Men's hockey fighting for ECAC playoff spot

With only three weekends left in the season, the Princeton men's hockey team has its work cut out if it wants to finish in the top five and win home ice advantage for the playoffs. After losing to Cornell Friday and tying Colgate Saturday, the Tigers (7-15-1 overall, 6-9-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) dropped from their middle-of-the-pack position to 10th in the 12-team conference. The only teams behind Princeton are Yale and Vermont.

As has been the case in recent years, the ECAC has witnessed a volatile race this season. The only team that has been pretty consistent all season has been the No. 1 Big Red, currently at 13 wins, two losses, and one tie. They swept the Tigers this season, winning by a combined score of 9-1. Cornell is also ranked nationally, occupying the seventh spot on both the U.S. College Hockey Online Poll and the USA Today American Hockey poll.

Harvard, Clarkson, and Colgate all also received votes on the USA Today poll, rounding out the top four teams among the ECAC. Tied with Colgate at the fourth spot is Dartmouth, both with 18 points. The Tigers face the Big Green next weekend and then finish the season by hosting the Crimson.

This weekend comes first, and Princeton once again faces off against Rensselaer (12-10-4, 6-7-3) and Union (11-9-6, 6-7-3). The two games will be in Hobey Baker Rink on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both of these teams are currently tied for sixth place, having earned 15 points on the season. The Tigers, on the other hand, have 13 points. While ranked 10th, a win in both games this weekend could put the Tigers back into a position to possibly win home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

If Princeton pulls off two wins this weekend, it will do something it has not yet done all season—sweep an entire weekend. Such a sweep would go a long way towards boosting the team's morale. With only six more chances to improve their sub- .500 record, the Tigers are in need of something to light a fire under their collective tails.

On the weekend of Dec. 7-8, Princeton embarked on its road trip for the first showdowns with both the Skating Dutchmen and the Engineers. At that point, the Tigers, Union and RPI were all in the same boat—they needed to make up points.

Similarly for this weekend, all three teams are looking to jump into the top third of the ECAC, and once again, the Tigers will face two very similar teams. But the team's inconsistent play haunted them last time, losing the game to Union, then coming back to hand RPI a big defeat.

With Princeton now a healthier team than earlier in the season, the team has slowly been able to find the offensive power that it had been missing all season. With scoring explosions like those against St. Lawrence, in which the Tigers won 5-2, and against Colgate, in which the Tigers led 3-1 before the Raiders tallied two more for the tie.

Taking the lead for the most goals on the season for Princeton is senior forward David Del Monte. He also leads the team in total points with 20 (eight goals and 12 assists). Behind him is junior forward George Parros, with six goals and nine assists, 15 total points. Coming in third is senior forward Brad Parsons, who has contributed to the team with seven assists and four goals.

Another important aspect to the Tigers' ability to put together a sweep this weekend will be the play of senior goaltender Dave Stathos. Princeton's defense depends on Stathos to set the tempo of the game. If he is a brick wall in goal, then the Tigers can push forward on offense.

With a .909 save percentage, the senior netminder has already proven himself as an excellent goalie. Yet the Tigers must control both ends of the ice in order for them to be successful. Their opponents have taken nearly 200 more shots on goal than the Tigers have.

In order to finally be able to sweep an entire weekend, Princeton is going to need all its individual components working together for six straight periods. If it can produce that this weekend, the Tigers may still have a chance at home-ice advantage for the playoffs.