cornell.
at Colgate, Fri., Dec. 5, 6 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int’l Video | Live Stats
at Cornell, Sat., Dec. 6, 3 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int’l Video | Live Stats
Winning streak: Princeton’s five-game winning run is its longest since an eight-game streak around this time last season, from Nov. 27, 2024 to Jan. 10, 2025.
Rankings: In the Dec. 1 USCHO poll, Princeton checked in at No. 11 while Colgate was No. 14 and Cornell was No. 8. In the Dec. 2 USA Hockey poll, Princeton was No. 11, Colgate No. 15 and Cornell No. 8.
Stat rankings: Through Nov. 30, Princeton was ninth in the nation in scoring defense, at 1.85 goals allowed per game, and in team GAA, at 1.827. Princeton’s top-50 individual stat rankings included Emerson O’Leary with 142 faceoff wins (46th), Issy Wunder with a 10th-best three game-winning goals and Jane Kuehl with a 21st-best two goals, Uma Corniea with a ninth-best two shutouts, 16th-best 2.011 GAA, 15th-best .931 save percentage, and an 18th-best .556 winning percentage, and Mackenzie Alexander with an 16th-best three power-play goals and 18th in points per game at 1.23.
In Colgate, Princeton will be taking on a team ranked sixth in the nation in total goals (56), ninth in power-play goals (14), and 13th in power-play percentage (.230). Individually, the Raiders have the No. 8-ranked player in goals per game, with Emma Pais at 0.72. In Cornell, Princeton will be taking on the nation’s No. 1-ranked power-play unit, scoring 37.7 percent of the time, and fifth-best PKU, blanking 89.7 percent of opponents’ chances on the advantage. Cornell is also No. 4 in the nation in faceoff wins, taking the draw 58 percent of the time, and is fifth in scoring defense, at 1.64 goals per game allowed. Netminder Annelies Bergmann has been a standout in net, holding a fourth-best .942 save percentage, a sixth-best 1.557 GAA, and a sixth-best .750 winning percentage.
The head coach: Princeton is under Courtney Kessel, who is in her first year leading the program but not her first year behind the Tiger bench, having served as an assistant coach with the Tigers for four seasons from 2019-23, helping the team to the ECAC Tournament title in her first year in 2020. Kessel was at Princeton under Cara Morey, who became the GM of the PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes in 2025, with Kessel then succeeding her at Princeton. Before returning to Princeton, Kessel was the first head coach of the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, leading the league’s Boston franchise for two seasons, including a trip to the Walter Cup finals in 2024. Kessel and husband Blake Kessel are both New Hampshire alums, with Blake Kessel’s hockey career taking him to the AHL between 2011 and 2017. Kessel’s brother-in-law, Phil Kessel, was an NHLer from 2006-23, with Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Vegas, and her sister-in-law, Amanda Kessel, is a three-time Olympic medalist with Team USA.
History with the Raiders and the Big Red: Post pandemic pause, Colgate has been a tough opponent for the Tigers, with the Raiders going 10-2-1 against Princeton since 2021. The teams have met in the ECAC quarterfinals in two of the last three seasons, with Colgate winning both series. Princeton’s last win over Colgate was last November, a 4-3 overtime decision at Baker Rink, and the Tigers’ last win over Colgate in Hamilton was the opening game of the 2023 ECAC quarterfinal series, which the Raiders took in three games. Colgate has won the last three meetings. After Princeton beat Cornell in the 2020 ECAC Tournament championship game at Lynah Rink, the Big Red have gone 6-1-2 against Princeton, with the Tigers’ last win over Cornell coming in November 2023, 4-3 at Lynah. Cornell has won the three meetings since.
On offense: Mackenzie Alexander and Issy Wunder have led the Tigers on the attack, with the sophomore Alexander leading the team with nine goals, seven assists and 16 points. Senior captain Wunder is right behind with six goals and six helpers for 12 points. Alexander is on a five-game point-scoring streak, scoring seven points (4G, 3A) during the win streak. Wunder is also on a five-game point streak, also scoring seven points (2G, 5A) during the winning run.
Between the pipes: Princeton has used three netminders this year, with Uma Corniea playing just more than two-thirds of the minutes and holding a team-best .931 save percentage. Taylor Hyland has played just less than a quarter of the minutes and has a team-best 1.97 GAA, just ahead of Corneia’s 2.01.
Holiday break: Princeton will be away from competition until 2026 comes around, with a visit from Stonehill to Baker Rink on Jan. 2 and 3, and ECAC play will resume the following weekend with a trip to the New York capital region for Union and RPI.
