Tigers escape league games with tie, loss

The men's hockey team continues to tread water in the tight ECAC Hockey League, where it has managed to stay afloat amid a sea of teams with middling records. A tie at Brown (9-9-5 overall, 5-8-3 ECAC) and a loss to Yale (9-11-3, 6-9-1) over Intersession, as well as a loss to non-league Robert Morris, has left the Tigers with their heads just above water.

Now just two points out of the league basement, the Tigers will play all of their final six games against teams higher up in the standings, leaving little room for error. A winning streak would launch the Orange and Black (9-11-3, 6-8-2) into the upper echelon of the standings, securing a coveted home-ice advantage for the playoffs, but a losing streak could piledrive Princeton straight into the ground, negating the progress made by this year's team.

"It's actually very nice to see that there's so much parity in the league," senior goaltender B.J. Sklapsky said. "You have to fight for every win." Princeton headed up to Brown on Friday to face off against the Bears. Both teams had early trouble finding the twine as Sklapsky and Brown goalie Dan Rosen shut down opposing attackers throughout a scoreless first period. The 0-0 tie did not last long, however, as a skittering puck found its way to a Bear forward who managed to redirect the puck into the back of the net.

The Tigers stepped up their game in response and peppered Rosen with a 17-shot barrage in the period. They finally got on the board with under five minutes to go in the second, when sophomore forward Lee Jubinville stole the puck in the neutral zone. He fired off a shot that was saved by Rosen, but freshman forward Mark Magnowski slipped in and stuffed home the big rebound to tie the score at one apiece.

The rest of the game remained a duel between the goaltenders. Both Sklapsky and Rosen managed to keep the remaining shot attempts out of their respective nets for the rest of regulation and into overtime.

Senior forward Darroll Powe had the best chance in the extra frame when he redirected a shot past Rosen, but the puck hit the post behind him and never crossed the goal line. The final buzzer sounded with neither team on top, so both teams left the arena one point richer but no closer to the 500 mark in the win-loss column.

"Sitting at the far end was kind of disheartening, seeing so many chances and coming so close," Sklapsky said. "We had chances, we just couldn't finish them."

The following night, Princeton met the Bulldogs at Ingalls Rink in New Haven looking to avenge its loss three weeks earlier. Yale, however, made sure that no vengeance would be had, scoring the first four goals of the game in a 6-3 victory over the Tigers.

The Elis used two five-on-threes and a dash of teamwork to put four pucks past Sklapsky by the end of the second period. Princeton finally got one back early in the third when senior defenseman Max Cousins scored on a power play with Sklapsky pulled for an extra attacker. Head coach Guy Gadowsky continued to pull the goalie for offensive draws, a move that eventually backfired when Sean Backman scored an empty netter midway through the period.

Yale would add one more before Powe and Jubinville capped the scoring late in the game to bring the final score to 6-3.

"We kind of came out flat against them," Jubinville said. "This time of year we can't be doing that."

Earlier in the week, Robert Morris (11-13-1) rolled into Princeton set on colonizing Baker Rink. The first 39-and-a-half minutes were scoreless as freshman goaltender Zane Kalemba and Colonial netminder Christian Boucher turned aside each chance they faced.

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The deadlock was finally broken with 30 seconds left in the second period, when Jubinville took a feed from Powe in front of the net and lifted a shot to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Following the intermission, Robert Morris came out, tied the score early on and later capitalized on two Princeton penalties to give it a 3-1 edge, which it would not relinquish. The Tigers pressed hard in the final minutes but came up short as the Colonials skated away with the victory.

With six games remaining to close out the league season, Princeton's fate is still in its own hands. The question remains: Will the Tigers sink or swim?