Men's hockey drops three in Mass.

Massachusetts is not a kind vacation spot for the men's hockey team. The Tigers lost all three of its contests in the state over Winter Break, losing two games to Merrimack and one to the University of Massachusetts.

"We have been close," sophomore forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller said. "It just seems that we are not clicking at the right times. We haven't been getting enough big plays."

When Merrimack (5-10-2 overall, 1-8-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League) swept Princeton (4-10-1, 4-6 ), the Tigers fell to 0-3-1 in non-conference contests this season.

The first game of the doubleheader was decided by Merrimack goals with less than nine seconds left in both the second and third periods as the Tigers lost, 4-3.

Despite being outshot, 21-13, in the first period, the Warriors jumped out to an early lead when a Chris Murphy redirection slipped past freshman goalie Jeff Mansfield.

The Tigers tied the game at 1-1 six minutes, one second into the second period when sophomore Ian McNally recorded his first goal of the season. After falling behind by a goal, Princeton again evened the score, at 2-2, when it scored just as a Merrimack penalty had expired. Freshman Mike Moore blasted a shot from the point past Merrimack goaltender Jim Healey.

With just 8.8 seconds remaining in the second, however, Merrimack struck again and entered the third period with a 3-2 lead.

Neither team providing the other with many scoring opportunities in a defensive third period. On the heels of Princeton junior forward Mark Masters' first goal of the season knotting the game at 3-3, the teams looked destined for overtime. With 8.6 second remaining, however, Bryan Schmidt shattered any hopes of overtime with a slap shot into the top left corner of the net.

"We did all the things that we need to do to win," Goeckner-Zoeller said. "It just didn't happen."

The Tigers did not fare much better in the second game against Merrimack, though. Merrimack went on to win the game, 4-2.

Merrimack led 2-0 after one period on goals by Mike Alexiou and Justin Mills. Princeton had three power-play opportunities in the first period but could not take advantage of any of its opportunities.

The Tigers struck back in the second period, scoring two goals of their own to knot the game at 2-2. The first Princeton goal came midway through the second when sophomore Darroll Powe scored his first of the year. Junior Patrick Neundorfer scored the second Princeton goal at 14:27 on the power play as he lifted the puck into the top right corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season. It was the Tigers' first power-play goal in 11 attempts against the Warriors over the two-game span.

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Less than two minutes later, however, Merrimack's Steve Crusco scored on a deflection past junior goalie Eric Leroux, putting the Warriors on top for good.

After a two-and-a-half-week hiatus, the Tigers played their final in a stretch of six road games at UMass. The Minutemen dominated special teams, scoring two power-play goals, one shorthanded goal and killing all six of Princeton's power plays en route to their 4-0 win over the Tigers.

UMass scored one power-play goal in each of the first two periods to take a 2-0 lead heading into the third. Despite killing a two-man advantage early in the period and gaining some momentum on the ensuing shifts, the Tigers could not find the back of the net. The Minutemen tacked on two more goals and outshot Princeton, 11-5, in the period. Tiger goaltender B.J. Slapsky made 31 saves in the loss but fell to 1-4 on the season.