Men's Hockey: Princeton swept on home ice

Despite the defeats, head coach Guy Gadowsky assessed the situation pragmatically and left Hobey Baker Rink feeling undeterred.

“Their effort was there, believe me,” Gadowsky said. “There are guys double shifting. Some guys who are in the lineup aren’t used to being in the lineup. Are we a little mentally tired? Probably. But the effort is absolutely there. We went through a stretch where we have a lot of injuries, and our schedule is, for whatever reason, a culmination of a lot of games in a short time, and heading into exams — it’s a perfect storm, so to speak.”

The Tigers put up a fight against Union (10-8-1, 3-4-0) Friday evening, but a pair of third-period goals ultimately gave the Dutchmen the edge.

Princeton started well in the first period with a few solid scoring chances. The Tigers finally cracked the Union goalie after 14 minutes, 27 seconds. After receiving a pass in the neutral zone from senior forward Brandan Kushniruk, sophomore forward Kevin Lohry carried the puck into Princeton’s offensive zone and sniped Dutchman netminder Corey Milan on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle. Junior goalie Zane Kalemba was credited with an assist on the play, the third of his career.

Union evened the score on a man-advantage goal at 13:06 of the second period when forward Mario Valery-Trabucco converted a rebound. The Dutchmen had a chance to take the lead less than two minutes later on a three-on-one breakaway during a Princeton power play, but Kalemba came up with a huge save and forced a “stretching the goalie” penalty, giving Princeton a five-on-three opportunity. The Tigers added a second goal to regain the lead when junior defenseman Jody Pederson mis-hit a shot from the point that was redirected to junior forward Dan Bartlett, who was waiting on the doorstep to slip the puck past Milan.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, fatigue set in during the third period. Union capitalized on a turnover just after three minutes had elapsed in the frame, scoring on a one-timer from forward Stephane Boileau. Seven minutes later the Dutchmen took a 3-2 lead off a backhanded power-play goal and managed to stave off a Princeton power play late in the game to hold on for the win.

The Tigers entered Saturday’s game with their tank half-full, but it dwindled to empty by the end of the third period as they ceded a 5-1 loss to Rensselaer (4-15-2, 3-5-1). Sophomore goaltender Alan Reynolds made his first start of the season as Kalemba was given the afternoon off.

A sloppy start by Princeton allowed RPI to take an early 1-0 lead at 1:22 of the first period. The Engineers made it 2-0 seven minutes later on a poor clear by the Tigers. Rensselaer managed to keep the puck in the zone, and forward Alex Angers-Goulet beat Reynolds with a backhand shot that was all the Engineers would need for the win.

“It’s tough to come in, but [Reynolds] came in and was ready to go,” senior forward Lee Jubinville said. “Obviously, a couple turnovers by us didn’t help him out at all.”

The Tigers’ deficit increased to three 1:01 into the second period. RPI forward Patrick Cullen chased down a puck dumped deep into Princeton’s defensive zone and sent it to a waiting defenseman, Erik Burgdoerfer, at the point. Burgdoerfer converted on a wrist shot that sailed just below the crossbar on Reynolds’ stick side.

Princeton cut the lead to two midway through the second period on a power-play goal. Pederson initiated the play, throwing the puck toward the net, where sophomore forward Taylor Fedun sent it to Jubinville, who finished with an impressive redirect into the net on RPI netminder Mathias Lange’s glove side. The goal energized the Tigers, and solid forechecking resulted in a number of chances. It appeared as though Princeton would find its second goal toward the end of the frame, but the Tigers came up empty-handed despite excellent efforts on a power-play chance.

Princeton carried its momentum into the third period but failed to find a way past Lange. A turnover by the Tiger defense at 7:06 resulted in an easy goal for the Engineers’ Burgdoerfer, deflating Princeton and leaving the team running on fumes. RPI iced the game just over a minute later when Reynolds had difficulty controlling a rebound, and forward Chase Polacek added the final goal.

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A much-needed 16-day break awaits the team during exams. Hopefully for the Tigers, their perfect storm of injuries, mental fatigue and exhaustion will subside before they face Robert Morris on Jan. 26.

— Senior writer Eric Dodds contributed reporting.