Tigers shock Big Green

On Friday night against Dartmouth, freshman forward Keith Shattenkirk did what the men's hockey team desperately needed to do — he scored the game's first goal.

Princeton (7-18-2 overall, 5-14-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League) entered the weekend 0-12-0 in games its opponents scored first. The necessity of striking first was painfully obvious as the Tigers faced off against Dartmouth (15-10-2, 12-8-0) and Vermont (18-11-3, 12-6-2). Though Princeton claimed the first goal and the win against the Big Green, 6-2, the Tigers could manage neither against the Catamounts the following night, losing, 4-1.

Shattenkirk's goal five minutes, 50 seconds into the first period against Dartmouth gave Princeton immediate confidence, but it only briefly garnered the lead for the Tigers. Big Green forward Mike Ouellette evened the score three minutes later.

Determined to carry his team to an upset, Shattenkirk responded with his second of the night three minutes after Ouellette's goal, putting Princeton up, 2-1, with 8:53 left in the first period.

Sophomore forward Darroll Powe continued the offensive effort started by Shattenkirk when Princeton took to the ice in the second. Just 1:04 into the period, senior forward Neil Stevenson-Moore grabbed a rebound and sent a waist-high pass to Powe, who was waiting just outside the crease. Powe was able to get just enough of the puck to deflect it into the Dartmouth goal. The score put the Tigers up by two.

Though his team was unable to score for the remainder of the period, junior goaltender Eric Leroux made 10 of his 31 saves, which helped Princeton secure its second shutout in its last nine periods.

"The defense did a good job of limiting good, quality [offensive] chances by intercepting passes," Leroux said. "There were a lot of manageable saves to be made."

The third period began in a similar manner to the second. Three minutes, 12 seconds into the period, sophomore forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller took advantage of a teammate's screen to slide the puck under Big Green goalie Sean Samuel's pads before he could react to the shot. Goeckner-Zoeller's goal gave the Tigers a 4-1 advantage, and the rout was on.

Against Dartmouth, Princeton seemed as if it could do no wrong. Defensively, Leroux and company gave up only one goal while the score was still close, and that goal occured while the Tigers were skating down a man.

Princeton clicked well on the offensive end, too. The Tigers were in the right place at the right time, almost to the point where it seemed an open skater would simply pull a puck out of thin air, a la Powe. Five different Princeton players scored, and 13 had either a goal or an assist, including Goeckner-Zoeller, who posted a goal and two assists.

"Everything just seemed to be working," Leroux said. "Guys seemed to be making the right play."

The Tigers went on to score two more goals in the third, stretching the lead to 6-1 before giving up a final goal as Dartmouth desperately unleashed 16 shots in the period.

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The following night was a different story for the Tigers. Vermont and Princeton skated to a 0-0 lock after one period, with the Catamounts holding a 12-5 shot edge. Thirty-four seconds into the second stanza, however, forward Chris Smart put Vermont on top.

Forward Baron Becker added a second goal 5:51 into the period, and the Catamounts' season scoring leader, forward Scott Mifsud, tacked on another just over five minutes later, increasing Vermont's lead to three. Tiger freshman defenseman Mike Moore brought the Tigers within two just 23 seconds after Mifsud's goal, but that goal was all Princeton could mount offensively.

The Catamounts added a final goal courtesy of an empty-net score late in the third period, claiming a 4-1 victory as well as sole possession of fourth place in the ECACHL.

The Tigers outshot Vermont, 27-26, for the game, but that was mostly because of Princeton's 13-4 shot advantage in the third.

Leroux gave up three goals while making 22 saves in the losing effort. Catamount goalie Joe Fallon made 26 saves.

The Tigers can now finish as high as ninth or as low as 12th in the ECACHL, but either way, they'll be forced to play on the road in the first round of the playoffs.