Sklapsky secures shutout, Tigers split games

For the men's hockey team (10-12-3 overall, 7-9-2 Ivy League ), this season has been full of new players, new strategies and new problems. Starting last fall with so many freshmen was a daunting prospect, but the Tigers responded to the challenge and have created a powerhouse lineup, however, following the loss to Harvard (10-13-1, 8-9-1) on Friday 4-2, the return of senior goaltender BJ Sklapsky to his starting position allowed the Tigers to shut out Dartmouth (12-10-3, 8-7-3) 3-0 on Saturday.

Friday night's game was the opposite of Princeton's last meeting with the Crimson in every way. Though Harvard is, statistically, a first-period team, and Princeton is typically better in the third period, The Tigers came out on top for the first 20 minutes as Harvard floundered, trying to find its footing in Baker Rink.

Though the Crimson was first on the board with Ryan Maki's goal after seven minutes, 24 seconds into the game, Princeton answered quickly with freshman forward Mark Magnowski's rebound shot into an open net two minutes later.

Sophomore forward Brandan Kushniruk's redirection of freshman defenseman Jody Pederson's blast from the point at 12:35 gave the Tigers the lead. All was well for the Tigers throughout the first period, as Harvard continued to lose the puck in the neutral zone and take chippy penalties.

Yet Harvard came back onto the ice hard and fast in the second stanza, scoring the tying goal after less than a minute. The Crimson had obviously worked through the clumsiness of the first period, as passes were crisp, hits were hard and well-timed, and inopportune penalty taking fell to the Tigers.

After letting in two more goals in the second period, freshman goaltender and season standout Zane Kalemba left the ice and sophomore goaltender Thomas Sychterz was put in for the third period, only to be pulled with roughly two minutes remaining.

Both teams were scoreless in the third period as the Tigers fell to Harvard, but Princeton remained optimistic about taking on Dartmouth, a team which had proven to be a difficult opponent in the past.

"We were actually pretty positive after Harvard," Magnowski said of the pre-game mentality. "We had a good morning skate and a team meeting before Dartmouth."

Against Dartmouth, Princeton succeeded in spreading its efforts out evenly across the full 60 minutes, as the Tigers scored a goal in each period. Magnowski came through again in the first, senior defenseman Kevin Westgarth netted a goal in the second, and freshman forward Kevin Kaiser scored in the third.

"We really wanted to come out tougher and stronger," Magnowski said. "We decided before the game what we needed to focus on and stayed with it."

Focus was definitely one of the Tigers' strongest assets against Dartmouth, defensively as much as offensively.

Returning to his early season starter Sklapsky, head coach Guy Gadowsky looked to experience and steadiness to keep Princeton safe from another scoring blitz. Sklapsky returned to the net with a vengeance, making sure that the Big Green didn't even see the scoreboard.

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Though Kalemba started against Dartmouth last November, Sklapsky has had four years watching the Big Green and experiencing the steady, determined game that Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet leads.

Dartmouth continually pounded the Princeton net, but Sklapsky was well prepared for the activity and took each initial shot and rebound in stride.

By the conclusion of the game, Sklapsky had made an impressive 33 total saves, completing his second shutout and proving that, he has not lost any of the skill or presence which earned him his starting spot last fall.

"We're looking to get a run going now," Magnowski said. "We have four games left, and we want to keep going what happened with Dartmouth."

As the end of the regular season is only four games away, it is a relief to the team to know that veteran players, even if they have not been on the ice for every game this season, are there to support the team going into playoffs. If they keep to the dynamic pace set in the Dartmouth game, the Tigers should be looking good.