Tigers split pair against Alabama-Huntsville

While melting ice ruined the 234th meeting of Boston College and Boston University in Massachusetts, conditions were wholly playable at Division I Hockey's southernmost location in Alabama. The Princeton men's hockey team split its pair of games with the Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) Chargers, moving its record to 3-7-2 overall and 2-5-1 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECACHL).

After a 4-2 victory on Friday night in the Von Braun Center, the Tigers fell just short of a win on Saturday, losing 3-2. Friday night's win, coupled with their defeat of Harvard on Nov. 25, marked the first time all season that Princeton has come away with back-to-back victories.

In the first game of the series, the Tigers capitalized on Charger penalties, scoring three of their four goals off power plays in the second period. Leading the charge for the Orange and Black was senior captain Darroll Powe, extended his point-scoring streak to seven games with a goal and an assist.

"Our power play was good this weekend and we were getting shots on net," Powe said.

The game started with a bang for the Princeton squad, as it scored just 20 seconds into the game when sophomore forward Brett Wilson banged in a rebound of senior defenseman Max Cousins' shot on net. Senior forward Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, who also started the play, was also credited with an assist.

The first period was inauspicious enough, as the Tigers battled to a 1-1 score in the opening frame. Less than two minutes into the second period, Princeton began to pull away as Powe netted a backhanded goal off a pass from sophomore forward Lee Jubinville. The goal marked Powe's team-leading sixth of the season.

Just over a minute later, the Tigers added another goal to their lead when sophomore forward Brandan Kushniruk scored on an open Charger net, assisted by Jubinville.

Finally, with just 48 seconds remaining before the end of the second period, Powe fed freshman forward Mark Magnowski in the crease, where he knocked in the team's fourth and final goal of the game.

Though the offense may have been the star of the night for the Tigers, freshman goaltender Zane Kalemba turned in an impressive performance, making 20 saves.

Whatever momentum the Tigers gained Friday night seemed to have disappeared by their second night in Rocket City. Despite outshooting UAH 42-17 in the game, Princeton could not overcome an sterling effort from Charger goaltender Marc Narduzzi, who finished the game with 40 saves.

A Charger goal midway through the first period began the game's scoring, and the Tigers answered back with a minute left in the period. After catching a puck meant to be cleared by a Charger defenseman, junior defenseman Mike Moore scored his first goal of the season. The goal also ended Moore's 45-game goalless streak.

In the second period, however, UAH broke the 1-1 tie, scoring two power-play goals on Kalemba, who finished the game with 14 saves.

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The Tigers came out firing in the third period and outshot the Chargers 12-3 for the game's final 20 minutes. Unfortunately for the Orange and Black, Narduzzi was up to the task, allowing just one goal that came midway through the final period.

"We played well in both games," Powe said, "It just became a matter of finishing on opportunities and staying out of the box. We were shooting ourselves in the foot by putting ourselves down 5-on-3 a number of times."

The weekend trip to Huntsville ended in much the same fashion as the Princeton's season thus far: solid, yet somewhat incomplete. While the team has improved since the beginning of the season, the Tigers have yet to find their rhythm and be able to put all the components of their game together for an extended period of time.

"Obviously we're disappointed with the results this weekend, as we came back with only one win," Powe said. "We just have to regroup for next weekend."

The Tigers return to league action next weekend with two games at Baker Rink. They will square off against Union on Dec. 8 and Rensselaer the following night.