Davis, ‘D’ crucial in comeback

A mere 30 seconds later, junior attack Tommy Davis received a pass from senior midfielder Pete Striebel and picked the top-left corner against Rutgers goalie William Olin, shrinking the Tiger deficit to one. Senior midfielder Bob Schneider converted a minute-and-a-half later to even the score at five and boost his team’s confidence before it headed to the locker room.

Princeton (3-3) would ride this momentum swing through the remainder of the game to survive with a 7-6 victory over Rutgers (2-4).

“When you score like that at the end of a half going into the locker room, that’s exciting,” head coach Bill Tierney said. “Rather than getting down on each other, you’re feeling good, feeling like you’ve got something going on. Those were two really good, concentrated goals.”

The Tigers were able to maintain their momentum largely due to the efforts of senior goalie Alex Hewit and his defensive corps. Recently the Tigers have struggled in their own end, falling to 37th in Division I in their goals-against average after being ranked first in this category nearly all of last season. Any trace of inconsistency on defense that was present in the first half virtually disappeared in the second, though, as only one goal slipped past Hewit in the last two frames.

“We didn’t change much [from the first half],” senior defenseman and tri-captain Dan Cocoziello said. “Alex stepped up and had some great saves in the second half, which was huge for us, but we just played the same kind of defense.”

Cocoziello led the defensive charge but also sparked the attack. Two minutes into the third quarter, Cocoziello snatched a ground ball in front of his own net, sprinted 70 yards down the center of the field and rocketed the ball past Olin, stunning practically every player in a red uniform.

Princeton maintained the 6-5 lead through the remainder of the third frame, not allowing the Scarlet Knights to capitalize on offensive opportunities. Davis struck four minutes into the fourth quarter to increase the Tiger lead to two. His shot was nothing short of phenomenal. Davis received a crisp pass from junior midfielder Rich Sgalardi, dodged his defender mid-catch and released a shot from five yards out that sailed past Olin.

Fast footwork, smart slides and effective communication that were reminiscent of last year’s defensive squad allowed the Tigers to hold Rutgers scoreless for nearly 29 minutes. The Scarlet Knights broke the drought, though, as Pennington, the reigning ECAC Rookie of the Year, scored his third goal of the game at 7:21.

Rutgers had plenty of good looks in the final two minutes that could have resulted in a goal to force the game into overtime, but Hewit and the Princeton defense refused to concede. An impressive save by the All-America goalie with eight ticks left on the clock allowed the Tigers to preserve the win.

Princeton’s attack, though rather quiet in the second half, was much improved from last Friday. The Tigers moved well off the ball, making crisp cuts and playing with a sense of urgency that has been absent in many games this season.

Junior midfielder Mark Kovler scored on a blistering shot at the end of the first quarter, preserving his streak of scoring at least one goal every game this season. Senior midfielder Zack Goldberg and freshman attack Jack McBride, who has tallied five goals this year, also struck for the Tigers in the first quarter. Senior midfielder Alex Berg was as exceptional as he has been all season in the face-off circle, winning 10 of 16 face-offs and giving his teammates plenty of opportunities on attack.

The Tigers earned a tough win last night but must now prepare for their first Ivy League contest of the season when they face Yale at home this Saturday and attempt to improve their record to above .500. Though inconsistency has nearly become the tale of this year’s team, the type of defensve play — especially that of Hewit — in the second half should stand as a ominous warning to Princeton’s coming opponents.