Men's hockey to play Brown in first round of ECAC tourney

Providence, R.I. has not treated Princeton very kindly this year. The men's basketball team lost to Brown for the second time this season last weekend, while women's basketball and men's hockey have also left College Hill with an embarrassing "L" tattooed across their foreheads.

But the men's hockey team is going back into the Bears' lair this weekend. Undeterred, the No. 12 seed Tigers (3-24-2 overall, 2-18-2 Eastern College Athletic Conference) will battle No. 5 Brown (12-11-5, 10-8-4) in the first round of the ECAC tournament starting tomorrow.

The ECAC champion is decided by successive best-of-three series in the tournament, with each remaining lowest seed playing the remaining highest seed and working inward from there. Although Princeton is ranked at the bottom of the ECAC pile, the Tigers avoid taking on No. 1 Cornell because the top four seeds receive byes in the first round. The tournament concludes Saturday, March 22.

The Tigers and Bears have tangled twice this season, with Brown coming out on top both times.

In the first game between the two teams Dec. 7, Princeton built a 2-0 lead to the delight of the home crowd only to see it disappear under the weight of five straight Brown goals.

The Bears used a full arsenal of weapons that night, as five different players scored either on the power play, from tricky wrist shots, or via the grip-it-and-rip-it slap shot.

A month later at Meehan Auditorium, the script was different but the result the same.

Brown forward Adam Saunders lit the lamp three times for the Bears en route to a 4-0 victory in which the Tigers never had a chance.

Three of Brown's four goals came on second-chance opportunities after senior goaltender Nate Nomeland had already made the save. In order for Princeton to have a shot at advancing to the next round of the ECAC tournament, the Tigers will have to limit the garbage goals being scored against them.

"I think we have a great shot at winning this weekend, but there are a few things we have to do," senior assistant captain Scott Prime said. "We have to be patient in the grind in our defensive zone, limit their second chance shots, and make the simple plays like chipping it off the glass to relieve pressure. Most of all, we have to compete for a full 60 minutes each night, which has been a problem for us at times this year."

Against a team like Brown, the Tigers must take advantage of any opportunities that come their way. Most importantly, Princeton needs to convert on the power play while limiting its own penalties.

The Tigers have been whistled 136 times this season, and their opponents have used it to their advantage about a fifth of the time. Brown has a more efficient power play than average, however, as the Bears convert a quarter of all their power plays into goals. True to form, Brown went three for 12 against the Tigers with a man-up opportunity this season, while Princeton could only net one goal in 10 power-play attempts.

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While the Tigers must be wary not to grant Brown too many power plays, they still must concentrate on the blue-collar work that has created success for them this season.

"Our success has come when we play physical, and when we outwork our opponents," Prime said. "We may not have the most skilled team in the league, so we have to make up for it with hard work."

Besides playing physically, hard work for the Tigers will include putting the puck past Brown's star goaltender, junior Yann Danis.

Danis has a .922 save percentage and boasts substantial experience, as he has been in net for 96.3 percent of the Bears' season. Meanwhile, Princeton has split time between senior Nate Nomeland, sophomore Trevor Clay, and freshman Eric Leroux. Danis also has an extremely solid goals against average of 2.48.

"What makes Brown good is that they have really quick forwards who play off their forehands, they battle hard, and limit their mistakes in the defensive zone, and they have a great goaltender — one of the best in the league," Prime said.