Men's hockey executes well; splits weekend with conference foes

Maybe the men's hockey team has finally turned the proverbial corner. For several weeks, talk about solid team intensity, great effort and a high level of play has filled the locker room. But the talk has not been translating into wins.

Last weekend, the Tigers (8-16-1 overall, 7-10-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) split games with conference foes Rensselaer (14-10-4, 8-7-3) and Union (12-10-6, 7-8-3), despite dominating much of both contests.

On Friday, Princeton got off to its quickest start of the season, as senior forward Josh Roberts converted on a rebound chance just 26 seconds into the game. The Tigers, however, were not able to hold on to the lead as two key defensive breakdowns led to two first period Engineer goals.

In the second period, Princeton peppered RPI netminder Nathan Marsters, putting 17 shots on goal in the period. Marsters was up to the task, however, and the Tigers failed to get on the scoreboard.

In the third, Princeton registered two more goals, though the team never got within striking distance of Rensselaer. Freshman forward Neil Stevenson-Moore cut the lead to 4-2 with his goal at 3:20 and senior forward Brad Parsons later scored a power play goal to close the gap to the final 5-3.

For the third game in a row, the Tigers let a strong effort go by the wayside.

"I felt we carried the play for much of the game," head coach Len Quesnelle said. "We had chances and a bunch of shots, but we weren't getting the good chances in front of the net that we want."

In fact, Princeton outshot the Engineers 40-19, but many of those shots were from the perimeter. After Roberts' rebound goal, the Tigers failed to keep up the pressure around the net and settled for many low-percentage shots from just inside the blue line.

On the other end of the ice, RPI was able to put in five goals on just 19 shots.

"We had a lot of defensive breakdowns," senior defender David Schneider said. "They scored four of their goals off of our turnovers. We can't let teams have those kinds of opportunities."

On Saturday against Union, Princeton seemed to show a different kind of resolve after opening up slowly.

"I think the team was frustrated [about the RPI game] and it showed," Quesnelle said. "We came out flat."

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After going into the first intermission down 1-0, the Tigers, led by Parsons, came out on fire in the second. The team was able to capitalize on two power play opportunities, as Parsons netted a pair of goals to give Princeton its first lead of the game. The goals were Parsons' third and fourth power play goals in three games.

"The power play is really igniting this team," Schneider said. "In the past, we haven't been able to capitalize at all. But two weeks ago it started clicking, and it has really given us a boost."

"Guys are just getting in good spots now," Quesnelle added. "We now have more confidence on the power play, and that is giving us more confidence in other aspects."

Princeton added two more goals in the third before the Skating Dutchmen tacked on a late goal to make it 4-2.

Freshman forward Luc Paquin finished the game with three assists and four for the weekend. For his efforts, Paquin was named ECAC Rookie-of-the-Week.

Following Saturday's win, the team seemed relieved and thankful to add one to the win column.

"We executed in both games, but we were finally able to limit our turnovers and mistakes against Union," Quesnelle said. "If we can continue to do that, this team can make special things happen come playoff time."