Tigers avenge loss to league's best

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. A cheesy little motto, to be sure, but a true one nonetheless, and the men's hockey team provided a perfect example of this Tuesday night.

After the Tigers (8-8-2 overall, 5-6-1 ECAC Hockey) fell to Quinnipiac (10-6-4, 6-3-3), 2-0, on Jan. 6 at home, they had the perfect opportunity to come right back against the Bobcats on their own ice at Northford Ice Pavilion in Hamden, Conn. Showing toughness and control up to the very end, Princeton got its revenge with a 4-2 win.

Facing the top team in the ECAC, the Tigers looked to everyone on the bench to make their second attack on the Bobcats a successful one. Princeton had to come out hard and fast, hitting the Quinnipiac skaters with everything from the weekend before and then some. With all the jitters of playing a top team out of their system after their first loss, the Tigers started strong and stayed on top through the tumultuous ride to the end.

Princeton, as anticipated, found itself well-matched in the first period. It had to hold off the Bobcats while finding the right groove for an attack, a groove that the Tigers found quickly.

Early in the first period, the Orange and Black brought the puck up with a pass from junior forward Kyle Hagel to senior forward Kevin Westgarth. Epitomizing the clean passing and stickwork that head coach Guy Gadowsky has been preaching to the team all season, Westgarth then fed the puck to junior forward Landis Stankievech, who, after his initial shot was blocked, followed through his attack and lifted the puck over the Quinnipiac goalkeeper to net the first of the Tigers' goals, four minutes and 52 seconds into the game.

With an average of 3.5 goals and eight penalties per game, Quinnipiac wasn't going to let a single-goal lead stand. The Bobcats responded to Stankievech's goal five minutes later with one of their own, which slid past freshman goalkeeper Zane Kalemba. Hungry for the net and not accustomed to being behind, the Bobcats seemed ready to pounce and eager for a repeat of their previous win.

As much as Quinnipiac wanted the win, however, the Tigers simply seemed to want it more. After struggling through the beginning of the second period, Princeton once again found itself controlling the puck and outshooting Quinnipiac. At 13:22, as Princeton controlled the puck in the Bobcats' defensive zone, sophomore forward Brett Wilson capitalized on a rebound from junior defenseman Mike Moore and found the back of the net to give Princeton a 2-1 advantage.

The Tigers had their hands full throughout the game, and the beginning of the third period saw no signs of a slowdown on the Bobcats' part. After getting in the first five shots of the period, Quinnipiac briefly ceded the puck to Princeton, which wasted no time in finding the net, scoring on its first opportunity. Facing a two-goal deficit, the Bobcats had every opportunity to score in the late minutes of the game, with three power-play chances and a seemingly last-minute goal from Bobcat Bryan Leitch, which was called back due to goaltender interference.

The Tigers put the game away with a final score from freshman forward Mark Magnowski with 51 seconds remaining. The Bobcats responded with 10 seconds remaining in the game, but it was too late to overcome the three-goal deficit. When time ran out, the Tigers came away with a 4-2 victory over the ECAC's top team.

After the split of the two-game, home-and-home series between the Bobcats and the Tigers, Princeton has once again solidified itself in the standings, reaching a .500 record and rising to fourth in the ECAC. Though the Tigers still have a tough schedule both before and after the exam break, they seem finally to have found the rhythm that they so desperately sought at the beginning of the season.