M. hockey earns shutout versus Yale

"Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?"

Last night, men's hockey took that opportunity in a dominating 3-0 win over archrival Yale (2-7-0 overall, 2-5-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference). The Tigers' earned their third win of the season, matching their win total from a season ago.

The game, however, was not Princeton's from the start, with the Elis coming out strong and outshooting Princeton, 10 to four, in the first period.

"The first period was a little scrappy," head coach Len Quesnelle said. "There weren't too many passes being completed."

Despite the barrage, sophomore goalie Eric Leroux kept the Tigers in the game with a stellar performance in that opening period. Junior forward Mike Patton broke the scoreless tie to give the Tigers the lead, slipping one past Yale goalie Matt Modelski at seven minutes and 18 seconds of the period.

One can only guess as to what happened during the break between periods, but the second period saw two totally different teams take the ice. Princeton came out with an intensity that left Yale to weather in its wake.

The Tigers dominated the zone, posting 19 shots on goal compared to four for the Elis. Sophomore forward Mark Masters scored Princeton's second goal when a centering pass deflected off an Eli defender.

Though the Princeton fury died down a bit in the third period, the Tigers continued pounding away at the Elis' net, with sophomore Dustin Sproat finding goal number three.

The promise of the first Tiger shutout in two years fell into jeopardy in the last five minutes of the third period, however, during Yale's final surge. Again, the solid Princeton defense, cemented and strengthened by Leroux, left the Elis empty handed.

In many ways, this was a big victory for Princeton. The Tigers will look to continue their success as they travel to New Haven, Conn., on Saturday for a rematch.