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M. hockey sets sights high after rocky start to season

Like an oven slowly leaking gas, the men's hockey team has demonstrated that it is one spark away from doing some serious damage.

Signs of an imminent explosion have been seen in the Tigers' first four games this season which, though all losses, have gone a long way to proving that Princeton is back in action.

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The Tigers' (0-4 overall, 0-2 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference) first four losses may seem contradictory to this premise that they are a force to be reckoned with, but let the competition beware — three out of the four games have been barn-burners, two of them having been decided in overtime play.

"It's been a lot of bad luck, bad breaks," senior co-captain and defender Steve Slaton said. "Like the Colgate game: the [winning] goal just went in off some guy's knee."

If these close matches have demonstrated the team's promise, they have also shown where the team has room for improvement. The last-period losses, though due partly to some bad breaks, are telling of the team's difficulty in finishing strong and capitalizing on the other team's late-game mistakes. "Our weakness is our inability to convert on power play opportunities," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said. "It demands special focus and it's going to be one of our special focuses in practice this week."

One of the team's strengths is its bench, which has welcomed the addition of nine freshmen who have added considerable overall depth.

This depth will also help the team fill in the gaps due to injury. Two players — sophomore defender Sebastian Borza, suffering from a knee injury, and senior forward Dan Hursh, who has a shoulder injury — are currently out of action for Princeton.

The freshmen have already had many opportunities to play this season, and some are already making their mark.

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"They all look really good," sophomore goaltender Eric Leroux said. "Daryl Marcoux and Max Cousins have played really well on defense together."

Coach Quesnelle agreed with those sentiments. "I think we have some freshmen that are going to work their way in the lineup," coach Quesnelle concurred. "I think they're all pretty promising if you look at just the game time they're getting already."

These freshmen standouts underline another one of the team's strength's — its defense. The solid defending starts with the Tigers' net, guarded by Leroux and junior Trevor Clay.

"One of our strengths is our depth, especially in the goaltending position," Quesnelle said.

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Clay brings experience as well as an 0.879 save percentage. Leroux, though younger, has definitely made an impact and has done a great deal in terms of fortifying the defense. He has followed up a stellar freshman season with consistent, smart play this season. Freshman goalie B.J. Sklapsky could also be added to the mix if the more experienced goaltenders struggle.

Also bolstering the defense are Slaton and senior Matt Maglione, who has already been drafted by the Washington Capitals. They have been a consistent presence in the defense since their freshmen seasons. This good insurance at defense, which has kept Princeton in the game up until this point, will only take the Tigers so far. The team must continue building an offense that will score goals.

Leading the offensive effort will be senior forward and co-captain Chris Owen and junior forward Neil Stevenson-Moore.

Despite ending last season with a disheartening record of 3-26-1, the intensity of this season's opening games hold the promise of change for the better for the Princeton Tigers.

"It's gotta be better than last year," Slaton said. "We've made some big steps."

The team's strategy will be to divide and conquer.

"What we've done is broken the season down into small segments," Quesnelle explained. "They're specifically referring to power play percentage, goals against, etc. We set those as the six game segment approaches."

If the Tigers keep hitting the ice with the intensity seen in their first few games, then this season will surely hold many more exciting games than last year.

Princeton has its next match when it takes to the ice this Friday against Harvard.