Harvard, Brown losses extend men's hockey's losing streak to eight games

After dropping two more games this weekend, the men's hockey team earned a rematch. The Tigers again play an opponent that has plagued them for a month, buzzing like a gnat around their heads. They need a win, but first they need to overcome one nuisance: themselves.

With a 4-3 loss to Harvard (9-8-1 overall, 8-4-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) on Friday and a 5-3 backbreaker to Brown (3-10-2, 2-8-2) the following day, the Tiger losing streak has climbed to eight games. More than the all-important points Princeton (5-11-3, 4-6-2) hoped to earn this weekend, these games were an opportunity for the Tigers to escape from a month-long funk that has seen them lose too many one-goal games.

"I don't know if this was a must-win," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said, "but right now we just need a W."

Going into a two-week break because of finals, Princeton needed to take at least one of these two games to prove to themselves that they can still win. The effort and sense of urgency showed in Friday's contest against the ECAC-leading Crimson, as the Tigers jumped out to a quick 2-0 first-period lead.

To start the scoring, freshman left wing Chris Owen slammed home a pass from sophomore linemate George Parros for his first career goal eight minutes, 22 seconds into the game. A little more than three minutes later, junior defender Dave Schneider beat Crimson goalkeeper Oliver Jonas with a high slapshot, and the Tigers seemed to be back on track.

Everything fell apart in the next stanza, however, when Harvard capitalized on special teams and Tiger lapses to score four goals to only one for Princeton and take a 4-3 lead. In that stretch, the Crimson scored in 5-on-3, 4-on-4 and 5-on-5 situations, but the real bullet to the heart was the final goal of the game.

"With a [league second-best] power play like theirs, we knew special teams was going to be a big part of this game," Quesnelle said.

With the score knotted at three late in the second, Princeton faced a power-play opportunity. But instead of allowing the Tigers to take advantage of the extra-man, Harvard stole the puck and countered with a short-handed 2-on-1 run to the goal. Sophomore blueliner Neil McCann was the only Tiger back and as he approached junior netminder Dave Stathos' crease, he went down to the ice to cut off the pass. Crimson center Dominic Moore then kept the puck for himself, deftly skated around Stathos to the stick-side and put the puck in the back of the net for the game-winning goal.

"This was a game we could have won," senior right wing Chris Corrinet said. "But we've been saying that for a month now."

On Saturday, Princeton switched from playing the top dog to the cellar dweller, as it took on the lowly Bears.

"This was a gritty game," senior left wing Shane Campbell said. "Both teams are in search of who they are."

In that search, Brown found a win by working hard and out-hustling the Tigers. Despite several defensive lapses that allowed wide-open men in the middle to score for the Bears, Princeton held on to a 3-3 tie midway through the third period. Again, the Tigers could not hold on and Brown center Tye Korbl fielded a pass from left wing Doug Janievich to take the lead with 2:04 remaining in the game. Brown went on to clinch the win with a late empty-net goal.

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Now Princeton faces a long layoff without a chance to regain its winning ways. During that stretch, the Tigers will need to find themselves and eliminate the mental fatigue that has pestered them for more than a month and dropped them to sixth in the ECAC.

"We have to regroup and come back with a fresh attitude," Campbell said.

If they can do that, they should get a couple of quick wins to keep them in the hunt for the title, while also boosting morale in time for the playoffs. But to get there, they must first defeat the virus that plagues them from within.