For the last three years, the men's hockey team has won its first-round Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff series and made the trip to Lake Placid, N.Y., for the semifinals.
To make it back for a fourth straight year, Princeton (10-14-4 overall, 8-9-4 ECAC) will have to break an even more impressive streak.
Clarkson (15-14-3, 9-8-3), whom Princeton will face in the first round, has won its first-round series for the past 10 seasons and has appeared in the championship game for the last three of those. Such a great history does not scare the Tigers, however, who come into the game playing some of their best hockey of the season.
"We're a young team this season and have had a tough job finding ourselves as a team, but the kids have done a great job of coming together," head coach Don Cahoon said. "Even though we didn't get a tie and home ice last weekend, it was a great experience for the guys."
Clarkson is also hitting its stride come playoff time. After a terrible start to the season in which it sat in tenth place coming into the New Year and was in danger of not even making the playoffs, the Golden Knights have starting playing the sort of hockey that earned them the top ranking in the ECAC preseason poll. Clarkson has won its last five ECAC contests — four of which were on the road.
That road streak will not matter this weekend as the Tigers' 5-3 loss to Cornell Saturday night sends Princeton up to Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y., a notoriously tough place to play. The Golden Knights have never lost a playoff game at home, and dominated the Tigers, 5-2, when the two teams met Feb. 4.
Palestra
"It's really a hostile environment with the fans up there," sophomore goalie Dave Stathos said. "You have to look at it one game at a time. Since they've never lost in the playoff games you just have to tell yourself that you have to win one before you can win two."
Open ice will be hard to find as both teams play a tough, grinding style of hockey. That will put scoring at a premium for both sides as a low-scoring series is probable.
The Golden Knights will bring out one of the top players in the league in forward Eric Cole, who led the team with 17 goals and 29 points this year. Cole is always a threat on the ice and was able to rack up good numbers on a team that does not like to open up the ice.
"You have to be aware when Cole is on the ice," Cahoon said. "We have to anticipate when his line is going to be out there and make sure we have experienced guys out there with him."
Princeton will respond with its more balanced attack, with four players who have tallied more than 20 points this season. This group is made up of junior forwards Kirk Lamb and Chris Corrinet, senior forward Benoit Morin and sophomore forward Brad Parsons — the only Tiger with over 10 goals.
This balance will help the Tigers as they will not have to rely on one player to carry the whole offensive load in what will be a physical series.
"They're an aggressive team and they grind well in the corners. But, if you asked them about us I'm sure they'd say the same thing," Cahoon said. "If we don't go to battle and stand up to them, they'll own the ice."
Between the pipes
The one area in which the Tigers do hold the experience advantage is in the net. Stathos, with his close to two years of experience, will match up against freshman Karl Mattson, who after transferring during the season started in only his second month of collegiate action.
"We expect to see Mattson in goal," Cahoon said. "We just have to be able to generate chances against their untested area."
If the Tigers are to win this weekend, they will stay in upstate New York in preparation for the Final Five the next weekend.
"We're hoping to get to Lake Placid to get isolated and be ready for the final couple games," Stathos said. "We're going on a journey."
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