Princeton (1-0-0 overall) won a pair of games at Brown’s Showcase at Meehan: a 4-1 non-conference victory over the Bears (0-2-0) and an 8-2 thrashing of the Ontario Institute of Technology in an exhibition matchup.
“This weekend was really important for us, especially with the start of [ECAC play] next weekend,” junior forward Kevin Kaiser said. “We’re getting better as a team, learning how to play with each other, and I think we’re doing a good job of getting everyone on the same page.”
The Tigers’ game against Brown on Friday night marked their first official contest of the season. After the Tigers dominated the Bears throughout the opening period, senior forward Brett Wilson scored Princeton’s first goal of the season at 11 minutes, 36 seconds in the first. Wilson’s power-play goal came after tipping junior defenseman Brad Schroeder’s shot from the point past Brown goalie Dan Rosen.
“We try to get a lot of pucks to the net on the power play,” Wilson said. “I just happened to get a stick on the shot, deflect it in, and there was a lot of traffic in front, which helped.”
Brown quickly answered back, scoring a power-play goal of its own just over a minute later. The goal proved to be the only one junior goaltender Zane Kalemba would allow in 60 minutes. Kalemba saw only 13 shots in the game.
“Sometimes it’s tough for a goalie when you’re not facing a lot of shots,” Wilson said. “And we didn’t give up too many quality scoring chances, but when we did, Zane did a great job with them.”
Despite Princeton’s offensive onslaught, Brown managed to contain the Tigers until junior forward Mark Magnowski put a rebound past Rosen at 8:03 in the second period. Sophomore defensemen Cam Ritchie and Matt Godlewski were each credited with an assist on the power-play goal. It was Godlewski’s second of the game, marking the first multi-point game of his college career.
Minutes later, All-American senior forward Lee Jubinville added an insurance goal for Princeton, putting the Tigers ahead 3-1.
Princeton continued to control the game, outshooting Brown 15-3 in the second frame. Late in the third period, Princeton put Brown away for good when Magnowski scored his second goal of the game. He finished the game with a team-best three points.
Over the course of the contest, the Tigers outshot the Bears 38-13 and allowed Brown just two power plays, while Princeton had eight of its own.
“One of our goals for every game we play is to outshoot the opponent,” Kaiser said. “In addition to the large shot advantage, we also had a large territorial advantage, so we were able to get more pucks to the net and have more opportunities to score.”
The Tigers dominated their exhibition in similar fashion the next night. They opened the game by outshooting Ontario 18-3 in the first period. Princeton netted three goals for its efforts, including one apiece from freshman forward Marc Hagel, junior forward Dan Bartlett and sophomore forward Matt Arhontas.
While OIT responded with a goal of its own midway through the second period, Princeton responded quickly when Ritchie scored just 25 seconds later. Wilson and Kaiser each added goals later in the frame to give the Tigers a commanding 6-1 lead heading into the third period.
Once again, OIT opened the period’s scoring, narrowing the gap to four midway through the third stanza. Once again, however, the Tigers answered back. Wilson scored his second goal of the game at 12:56 in the period, and senior forward and captain Brandan Kushniruk added one of his own just over a minute later.
Senior netminder Tommy Sychterz picked up the win for Princeton, making five saves in 30 minutes of shutout goaltending. Sophomore goalie Alan Reynolds finished the game for the Tigers, allowing two goals and making seven saves.
Wilson and Kaiser led the way for a Princeton offense that outshot its opponent 46-14. Each finished with three points. Magnowski and Arhontas finished with two points apiece.
Princeton’s dominant wins came without junior forward Cam MacIntyre, the Tigers’ second-leading goal-scorer a year ago.
The season-opening victories give Princeton momentum heading into the start of ECAC play. The Tigers face off against Cornell and Colgate at Baker Rink next weekend.
“[Next] weekend is going to be absolutely huge, especially because we feel like we kind of have a rivalry building with Cornell,” Kaiser said. “It should be an exciting couple games.”
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