Men's Hockey: Team drops two games on the road

In Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road,” a father and son take a harrowing journey on a post-apocalyptic throughway in search of human life. Confronted by cannibals and other appalling horrors, the two men struggle against the elements for survival.

During the men’s hockey team’s five games away from home this season, the road hasn’t been much kinder. Princeton (3-7-1 overall, 2-6-1 ECAC Hockey) dropped two games this weekend, falling 3-1 to Brown (3-7-1, 2-4-1) on Friday night and losing 4-1 to No. 10 Yale (7-3-2, 4-1-2) on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers have now lost all five of their games on the road this season.

“It wasn’t a good weekend, obviously,” senior forward and co-captain Kevin Kaiser said. “We’re really disappointed with the results and how we’ve been playing recently. We’ve dropped five in a row recently, and that’s a tough skid.”

Princeton opened the season with a 1-0 overtime win in a non-conference game against Brown. In the second contest of the year between the two teams, the Bears exacted revenge against the Tigers, a team Brown had not defeated since the 2006-07 season.

“Against Brown, we played all right,” Kaiser said. “Their goalie, [Mike] Clemente, had a really good game. We didn’t play good enough to win the game, and that’s the bottom line.”

The Bears got on the board first in the game. Forward Jordan Pietrus opened the scoring late in the first period when he took a pass from forward Chris Zaires and put the puck past senior goaltender Zane Kalemba, giving Brown a 1-0 lead. The Bears extended their lead to 2-0 in the second period on a goal from forward Jack Maclellan.

Princeton outshot Brown 21-19 in the first two periods, but failed to put any of these shots past Clemente. In the third period, the Tigers came out firing and racked up 13 shots in the first seven minutes of play.

Senior forward and co-captain Cam MacIntyre put Princeton on the scoreboard when he took a pass from senior defenseman Brad Schroeder and beat Clemente, making the score 2-1.

Just as the Tigers appeared to be rounding into shape, the Bears’ defense put the clamps on Princeton’s attack, limiting the Tigers to three shots in the final 13 minutes of play. Forward Aaron Volpatti’s goal at 16 minutes, six seconds gave Brown a 3-1 lead, putting the game essentially out of reach.

The Tigers’ loss to Brown — an ECAC cellar dweller the past few seasons — typified the growing parity in the league this year.

“I think some of the teams that have traditionally been at the bottom have gotten better,” Kaiser said. “I think our league has the most parity of any league in the country. [In the past], we were playing a lot better than we’re playing now. I think that’s the biggest difference in our results. Other teams are getting better, and we’re not playing as well as we have in the past.”

On Saturday afternoon, Princeton lost by three goals to a talented Yale team for the second time this season. The Bulldogs jumped to a 2-0 first -period lead after less than four minutes of play, and the Tigers never recovered.

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“Against Yale, we gave up two quick goals and got down 2-0 within five minutes,” Kaiser said. “That really hurt us, and we were trying to come out of that the whole game. The first period against Yale was really bad, and we played better in the second and third. People are playing well, but not good enough to win right now. It just has to be better.”

Yale forward Antoine Laganiere scored just two minutes, 30 seconds after the opening face-off, giving his team a 1-0 lead. Less than 90 seconds later, forward Mark Arcobello took a pass from forward Sean Backman and beat junior goaltender Alan Reynolds to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-0.

After two yers of Kalemba — the reigning ECAC Player of the Year — in the net, this weekend continued head coach Guy Gadowsky’s trend of swapping goaltenders this season.

“Alan Reynolds works hard, and he’s a good goaltender. He deserves a chance,” Kaiser said. “If we’re not winning and things aren’t rolling, the goaltenders are going to change. I think it’s going to be a positive thing when they’re competing for a spot.”

Junior forward Sam Sabky’s second goal of the year came with 14 minutes remaining in the first period and brought Princeton within one goal. Freshman forward Eric Meland and sophomore forward Marc Hagel were credited with assists on the play.

In the final two periods, Yale continued to pepper Princeton’s goal with shots. Forward Chad Ziegler’s first goal of the year made the score 3-1 early in the second period. With less than two minutes to play in the third, forward Broc Little scored his team-leading 10th goal of the year, sending Princeton home with a 4-1 loss.

“We’re going to try to turn this thing around quick. We need results. We’re close right now. We really are,” Kaiser said. “Everyone needs to be better. Goaltending needs to be better. The defense needs to be better. The forwards need to be better. We’re close, but we’re not there yet. The only way to get out of this funk right now is to play out of it.”

With four more games on the road before the Tigers return to Baker Rink in early January, the team can only hope that its journey takes a turn for the better.