Last week the teams of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECACHL) watched as Princeton jumped out in front of them during the season's opening games. This weekend they welcomed the Tigers back to the pack.
The No. 18 men's hockey team (3-2-0 overall, 2-2-0 ECACHL) lost a 4-3 nail-biter to St. Lawrence (4-5-0, 1-3-0) on Friday night and was blown out by No. 8 Clarkson (7-3-0, 4-1-0) the following day, 6-2, at Baker Rink. The pair of losses dropped the Tigers — until then one of two undefeated teams in all of Division I hockey — into a fourth-place tie in the ECACHL along with four other squads.
"We skated alright. We just had a couple key turnovers and some mental mistakes," junior forward Lee Jubinville said.
On Friday night, Princeton appeared primed for its first come-from-behind victory of the season. Having led at the end of every period of each of its first three games, the Tigers trailed St. Lawrence 3-2 on Friday with fewer than 10 minutes left in the third period.
Princeton evened the score on junior forward Brandon Kushniruk's second goal of the season, and with 12 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the third, St. Lawrence's Brock McBride was given a game misconduct for hitting from behind. The penalty put the Tigers on a five-minute power play.
Despite the man advantage, however, the Tigers were unable to capitalize. The Saints instead managed to gain a two-on-one opportunity, and forward Charlie Giffin scored a shorthanded goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
The two teams alternated goals for the entire game, beginning when St. Lawrence's Kevin DeVergilio shot the puck past sophomore goalie Zane Kalemba to give the Saints a 1-0 lead midway through the first period.
The Tigers answered a few minutes later when sophomore forward Tyler Beachell scored the second goal of his collegiate career off a power play.
Though the Tigers outshot St. Lawrence 34-31 and dominated the puck for parts of the game, they were unable to break the alternating cycle.
"We had a lot of chances," Jubinville said. "We just didn't capitalize."
Sophomore forward Cam MacIntyre added his team-leading sixth goal of the season, and senior defenseman and captain Mike Moore assisted on all three goals.
Saturday offered little in the way of redemption for Princeon, as Clarkson came storming out of the gates, dominating the puck before scoring just three minutes into the first period.
Less than two minutes later, the Tigers had an opportunity to even the score as they gained a five-on-three power play when Clarkson committed two quick penalties. Though Princeton had chances, the Golden Knights were able to kill off the power play.
"[Clarkson] is a really quick team and they have a strong defense," Jubinville said. "They're pretty tough."
Clarkson added two more goals against junior goalie Tommy Sychterz, both scored by Steve Zalewski — one off a power play and one at even strength.
The Tigers had no more success after freshman goalie Alan Reynolds replaced Sychterz to start the second period. After holding Clarkson scoreless for the first 14 minutes of the period, the floodgates opened. Zalewski added two more goals in quick succession followed by another Clarkson goal with less than a minute remaining in the period.
The onslaught was interrupted only by junior forward Brett Wilson's first goal of the season. Handling the puck down in the left corner, junior forward Lee Jubinville threw a shot on net, which deflected off Wilson and past Clarkson goalie David Leggio.
Down 6-1 at the start of the third period, Princeton outshot the Knights 13-7 over the remainder of the game but managed just one goal as sophomore forward Kevin Kaiser put back a rebound of a Moore shot.
The Tigers ended up outshooting Clarkson 35-31 for the game, but that advantage was generated solely in the third period after the Knights had the game well in hand.
"All four teams that we've played so far are good," Jubinville said. "We just caught a few more breaks last weekend."
Despite the setback of dropping two home games, the Tigers remain in good position to make a run at the ECACHL title. In fourth place, they are only four points behind league-leading Clarkson.
"We know we can skate with anyone in the league because we have good speed," Jubinville said. "We just need to have a good week of practice, drive the net and use our speed."
The Tigers will look to rebound next weekend when they travel to Connecticut to face Quinnipiac for the first of three games against the Bobcats this season. Saturday's contest, however, will be a non-conference matchup.
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