Through the first few weekends of the men's hockey season in the Eastern College Athletic Confer-ence, nothing seems to be working according to plan.
Perennial league doormat Union College is leading the ECAC with six points and debuted in the national polls for the first time this week on the strength of Brandon Snee's spectacular goaltending.
Yale, a team that usually finishes in the middle of the ECAC pack, has already knocked off two of the top three teams in the country — Boston College and New Hamp-shire.
...These two teams, however, are not the only surprises in the early weeks of the season.
Princeton is also making its mark — through today, the Tigers are the only team in the country that has not yet suffered a loss.
Princeton has compiled a 1-0-3 record (0-0-2 ECAC) through its first two weekends, including a pair of 4-4 ties last weekend against Clarkson — the team that knocked the Tigers out of last year's ECAC tournament — and preseason favorite St. Law-rence.
Up to the challenge
"Last weekend we showed that we can play with anyone," senior forward Ethan Doyle said. "It would have been nice to hold on to the wins, but the guys are reasonably happy."
Now Princeton takes to the road for the first time this season to face Vermont (2-2-0 overall, 2-0-0 ECAC) tonight and Dartmouth (1-3-0, 1-1-0) tomorrow.
The Tigers lost, 6-4, to the Catamounts last year in the teams' only meeting. Vermont never made the trip back down to Baker Rink after its season was cancelled Jan. 14. The school ended the Catamounts' year due to a hazing scandal that shook the program and college hockey in general.
Vermont has come back strong after the disastrous end to last season, however, sweeping its first conference weekend with a 5-3 win over Harvard and a 6-1 drubbing of Brown.
Ranked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll — one spot ahead of the Tigers — Vermont is something of an unknown this season. Led on offense by J.F. Caudron, who has already racked up four goals while only playing in three of the Catamounts' four games, and a strong defense including steady goalie Andrew Grant, Vermont could surprise a lot of teams this season.
The loud and very partisan crowd at Gutterson Fieldhouse could be an important unknown this weekend against a young Tiger squad.
"It's always a lot of fun to play up there," Doyle said. "It's a great environment, and they always have a small, skilled team to play against."
New and improved
Dartmouth has an improved team, which is anchored by a strong junior class including forward Mike Maturo who is leading the team with four points in the Big Green's first two conference games — a 4-3 overtime win against Brown and a 5-2 loss to Harvard.
The Tigers will have to attack goalie Nick Boucher who has struggled this season, only saving 87 percent of the shots he has faced and allowing more than four goals per game.
"Since we're a young team I think we learned some lessons last weekend about how to play," Doyle said. "We did what we needed to early, but we let it get away a little at the end."
So far this season Princeton has come out hard in all of its contests and played an exciting brand of hockey that has kept it on its perch as the only unbeaten team. Now, as the Tigers take to the road for the first time, they must show if they have what it takes to remain a contender in the ECAC.
"Our unbeaten streak really doesn't mean anything, but it's kind of a neat thing to keep us motivated," Doyle said.
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