Trenton's Sovereign Bank Arena to give men's hockey taste of big time

Princeton's Baker Rink, home to the men's and women's ice hockey teams, holds just 2,092 screaming fans. Though the rink is small by any standard, its lack of size makes it cozy and intimate. The rink also traps sound, making it a loud setting for a hockey game.

Trenton's Sovereign Bank Arena, home to the Trenton Titans of the East Coast Hockey League, holds just a few — say, 6,000 — more.

The Trenton arena seats 8,100 for hockey games, and rocks in comparison to Baker Rink. Or at least the Tigers hope. When the men's hockey team, whose biggest crowd this season has been a fire-hazard 2,272 during the Dec. 1 Cornell game, faces off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Dec. 29, it will hear what 8,000 screaming fans sound like.

Princeton (4-9-0 overall, 4-6-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) faces off against Notre Dame on Dec. 28 at Baker Rink before it travels down Rte. 1 to Trenton the next night to cap off the doubleheader. A week later the team travels to Ohio to play Bowling Green in a two-night stand, Jan. 4 and 5.

Despite being non-conference games, the team's four contests during the Christmas Break provide respite from the pressures of ECAC action and test the Tigers against two of the nation's most respected ice hockey programs.

The Tigers last played Notre Dame two seasons ago, when they swept the Fighting Irish in a doubleheader in South Bend, Ind. The Tigers hope to keep their 9-0 record against Notre Dame alive in this doubleheader.

The last time the two teams met, Princeton came home with two nice presents, 4-3 and 4-2 victories against the Irish. Senior captain David Schneider was the hero in the first game when his slap shot from the point broke the tie with five minutes remaining in the game. The next night senior goaltender Dave Stathos, a sophomore at the time, made a then-career high 38 saves to earn the win.

Despite recent luck with Notre Dame, the Irish are always a challenge. Notre Dame brings a 5-7-4 record into the game, with a conference record of 5-4-3. That is good for 13 points and a tie for fourth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, which is very respectable, considering that the CCHA ranks as one of the toughest conferences in college hockey. Michigan St. — No. 4 in the country — Michigan (No. 9), and Ohio St. (No. 12) are all members of the league. The Irish have yet to play Michigan St. or Michigan, but went 0-1-1 against the Buckeyes.

Junior center Connor Dunlop, captain of the 2000-01 USA Junior National Team, and senior captain David Inman, a 1999 2nd-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, are third and sixth in the CCHA in points, respectively, and will test both the Tiger defenders and Stathos.

Against Bowling Green, also members of the CCHA, the team has had less luck. The Tigers lost both matches to the Falcons last season, 8-3 and 5-0. Bowling Green's size, strength, and goaltending proved too much in those games.

The Falcons, with just a 5-9-4 record — and a 4-8-2 in-conference record — are coming off a two-game split against the Irish. Their 10 points place them second-to-last in the CCHA — six points ahead cellar-dweller Lake Superior. The team was run over by Michigan St. in early November and started the season out slowly, but has bounced back with seven points in the last four weeks.

The Falcons' season is strikingly similar to Princeton's, with both teams struggling against in-conference opponents. The best both teams have gained from weekend doubleheaders against conference opponents is a win, or two points. Neither team has swept a weekend this season.

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The Tigers hope to sweep these two weekends, which would be a nice holiday present and promising start to the 2002 campaign after mediocre and inconsistent play in the first half of this season.