Web Update: Men’s hockey advances to ECAC semifinals

With a 3-1 victory over Union on Sunday night, the men’s hockey team came out on top after a contentious ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series, earning a trip to Albany, N.Y., for the second consecutive year. The team will play Cornell in the semifinal game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. to get a chance to defend its conference championship in the title game on Saturday.

After splitting the first two games of the series — a 3-2 win Friday night and a 5-2 loss on Saturday — at Baker Rink, Princeton (22-10-0 overall, 14-8-0 ECAC Hockey) came out scorching in Game 3, scoring three goals in the first seven minutes of the opening frame to put the Dutchmen (19-17-3, 9-11-2) away early.

Senior forward Brett Wilson put the Tigers on the scoreboard when he tallied his 10th goal of the season just 56 seconds into the contest. Wilson fed senior forward and assistant captain Lee Jubinville with a pass just in front of the blue line. Jubinville carried the puck into the zone and took a backhanded shot against Union goalie Corey Milan, who did not control the rebound. The puck slid behind him, and Wilson skated in to put it home and give Princeton an early 1-0 lead.

The Tigers weren’t done. Just more than a minute later, junior forward Dan Bartlett carried the puck behind the Union net and came in front, beating Milan on the short side. The goal was Bartlett’s fourth of the three-game series and his team-leading 13th on the season.

While on the penalty kill just a few minutes later, the Tigers gave themselves some insurance. Wilson poked the puck away from Union defenseman Lane Caffaro to give Jubinville a breakaway opportunity. With three Dutchman defensemen chasing after him, Jubinville wristed the puck past Milan on the stick side to put Princeton up 3-0.

From there, the Tigers let junior goaltender Zane Kalemba do most of the work. Kalemba, named ECAC Hockey Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year on Tuesday, allowed just one goal on 39 shots to pick up his 22nd win of the season.

Princeton also received a boost from the return of junior forward Cam MacIntyre, who has been plagued by injuries for much of the season. MacIntyre’s presence could play a crucial role when the Tigers face off against a physical Cornell team on Friday.

Cornell (20-8-4, 13-6-3) is led by goalie Ben Scrivens, a second-team All-ECAC selection, and forward Riley Nash, a first-team All-ECAC selection.

The Tigers split their season series against the Big Red, falling to Cornell 1-0 at home in November and shocking the Big Red 2-1 at Lynah Rink with two last-minute goals in February.

With a win on Friday, Princeton would move on to face either first-seeded Yale or fourth-seeded St. Lawrence on Saturday night for the conference championship.