Late goal gives men's hockey win over Colgate, Cornell gets upper hand

A major problem for the men's ice hockey team this season has been scoring goals at moments in the game when it really counts. With the score tied in Friday's game against Colgate, the Tigers scored a goal halfway through the third period to take the lead and the eventual win, 2-1. Yet in Saturday's game against Cornell, with the game close through much of the first 40 minutes, the Tigers were unable to sneak one past Big Red goaltender Dave LeNeveu, and ended up allowing two third-period goals on top of two early goals to lose, 4-0.

The hero in Friday night's 2-1 win over Colgate was forward James Fitzpatrick. The freshman scored the unassisted game winner on the power play 11 minutes, 33 seconds into the third period, picking up a loose puck from the right corner and skating undefended toward the Colgate net. Fitzpatrick's power play goal broke Princeton's 0-for-23 slump on the power play, the last goal coming Nov. 17 in the Tigers' 5-4 win against Vermont.

"That late in the game, to get a goal off of hard work makes it all worth it," Fitzpatrick said.

The Tigers had their share of chances in this game. After putting just four shots on goal in the first period, Princeton exploded for 18 shots in the second period, one of which — freshman forward Neil Stevenson-Moore's slap shot from the right circle at 8:29 — beat Colgate's goalkeeper David Cann.

"Our second period was definitely our best period of the night," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said. "The difference in the period was that we skated in the offensive zone. When we move our feet we're effective."

Princeton's senior goaltender Dave Stathos also faced his fair share of shots, stopping 33 out of 34 — the lone goal coming off a rebound in the second period just as a Colgate power play expired—to get his third win of the season.

"Stathos was seeing everything coming at him," Quesnelle said. "When Dave's on, he's a good goaltender."

Stathos' finest moments of the game came in the final period. Eighteen seconds after Fitzpatrick's tie-breaking goal, sophomore defensemen Steve Slaton was whistled for an interference penalty; a minute later senior forward David Del Monte was thrown in the penalty box for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the referee whistled him for taking a dive during a scoring chance.

Stathos came up with a number of big saves during Colgate's 47-second 5-on-3 advantage — an initial save through a screen, then a slap-shot save, holding the rebound, and then a sprawling save off a shot that caromed off the back boards and back out through the Tigers' crease.

Princeton did what was necessary to win Friday night, but its inability to convert on opportunities Saturday night against No. 9 Cornell sealed its doom nearly from the start.

The Tigers had seven power plays in the game, including four in the first period alone. Nonetheless, Princeton was still outshot in the opening period, 15-5. The Big Red had two quick penalties at the beginning and end of the period, though Cornell seemed to be the ones man-up.

"We were panicking," Quesnelle said. "We didn't have much poise or patience on the power play."

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Cornell put one past Stathos in both the first and the second period, though Princeton was still very much in the game at the start of the third period.

The Tigers nearly closed the gap to one early in the period on a penalty kill, when junior forward George Parros was hit with a pass on a 2-on-1 to give him a nearly empty net. The six foot, five inch forward fanned on the shot, though. Minutes later Cornell scored its third goal, driving the Tigers out of contention.

Princeton was without senior captain Dave Schneider, sidelined with minor internal injuries suffered from a blocked-shot in Friday's win against Colgate, and senior Brad Parsons, who returned to the lineup for the first time Friday night since getting injured in the first game of the season but left the game after the first period.

"We weren't at our best in terms of personnel tonight," Quesenelle said. "[Cornell] owned us. We worked hard, but what we have right now is not enough. Maybe by the end of the season it will be."