Men's hockey goes 1-0-1 to open Quesnelle era

At Baker Rink on Saturday night, the key word for the men's hockey team was "new."

Last year's head coach Don Cahoon was no longer barking orders from behind the bench. In his place was long-time assistant Len Quesnelle '88. Seven freshmen were in the lineup, while senior forward Chris Corrinet and senior defenseman Jason Dillow were the only members of the Class of 2001 represented. The Tigers were even suited up in new uniforms for the season.

The one thing that hasn't changed is the winning tradition of Tiger hockey.

Princeton (1-0-1 overall) started out its season with a 3-1 win over Niagara on Friday night followed by a 1-1 tie with the Purple Eagles (1-4-3) the next evening.

This was a successful first weekend for Quesnelle behind the bench. When asked the biggest difference between being an assistant and a head coach, he responded, "I used to still have my voice on Saturday night."

Like player, like coach

The former standout defenseman for the Tigers showed some of the same tenacity that earned him all-league honors during his career as a Tiger player.

"I didn't feel nervous, but I feel like I played the game tonight," Quesnelle said following his first win.

The Tigers battled hard to earn Quesnelle his first victory as senior forward Ethan Doyle, junior forward Josh Roberts and junior forward Brad Parsons each notched a goal.

Doyle started the scoring with just five seconds left in the first period off assists from junior defenseman Dave Bennett and sophomore forward George Parros. Niagara would bounce back right after the period break, however, as Hannu Karru knocked a rebound past junior goalie Dave Stathos 36 seconds into the second stanza.

Parsons would then put the Tigers ahead, taking a pass from Corrinet early in the third period and stuffing the shot past Niagara goalie Scott Lindsay.

"It was key to break the ice with a win tonight, especially for a lot of the younger guys," Stathos said.

Stathos was solid in net, making 30 saves and solidifying his place as the Tigers' top goalie.

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Roberts added an empty-net goal late in the game to put Princeton ahead for good.

The win was a costly one, however, as the Tigers lost senior defenseman Peter Zavodny with a separated shoulder and also lost Doyle for the weekend to an injury. Princeton was also missing senior forward Kirk Lamb with a sprained knee and senior Shane Campbell, who had a death in the family.

"It's hard not having all of the senior leadership," Corrinet said. "But I think all the guys learned something about the team this weekend."

The young Tiger squad showed its inexperience Saturday night, making numerous early mistakes, including a pair of penalties for having too many men on the ice in the first 10 minutes of the game. Princeton was being dominated, and at one point in the second period had been outshot, 18-1. However, sophomore goalie Nate Nomeland was up to the challenge, allowing only one goal and making a total of 29 saves on the evening.

Going into the third period, the Tigers were still only losing 1-0. Then the freshman class showed that it is beginning to adjust to college hockey.

Freshman center Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer fed an outlet ahead to classmate and left wing Dan Hursh, who broke in alone on Lindsay and flipped a shot through Niagra's Rob Bonk's legs to tie the score at 1-1.

"I just tried to go backhand and slide it between his legs," Hursh said. "We didn't come out with much intensity tonight, but it was good to get a tie."

The young Tigers must come together soon as they face Clarkson and St. Lawrence at home next weekend in what is traditionally one of the toughest weekends in Eastern College Athletic Conference action.