Princeton nabs three points

Things the men's hockey team should be thankful for: good food, time off from class and an enormously successful weekend.

Facing back-to-back away games against Ivy League competitors, the Tigers had a lot to worry about over their Thanksgiving feast on Thursday night, but Princeton (2-6-2 overall, 2-5-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League) managed an outstanding showing, tying No. 15 Dartmouth on Friday, 3-3, and overcoming Harvard, 4-2, on Saturday. This weekend marked a huge turnaround for the Tigers, as they notched their first wins of the young season and hoisted themselves off the floor of the ECACHL standings.

Princeton has never been a team to lie down and surrender after falling behind on the scoreboard. The old wives' tale of whoever scores first wins the game is certainly not one that the Tigers believe, and this weekend was no exception. Princeton overcame two-point deficits against Dartmouth and Harvard. Coming off an exhausting weekend two weeks ago against Cornell and Colgate, it was up to the Tigers to prove that they had the power and the depth to overcome big league rivals. This weekend's games matched not only Princeton's skills with Dartmouth's and Harvard's, two teams which play very different games, but also brought together old league rivals, creating the ideal forum for a Princeton turnaround.

Princeton looked to its offensive depth in the first game of the weekend, seeing goals from sophomores, juniors and seniors alike. Old scoring plans weren't going to be effective against Dartmouth's powerhouse net-minding team, and head coach Guy Gadowsky attended to that difficulty by approaching the game with an open mind and a creative game-plan.

While senior forward Darroll Powe and senior forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller were key members of the Tiger attack, the goal of the game came from senior forward Max Cousins, who had until this weekend been scoreless for 42 games. With nine minutes, 16 seconds left in the third period, Cousins capitalized on passing from sophomore forward Brett Wilson and Goeckner-Zoeller and brought the Tigers back from their second deficit of the game. Cousins not only kept Princeton in the game and ultimately in line for a 3-3 final score but also notched his first multiple-point game in his Tiger career as he assisted sophomore forward Brandan Kushniruk in his second period goal.

"I wasn't too concerned with having my first multi-point game, but it was great to get the tying goal in for the team," Cousins said of his efforts.

When Princeton traveled south to Cambridge on Saturday, it brought along the strength and depth that served the team so well in Hanover. Hoping to not have to fight back from an early deficit as they did against Dartmouth, the Tigers came out flying. The Crimson did as well, however, buzzing after a comeback win against Quinnipiac, one of the top ECAC teams, on Friday night.

The Crimson got on the board early, posting two goals within the first five minutes of the first period. The Orange and Black, however, did not lose its composure following Harvard's scoring burst.

"We had a lot of confidence because we knew we could come back," Cousins said. "We really outplayed Dartmouth so we just kept that going with Harvard."

That's exactly what Princeton did, as the Tigers answered Harvard's second goal within two minutes and began a run of four unanswered goals that would seal the game.

Once again, Princeton was able to look to the bench for strong support against Harvard's more experienced team. Two freshmen, forwards Dan Bartlett and Cam McIntyre, helped the Tigers get on the scoreboard early, scoring their second and first collegiate goals, respectively. Defensively, Gadowsky looked to his young players for support as well, playing freshman goaltender Zane Kalemba in both the Dartmouth and the Harvard game. Kalemba made 31 saves against the Crimson.

"I think we were all just trying to focus on a full 60 minutes for each game this weekend," Kalemba said. "We've been having good games but we hadn't really put in a solid 60 minutes yet."

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Despite falling behind early in both games, the Tigers finally played the full 60-minute efforts they had been waiting for and were rewarded with their most successful weekend thus far in the season.

Rebounding from the heart-wrenching losses against Colgate and Cornell two weeks ago was a weighty task for the Tigers last weekend, but they faced the challenge head on and found new ways to solve old problems. After a slew of close defeats, it seems that Princeton may finally be getting into its groove.