Orange and Black face St. Lawrence

After climbing up a spot to 10th in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League last weekend, the men's hockey team is poised to face the seventh seed St. Lawrence Saints for a best-of-three-game series in upstate New York this weekend.

The playoffs could not be coming at a more perfect time for the Tigers (8-18-3 overall, 6-14-2 ECACHL). They are coming off of their first three-point weekend since the 2001-02 season following a convincing win over Rensselaer and a 0-0 tie against Union.

The Saints (15-17-2, 9-12-1) have been in a rocky boat all season. After going 12-9-1 to start the season, they went on to lose eight of their final 12 games. This past weekend, however, they made a strong showing, pushing top-ranked Cornell to overtime and bouncing back the following night with a solid win over third place Colgate.

Princeton is well aware of the explosive capabilities of the St. Lawrence offense, which is led by T.J. Trevelyan. Earlier this year, the Tigers took a 4-3 lead deep into the third period, only to be burned by three Saints goals late in the game.

The second time around it was Princeton's turn to play spoiler, albeit in a less dramatic fashion. In that game, which took place on the Saints' home ice in Canton, junior forward Sebastian Borza found the back of the net with four minutes to go to tie the game at four. The Tigers hung on for the tie in overtime, aided by four saves by junior goalie Eric Leroux, who totaled 42 on the game.

Familiar Foes

Because the opponents know each other so well, another level of intensity will be added to the game.

"Having played one another twice already, some rivalries have been established," Leroux said. "Battling in the corners with the same players over and over is likely to make the competitive relationship a little more personal and a little more charged."

Princeton will need similar efforts from Leroux and company if the Tigers wish to improve on their 14-29-1 ECACHL playoff record. Last year the team dropped two in a row to Rensselaer in the first round. But Princeton has already proved it is a vastly improved team than in years past. The team's eight wins equal the win total of the last two seasons combined.

They also feature a threat-heavy offense that has put up 79 goals on the season, 17 more than in two fewer games than last year. Junior forward Dustin Sproat ended the season tied for first in the ECACHL in total points, while senior defenseman Luc Paquin and sophomore forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller finished close behind in seventh and eighth, respectively.

St. Lawrence, as the Tigers have seen firsthand, has a few weapons of its own. Trevelyan finished third in the ECACHL in scoring with 25. He has helped the Saints put up 3.18 goals per game in the ECACHL.

But arguably St. Lawrence's greatest asset is goalie Mike McKenna. McKenna sports a .907 save percentage while only allowing 2.85 goals per game.

As has been the case all year, the key for Princeton will be to get on top first. The Tigers still have not won a single game in which their opponents have scored the first goal.

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With that in mind, Princeton will attempt to bring an elevated level of play to Appleton Arena. If the Saints crowd that traveled to Princeton to watch them play earlier this year is any indication of the enthusiasm of the St. Lawrence home crowd, the Tigers will have the added incentive of quieting the crowd early.

"The urgency of the playoffs always inspires great intensity," Leroux said.

Face-off for the first game is 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Saturday's game and Sunday's game, if necessary, are both scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m.