Men's hockey gets chance to avenge early-season loss to RPI

Rensselaer came into Baker Rink to play the men's hockey team Dec. 9 and left as 6-2 victors over a slow-to-arrive Princeton team. The Engineers jumped all over the lethargic Tigers early, scoring four goals in the first period, and although Princeton played better in the following periods, it could not dig itself out of the hole.

After the loss, a visibly disturbed Kirk Lamb, forward and the Tigers' senior captain, said, "You've got to be ready to play. Twenty guys, three periods, 60 minutes."

The frustration for Princeton boiled over in the third period against the Engineers, when the Tigers received a collective total of 62 penalty minutes, dished out after a brawl involving nearly every player on the ice. Rensselaer also picked up 48 minutes of penalty time in the fracas.

Princeton (7-13-3 overall, 6-8-2 Eastern College Athletic Conference) has a chance for redemption tonight against the Engineers (13-11-2, 7-7-2) in Troy, N.Y. Tomorrow, the Tigers head to Schenectady, N.Y. to take on Union College (10-13-3, 6-9-1) in another key conference matchup.

Princeton is looking forward to playing the Engineers again. Rensselaer keeps opponents off balance with potent scoring and plays in a very large rink, which could pose problems for the Tigers. But Princeton remains confident in its chances.

"They came in here and embarrassed us here at home," Lamb said. "And we'll try and do it to them. I think that we can beat [Rensselaer]."

If the Tigers are to pick up crucial points this weekend, Princeton must begin playing with more consistency. Over the last two weekends, the Tigers have beaten the then-ECAC leader (St. Lawrence and Cornell, respectively) on Friday, only to fall to lesser opponents on Saturday (Clarkson and Colgate).

"Every player needs to look at what they're doing on Friday to get ready for Saturday," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said. "If we knew what the problem was, we would have fixed it. We've tried a few things. We want to get more of a jump and make sure that fatigue's not a factor."

If Princeton can find a way to win consistently, it has a shot to rise significantly in the ECAC standings. But if the Tigers slip a little, they could easily find themselves on the outside of the playoffs, looking in.

"We can still get home ice, especially if we can get four points this weekend," Quesnelle said.

"It's a critical weekend for us," Lamb said. "We're one of four teams fighting for three playoff spots, and [tenth-place] Union is another. It's do or die."

For that matter, Princeton trails Rensselaer by just two points, and the Engineers are currently tied for sixth in the conference, while the Tigers are in a tie for eighth. Ten teams advance to the ECAC playoff tournament.

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Against the Dutchmen, Princeton faces a very different challenge.

"These two teams are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, in terms of the size of their rinks and also their style of play," Quesnelle said.

While Rensselaer's ice surface is huge, Union's home ice is one of the league's smallest. In such close quarters, the Dutchmen can make their living based on physical play.

Princeton jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, and held on to beat Union Dec. 8 by a final score of 3-2. The Dutchmen were ranked No. 11 in the country at that time but lost eight straight ECAC games later in the year and now are fighting for their playoff lives.

The Tigers were on the verge of dropping out of the playoff chase a few weeks ago, when they had lost eight straight before reading period and exams. But after the long break, the Tigers knocked off St. Lawrence, and have since appeared to have righted the ship.

"Taking two out of four [games] after exams is OK," Quesnelle said. "Now the key is to put together back-to-back wins."

If Princeton is to do just that, it must find a way to play two solid games in one weekend and also defeat two opponents with very different rinks and styles of play.