Men's hockey misses chance to move up in league standings

Men's hockey faced a difficult road trip this weekend, squaring off against traditional league powerhouses Colgate and Cornell.

Though Princeton kept both games close early on, both the Raiders and the Big Red pulled away in the third period to send the Tigers home without a point.

Junior Dustin Sproat turned in a stellar performance on Friday night, a practice he has been making rather habitual this season, but it was not enough to prevent Colgate (12-4 overall, 5-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League) from dealing the Tigers (4-7-1, 4-6-0) a 4-2 loss.

Colgate got its first score three minutes, 42 seconds into the first period when Adam Mitchell picked up the rebound from teammate Darryl McKinnon's shot on goal.

The Tigers responded soon after, evening the score at the halfway mark. Taking advantage of a power play, Sproat took a pass from junior defenseman Seamus Young out of the air and sent it past Colgate goaltender Steve Silverthorn.

Five minutes, 50 seconds into the second period, Marc Fulton scored on a power play to put Colgate on top once again. Colgate would go on to commit three penalties in the remaining 15 minutes of the second, but Princeton was unable to take advantage of the man-up opportunities.

The last of the three penalties carried over into the third period, and it was on that power play that the Tigers were able to capitalize. Still less than a minute into the period, sophomore forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller fed the puck to Sproat, who found senior defenseman Luc Paquin sneaking towards the net for the goal. The goal was Paquin's fourth of the season.

The tie, however, did not last long. Seven minutes, 46 seconds into the period, Dmitry Yashin of Colgate scored the game-winner.

Dave Thomas added an empty netter with less than a minute remaining.

Sophomore goaltender B.J. Sklapsky made 24 saves in the losing effort.

The Tigers traveled the following night to Ithaca to face the Big Red (7-2-2, 4-1-1). Cornell controlled the pace early, but it was Princeton that got on the board first, scoring 12:32 into the contest on a power-play goal from senior defenseman Jesse Masear. It was Masear's second goal of the season.

Junior goalie Eric Leroux shut down the Cornell offense for most of the first period, tallying 10 saves. Princeton, meanwhile, had only three shots on goal. But with 34 seconds remaining, Cornell's Chris Abbott scored on a delayed penalty to send the game into the second with the score knotted at one.

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That goal and a similar one at the end of the second period hampered the Tigers' abilities to stay afloat in the second period.

"You really want to have the momentum on your side going into the locker room," he said. "They scored those goals, and it took the wind out of our sails."

Cornell returned from its locker room and rode its surge of momentum, scoring just 56 seconds into the middle period.

Exactly two minutes later, Sproat was credited with his eighth goal in his last nine games. The goal came when Goeckner-Zoeller fed Sproat the puck. Sproat failed to immediately control it, and it bounced off of a Big Red skate and past Cornell goaltender David McKee.

Cornell would go on to outshoot Princeton 13-11 in the third period and extend its lead to 4-2.

Princeton got a goal back early in the third when freshman forward Landis Stankievech scored on a breakaway.

Before Stankievech's goal, Cornell had not given up more than two goals in a game all season. But it would not be enough for the Tigers, who gave up another power-play goal to the Big Red, providing the final 5-3 margin.

Leroux turned in a solid 27 saves, but it was not enough to stop the Cornell offense, which outshot Princeton, 32-21, on the night.

"They're big, tough and strong," Sproat said of Cornell. "They're tough to score against."

The Tigers travel to Merrimack next weekend for two more road games. The team does not return home until its Jan. 4 matchup against American International.