Men's hockey cruises through preseason, drops North Dakota and Providence games

The color of the leaves on the trees are changing and there is a chill in the air. To some this would indicate one thing only: the onset of a winter that will undoubtedly last way too long.

For avid sports fans, however, the changing season indicates something completely different and much more exciting — hockey time.

And, for the men's ice hockey team, this season started with a bang.

At the beginning of fall break, the Tigers took to the ice for their two preseason exhibition games. In the first, they faced off against the U.S. National Under-18 team, which has already had a great deal of experience playing and winning against college hockey teams this season.

Junior forward Matt Maglione led the Tigers past the National Team by a score of 3-1. Maglione opened up the scoring for Princeton in the second period to tie the game at one apiece. He then assisted with a pass on junior forward Dan Hursh's goal that put the Tigers ahead for good. Senior captain George Parros capped off the scoring for Princeton with a breakaway goal.

Next on the preseason schedule for the Tigers was Western Ontario. Though the Mustangs were more experienced than Princeton, that experience has not been good to them, as the team has amassed a 0-5-0 record. The Tigers only made matters worse for the men from Canada, shutting them out 5-0.

Last weekend, however, the Tigers' deficiencies were brought into the light against North Dakota and Providence.

North Dakota defeated the Tigers 5-2 at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink Nov. 1.

Although Princeton got on the board first with a goal by sophomore forward Neil Stevenson-Moore, the Fighting Sioux had taken the lead by the end of the first period.

The Tigers battled back as senior defenseman Chris Owen picked up the puck off of junior defenseman Steve Slaton's poke check and put it past the North Dakota goalie on the other end. But then Princeton's offensive production halted, while the Fighting Sioux managed three more goals on senior goaltender Nate Nomeland.

Saturday Nov. 2, Princeton traveled to No. 11 Providence in a game that was totally one-sided. Providence handed the Tigers their second loss of the season, 8-1. Though the game was a blowout, it highlighted several of the team's weaknesses early in the season in a game against a much better team.

The Tigers are looking at a recovery year after losing several key players from last year's team to graduation. As the season progresses, the team will look to Parros for leadership, especially in the wake of losing seven players to graduation. Parros added solid offensive play last season, but with games against Colgate and Cornell coming up soon, the Tigers still have several holes remaining that need to be filled, and filled quickly.

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The most obvious is goaltender Dave Stathos '02, who started nearly every game for the Tigers and kept them in games when their offense struggled. This season, Princeton has had three different players in the net, with no clear decision as to who the starter will be. Along with Stathos, Princeton also lost two other defenders —Dave Bennett '02 and captain David Schneider '02.

Losing these three players has weakened the defensive lines, but for a team that was inconsistent on offense last season, losing four forwards can really put a wrench in the system and wreak havoc durng games. The team will especially miss Dave Del Monte and Brad Parsons (both '02). The two forwards had an uncommon knack for coming up with big scores when the Tigers needed them the most.

Last season, Princeton managed to finish above .500 in Eastern College Athletic Conference play, the second consecutive time that the Tigers were able to do that. In both those seasons, the team's head coach, Len Quesnelle, has led the team to some of its best hockey. Quesnelle now enters his third season at the helm of the team, and although he lost a corps of seniors last year, he certainly has players that can step into those roles.

The Tigers will travel to New York this weekend for a double dose of ECAC competitoin. Princeton will first take on Colgate Friday and then Cornell on Saturday.