Princeton needs one more win

The Tigers (14-9-0 overall, 11-5-0 ECAC Hockey) hit the road this weekend to face Harvard (9-11-3, 7-7-2) and Dartmouth (8-11-4, 3-10-3), giving them two opportunities to claim the top spot among the Ancient Eight. Princeton is currently 7-0 in conference matches and leads second-place Cornell (4-2-1 against Ivy opponents) by five points, with three Ivy games left for both teams. The Tigers are currently third in the ECAC, three points ahead of the Big Red.

Victorious in nine of its last 10 outings, Princeton enters the weekend on a hot streak, but senior defenseman and captain Mike Moore said he and his teammates have to be careful to not let up and simply try to ride their hot streak to the Ivy League title.

“Momentum is a funny thing. When you have it, like we have right now, you play with confidence and have complete trust in your teammates to do their job to win the game,” Moore said. “But momentum can also be your Achilles’ heel. You can have all the momentum in the world, but if you go into a weekend thinking your momentum will carry you through, and you don’t work hard, then you are going to lose.”

Senior forward Keith Shattenkirk said that the team’s main concern is always the task at hand, regardless of its recent results.

“We try not to focus on the past games. We just try to take it one game at a time and concentrate on what we need to do to play ‘Princeton hockey,’ ” Shattenkirk said.

The Tigers will need to play that gritty, hardworking and not-always-pretty brand of hockey Friday night in Cambridge. In Princeton and Harvard’s tilt earlier this season, the Orange and Black edged the Crimson 2-1 in a hard-fought win. Shattenkirk said the Harvard games are always tight ones.

With the season winding down and teams jockeying for position in the ECAC standings, a playoff-like atmosphere will dominate the rink.

Freshman defenseman Taylor Fedun said that the Crimson is not likely about to sit back and let that loss from last month go unavenged.

“I am sure [the Crimson is] champing at the bit for redemption,” Fedun said. “They were in a bit of a rut when we played them last time, and I bet they feel like they have something to prove against us.”

Dartmouth, currently tied with Brown for last place in the ECAC, has been having a rough year, but the Tigers are by no means expecting an easy win over the team that ousted them from the playoffs last spring.

Moore adamantly downplayed the importance of the Big Green’s win and loss numbers.

“In any sport, the games you are supposed to win by just looking at the standings are the hardest games to play,” Moore said. “[Saturday’s] game is going to be an incredible battle, and we are not going there thinking our momentum and our standings on paper are going to beat a hardworking, skilled team.”

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Even so, Princeton’s opponents can expect an uphill battle, as the Tigers are having their best season in recent memory, with especially strong play since winter break.

“I think the key factor in our recent success is our confidence as a team and in each other,” Moore said. “We realized the success we could have and the fun we could have doing it, but we also learned the dedication and hard work it required. We have been getting better all season, and that is the direction you want to be heading going into the playoffs.”

Dartmouth hasn’t won since a Jan. 19 victory over New Hampshire, whereas Harvard is coming off a devastating overtime loss to Boston College in the championship game of Boston’s annual Beanpot Tournament.

The Tigers are acutely aware, however, that the momentum can easily turn against them and that underestimating either opponent could mean the loss of Ivy League bragging rights.