CENTURY CLUB: Princeton University women’s hockey star Karlie Lund controls the puck in recent action. Last Saturday, junior star Lund picked up two assists in a 3-0 win over Yale, hitting the 100-point mark in her Princeton career. The Tigers, now 8-10-4 overall and 7-8-1 ECAC Hockey, are next in action when they play at Penn State on January 30 and face former head coach Jeff Kampersal. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

The Lund family from Minnesota made its annual sojourn to Baker Rink last weekend to cheer on its favorite player, Princeton University women’s hockey star Karlie Lund.

Wearing T-shirts made for the occasion and taping posters to the glass, the clan changed sections each period to be near the goal when junior forward Lund skated into the offensive zone.

Lund, for her part, drew extra inspiration from her special cheering section.

“It does fire me up. They have done so much for me,” said Lund, noting that the Minnesota contingent on hand included her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends as well as her parents and siblings.

“I always want to try to have my best game possible when they are here and just have fun with them. A couple times on the ice I waved to them and they loved it.”

Lund fired up the crowd on Friday against visiting Brown, assisting on two goals by former high school teammate and fellow Eden Prairie, Minn. resident Carly Bullock as the Tigers pulled away to a 4-0 win.

“Carly and I have been playing together forever,” said the 5’10 Lund.

“We can always find each other on the ice. We know how each other plays so it is real easy to play with her. I know if I can get her the puck that she is going to be able to find a way to score. We have a great connection.”

With Princeton leading 2-0 entering the third period against Brown, the Tigers seized control of the contest, outshooting the Bears 16-5 in the frame on the way to a pair of unanswered goals.

“Our team really focuses on conditioning in the preseason and throughout the season,” said Lund. “Generally we try to wear teams down and I think our third period is usually our best.”

A day later, Lund picked up two more assists in a 3-0 victory over Yale, hitting the 100-point mark in her career to provide a highlight in what has been an uneven campaign for her.

“It is not the season I wanted to have so far, but our team is winning now so I am happy with that,” said Lund, who now has 17 points on five goals and 12 assists after piling up 83 points on 38 goals and 45 assists in 66 games over her first two seasons. “There is still plenty of time; having the break at first is nice and then coming back. Hopefully from now on, we can keep things rolling.”

Princeton head coach Cara Morey is confident that Lund can get rolling.

“Lund has been a lot better since coming back from Christmas break, starting with the Boston University series,” said Morey, whose team is now 8-10-4 overall and 7-8-1 ECAC Hockey.

“We need her to be on for us to all be playing well. Her vision is extraordinary. She is really good at setting up Carly Bullock, they have chemistry. We need her going so Bullock can do what she does.”

Morey liked the way Tigers played down the stretch against Brown. “I felt we had a little bit of breathing room in the third period,” said Morey.

“We were working harder, we were on top of all loose pucks. We were getting good, quality scoring chances. In the third period we started to play a lot more like the Princeton Tigers.”

The Tiger defense showed its quality as sophomore goalie Steph Neatby posted back-to-back shutouts against the Bears and Bulldogs.

“It is a mental grind as much as it is a physical grind; they started to turn it on and started making the simpler plays and let the puck do the work and get their feet moving a little more than they were in the first period,” said Morey, noting that the Tigers had only four defensemen in action.

“We needed Neatby there to make those saves in the first or it would have been a different story. We need our goalie to give us a chance to win games and that is what she did.”

Getting the two wins last weekend was key for the Tigers, who are on exam break for the next two weeks.

“Yale and Brown are right behind us in the standings,” noted Morey, whose team is next in action when it plays at Penn State on January 30 and faces former head coach Jeff Kampersal. “We have to win the games we are supposed to win in order to make the playoffs.”

In Lund’s view, the Tigers are poised to make a solid playoff run. “It is such a young team, you can’t expect to come out and have everything perfect in your first couple of games,” said Lund.

“The freshmen are finding their way and all of our lines are clicking. We are getting goals from everyone so I think we are going to have a good roll here.”