There's an old adage that says that a good defense always beats a good offense. Or is it that a good offense always beats a good defense? Or maybe, "One bird off fence worth two in 'de fence."
Whatever the saying, the men's hockey team will find out the real answer tomorrow night when it travels to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Cornell. And it will attempt to prove that its offense is able to crack the seemingly impenetrable Big Red defense.
"Cornell has a very big, strong and physical team," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said. "They play really tight defensively."
Six games into the young Eastern College Athletic Conference season, Princeton (3-2-3 overall, 2-2-2 ECAC) leads the league in goals, netting 22 to average 3.67 per game. Correspondingly, three of the league's top scorers are Tiger forwards: senior right wing Kirk Lamb leads the league in assists and total points with 10 and 12, respectively, while senior right wing Chris Corrinet is tops in goals with six. He and junior left wing Brad Parsons are tied for third in total points with nine apiece.
Matching this high offensive output is a similarly high goal allowance, as the Tiger defense has seen 16 goals hit the back of the net. So far this season, Princeton has rewarded the audience with high-power, high-scoring games, outscoring its opponents just enough to currently be tied for third in the league.
Cornell (3-3-2, 2-1-1) sits exactly at the opposite end of the spectrum, scoring little and allowing even less. The Big Red goals-for to goals-against ratio speaks for itself: Its offense has lit the lamp six times, while only five pucks have hit the back of the Cornell net. To stress this difference, look at the sheer numbers of GF-GA: Princeton's is 22-16, Cornell's 6-5.
Scrolling down the list of league point leaders, the first Big Red player is David Kozier, who is tied for 25th with four points. Glancing at the leading goaltenders, however, the first Cornell representative is easily spotted at the top of the list. Matt Underhill has minded the net in half of Cornell's four games, giving up one goal in the two contests and amassing a .976 save percentage. Though not necessarily the Big Red's go-to guy in goal, Underhill's success nonetheless proves the prowess of the Cornell defensive corps.
The stark difference in team play is equally apparent in man-advantage situations. While the Big Red power play has been vastly ineffective, converting only 10 percent of its 20 chances, Princeton has scored on a relatively high 31 percent of its man-up opportunities. On the other hand, the Tigers have given up seven goals in 36 instances of penalty-killing, while short-handed Cornell teams have allowed only one power-play goal in 21 chances.
Expectations
In tonight's game, Princeton faces a Colgate team that has struggled thus far. Last season's second-place ECAC team, the Red Raiders (2-8-2, 1-3-0) were predicted to finish third this season. One-goal losses to Harvard and Rensselaer have placed Colgate near the bottom of the league, but a potent offense could lead the way toward a turnaround of the season.
Red Raider left wing Scooter Smith is tied with Lamb for tops in the league with an average of two points per game, netting four goals to accompany four assists. Blueliner Cory Murphy adds to the attack with five assists from the back and seven total points.
"Murphy is clever and highly skilled coming out of the back," Quesnelle said.
The Tigers will attempt to continue their scoring touch by working and focusing on the basics.
"We want to keep our feet moving," Quesnelle said. "If we're not moving our feet, we're not working hard enough."
Princeton has proven that an offense-first mentality can win games. But with only a one-point deficit to the Tigers in the league standings, Cornell has shown that a defense-first attitude can work just as well.
"Something's going to give," Quesnelle said.
The two teams will find out on Saturday what happens when matter and anti-matter meet on the ice.
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