Men's Hockey: Skaters to face Empire state foes

The men’s hockey team’s three-game hot streak was brought to an end last Friday evening when Colgate defeated Princeton 3-1 at Baker Rink. But hopefully for the Tigers, the momentum they regained the following afternoon from a 5-3 win over fifth-ranked Cornell won’t cool off before they make the trek to frigid North Country this weekend to play the first two matches of a four-game road stretch. Princeton (10-11-2 overall, 6-9-1 ECAC Hockey) will face Clarkson (5-20-3, 1-13-2) tonight and St. Lawrence (14-10-5, 8-5-3) on Saturday afternoon.

Princeton’s playoff perspective looks markedly different from that of last year. At this point in 2009, the Tigers boasted a 17-6 overall record and were sitting pretty in the ECAC Hockey standings at 11-5, hoping for a first-place finish to the regular season. They entered the final three weekends of play having just defeated then-No. 5 Cornell in thrilling fashion, tallying two goals just 18 seconds apart in the final minute of play to upset the Big Red, 2-1. With six conference games remaining on this year’s regular season schedule, Princeton is coming off a similar win against powerhouse Cornell — its second of the season over the Big Red — but finds itself one game under .500 in a situation where every game is crucial.

“This is a little different compared to last year, as we were battling for first place and now we are sitting in ninth,” senior forward Mark Magnowski said. “But we definitely have the skill to be a contender again this year. Wherever we end up in the standings, I feel we will be a threat to recapture the ECAC title.”

The Tigers, who have won four of their last five games, are tied with Brown for ninth place in the ECAC standings trailing eigth-place Harvard by two points and seventh-place Quinnipiac by three points. Cornell, Yale and Union, which each have 9 more points than Princeton, will likely continue to jockey for the top spot in the standings. A pair of wins this weekend could catapult Princeton above Brown and put the Tigers into contention for eighth place, which would guarantee home-ice advantage for the first round of the postseason.

The chase continues tonight in Potsdam, N.Y. Historically, Clarkson has had an advantage over Princeton, owning a lopsided 34-4 margin when playing at Cheel Arena. But the Knights have struggled mightily this season, and all the numbers seem to favor Princeton heading into the matchup.

Currently riding an eight-game losing stretch, Clarkson earned its last win over a month ago against a non-conference foe. The Knights have managed just one ECAC victory thus far this season, which came against Dartmouth on Nov. 20. Clarkson netminder Paul Karpowich ranks last among starting goalies in the league in save percentage. Karpowich and fellow sophomore Richie LaVeau have combined to allow an unimpressive 3.96 goals per game this season.

In the last contest between the two teams on Nov. 7, the Tigers defeated the Knights 4-1. Bolstered by a strong showing in net from junior goaltender Alan Reynolds during the first period, Princeton built a 3-0 lead midway through the game thanks to goals from senior forward Dan Bartlett, Magnowski and junior forward Matt Arhontas, which allowed the Tigers to claim their first ECAC win of the season.

Despite perhaps having an advantage on paper, Princeton cannot overlook Clarkson.

“Obviously, we cannot take any team lightly and have to be ready to play 60 minutes each game in order to come away with points” Magnowski said. “Our league is so tight that any team can win on any given night. [North Country] has also proved to always be a tough road trip as both are hard places to get wins.”

The Tigers will visit St. Lawrence on Saturday afternoon. The Saints are coming off a disappointing weekend, having claimed only one point after tying Rensselaer and falling to No. 16 Union, where the Dutchmen scored three goals on seven shots in the final period of play to go on to win.

St. Lawrence defeated Princeton in November and will likely be intent on earning the season sweep in order to maintain its fourth-place spot in league standings, which would allow the Dutchmen to clinch a first-round bye for the ECAC playoffs. To earn a win off St. Lawrence, the Tigers will have to find a way past goalkeeper Kain Tisi, who ranks second in the league with a .924 save percentage.

As evidenced in its the game against Cornell — during which Princeton earned goals from five different skaters and senior netminder Zane Kalemba registered 30 saves — when the Tigers can compete at the highest level when running on all cylinders. Preventing this momentum from melting away will be key for Princeton to claim a pair of victories this weekend.