Princeton back in thick of ECAC title race

On Friday night, the men's hockey team exorcized some old demons, but on Saturday night the Tigers established themselves as contenders in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League.

The 4-3 victory over Union on Friday ended the team's 27-game winless streak in overtime, with the last overtime win coming on Nov. 20, 2001 when the Tigers toppled Yale 2-1 at Baker Rink. And, with a commanding 6-2 win against the Rensselaer Engineers (RPI) the following night, Princeton has now won four of its last five games.

"We've been working hard in practice, listening to coach [Guy Gadowsky]," freshman forward Dan Bartlett said. "The last two weekends things have started to click,". The contest between Princeton (5-7-2 overall, 4-5-1 ECACHL) and Union (5-7-2, 1-5-0) turned out to be the well-fought battle that many thought it would be.

Heading into overtime with a 3-3 tie, the Tigers came out on top thanks to the late-game heroics of sophomore forward Brandan Kushniruk. With just 2:08 remaining in extra time, sophomore forward Lee Jubinville, aided by senior forward Darroll Powe, fed Kushniruk right in front of the Union net. Kushniruk's goal was his third of the season.

The Tigers had jumped out to an early lead as senior forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller scored a breakaway backhanded goal just over four minutes into the game. The goal was the first of Goeckner-Zoeller's three points on the night. Princeton's lead wouldn't last long, as the Dutchmen answered with a goal of their own just 43 seconds later. Union forward Chris Potts slid a rebound past freshman goaltender Zane Kalemba, who finished the game with 33 saves.

After an exciting start to the game, the two teams locked into a defensive battle for the remainder of the first period. In the second period, however, the Tigers regained control of the game, scoring two power-play goals and outshooting Union 12-4.

After going goalless in his previous 45 games, junior defenseman Mike Moore added his second goal in as many games, scoring at 8:24 into the period off a screen set by sophomore forward Brett Wilson. Senior forward Max Cousins and Goeckner-Zoeller assisted Moore's goal.

Just a few minutes later, with 6:13 remaining in the period, Wilson added a goal of his own, off a Goeckner-Zoeller pass that was redirected by senior forward Kevin Westgarth.

Princeton held its 3-1 lead well into the third period, but the Dutchmen ultimately rebounded, scoring two goals in 25 seconds and knotting the game at a 3-3 tie, which lasted until the end of regulation, paving the way for Kushniruk's heroics.

The following night wasn't quite as trying for the Tigers, as they came out firing against Rensselaer (4-5-6, 1-2-3), outshooting the Engineers 18-4 in the first period.

In spite of the offensive onslaught, the Orange and Black were able to manage just one goal in the period, when Powe scored his seventh goal of the season with just 1:03 remaining in the first.

The Tigers' lead wouldn't last long, though, as the Engineers answered back with two quick goals at the outset of the second period. The first came just 1:01 into the period, and the second just 1:19 later, as Jordan Cyr's shot from the corner snuck past Kalemba to give RPI a lead.

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The lead would be short-lived, as the Tigers answered back just over a minute later. Following a brief altercation near the Princeton bench, Cousins lofted a high pass from the neutral zone that landed directly in front of Westgarth, who knocked the puck between RPI goaltender Jordan Alford's legs to tie the score. The score was the first of five unanswered goals that the Tigers scored in the rout.

Princeton went up for good later in the period when Jubinville juked an RPI defender on his way to a semi-breakaway goal, firing a shot past Alford on the glove side. The goal, Jubinville's fifth of the season, chased Alford from the net.

The Tigers had little trouble getting some insurance, scoring three goals against replacement goaltender Mathias Lange in the third period.

The first came 6:49 into the period when freshman forward Jody Pederson fed Bartlett at the blueline, who then faked an RPI defensman with some clever stickwork and flipped the puck into goal past Lange.

"We had a one-goal lead and just needed to try to put the game away," Bartlett said. "I got the pass from Jody Pederson, tried to make the best move possible, and it went in."

Princeton added two more goals, the first coming during a 5-on-3 power play, when Powe redirected a Brian Westgarth shot, giving him his eighth goal of the season. Freshman Mark Magnowski scored the Tigers' final goal with a shorthanded shot on the Engineers' open net.

A few minutes later, the Tigers closed out their biggest win of the season, in which they took 46 shots to Rensselaer's 14 and came away with a 6-2 victory.

"I definitely think we're headed in the right direction," Bartlett said. "We basically started the season with back-to-back overtime losses to these two teams, so it was nice to get some revenge."

After capping a successful end to the first half of the season, the Tigers will now begin a three-week break, returning to Baker Rink after Christmas to face Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 29.