Road blues: Men's hockey struggles on ECAC road trip, gets one point

In life, love and hockey, it's the little things that count.

The Princeton men's hockey team has made huge strides on both ends of the ice since the beginning of the season. Now, as they head into the season's stretch run, the Tigers will have to focus on the details of the game if they want to make a run in the playoffs.

Last weekend, Princeton (7-15-1 overall, 6-9-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) played strong, discliplined and aggressive hockey, but came out of the weekend with only one point, losing 5-1 to Cornell on Friday and skating to a 3-3 deadlock with Colgate on Saturday.

Friday's matchup with the Big Red (17-5-1, 13-2-1) was marked by tough bounces and missed opportunities. Just three minutes into the game, sophomore forward Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer took a pass from senior forward Brad Parsons and let a slapshot go. The puck beat Cornell goalie Matt Underhill only to deflect off the post into the corner. Cornell took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, as the Tigers were held scoreless despite putting ten shots on net.

The score was 3-0 before Princeton finally got on the board with seven minutes, 28 seconds left in the second period. Senior forward Josh Roberts tallied the Tigers' lone goal, as Parsons and senior defender David Schneider picked up assists.

As the clock ticked down, and the game was out of reach, Princeton knew it had played better than the scoreboard would reveal.

"It was an evenly matched game," Schneider said. "We had a lot of scoring chances, we just didn't capitalize on them. Cornell jumped on all of their opportunities."

"We just couldn't finish," Parsons added. "They [Cornell] are a great team, and that's a tough place to play. But this game was about capitalizing on mistakes. They did it. We didn't."

On Saturday, Princeton came out strong early, drawing first blood 13:10 into the first period. On the team's second power play opportunity of the game, Schneider converted on a feed from Parsons.

Schneider's goal, the 17th of his career, gives him sole possession of second place on the career scoring list for Princeton defensemen.

"The record means a lot," Schneider said. "I didn't think about it until someone mentioned it to me, but it's very exciting. I know what a great player [Steven] Shirreffs ['99] was. To pass him means a lot."

The Raiders (11-13-2, 8-6-2) then tied the game at one 59 seconds into the second period, and continued to pepper senior netminder Dave Stathos for much of the period. Thankfully for the Tigers, Stathos was up to the task and kept Colgate off the board for the rest of the period.

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Later in the second, Parsons gave Princeton a 2-1 lead, as Schneider returned the favor from his earlier goal. Fouladgar-Mercer then tacked on another goal, giving the Tigers a two-goal cushion heading into the final 20 minutes.

In the third, however, the Tigers gave up two unanswered goals and the game went into overtime. After the five-minute extra session, the score remained tied and Princeton had to settle for only one point. The game marked the first time this season that the Tigers brought a lead into the third period and failed to come out with a win.

"We felt we should've won the game," Schneider said. "When you come into the third with a lead, you need to maintain that level. We had a couple mental breakdowns defensively and those cost us. We needed those two points and so we're a little disappointed."

Despite the third period letdown, the team's morale remains high.

"We're finally healthy," Parsons said. "We're getting better every game and every week. Now we need to convert on our opportunities. We have to score more goals."

"We have to pay attention to the details of the game," Schneider added. "We need constant focus, concentration and awareness. Once we can cut out the mental lapses, we'll be able to turn the corner and win the games that we're falling short in now."

The Tigers face a tough test next weekend where they can truly measure how far they have come and how well they convert on their opportunities. The team takes on Rensselaer on Friday and Union on Saturday in two important ECAC matchups. Both games start at 7 p.m. at Baker Rink.