The men’s hockey team returned from this weekend’s road trip to upstate New York with little to show after falling to Clarkson 4-3 on Friday night and drawing with St. Lawrence 2-2 on Saturday afternoon. Princeton (10-12-3 overall, 6-10-2 ECAC Hockey) entered the weekend having won four of its past five games — including victories over Harvard, Dartmouth and No. 8 Cornell — but was unable to continue this strong form against its New York opponents.
“Overall, we were disappointed with the way this weekend went,” senior forward Dan Bartlett said. “We really needed to get a few wins to try and get into better position for home ice in the first round of playoffs, and we didn’t do that.”
For much of Friday game’s against Clarkson (7-20-3, 3-13-2), however, the team looked set to maintain its recent success. Junior forward Mike Kramer took advantage of a power play 12 minutes into the first period to slot home his 11th goal of the campaign and give the Tigers an early lead. Clarkson — last place in ECAC Hockey with only eight points — replied seven minutes later as forward Corey Tamblyn slotted the puck past senior goaltender Zane Kalemba.
Princeton regained its advantage five minutes into the second period with Bartlett’s team-leading 15th goal of the season. The senior forward latched onto Kramer’s perceptive pass to steer the puck past the Golden Knights goaltender who was screened by one of his own defensemen.
Princeton comfortably rode out the second period and looked to be on its way to victory when Clarkson mounted a stunning comeback in the third period. The Golden Knights, who have scored a league-low 39 goals this season, scored a quick double-fire at the beginning of the period to grab the lead, 3-2.
The Tigers, who have been plagued by inconsistency all year, poured forward in search of a way back into the match but found themselves further disadvantaged when forward Matt Beca stabbed home what would eventually be the winner for the Golden Knights 14 minutes into the period, making the score 4-2.
Sophomore defenseman Derrick Pallis knocked in a late consolation goal to set up a nerve-wracking final minute, but, in the end, the Tigers left Cheel Arena empty-handed.
“We had a few opportunities against Clarkson to get another goal and extend our lead, but we failed to do that. Then we made some dumb mistakes, and that really came back to hurt us,” Bartlett said.
Junior forward Matt Arhontas agreed with Bartlett. “We did not play our best hockey on Friday and let Clarkson hang around, which came back to bite us in the end,” he said in an e-mail.
The Tigers’ inability to hold a one-goal lead was again exposed in Saturday’s game against St. Lawrence (15-11-6, 8-6-4). As in Friday’s game, Princeton took advantage of a power play to grab the lead after 18 minutes.
Arhontas capped a well-crafted counter-attack, beating a Saints defenseman and the goaltender one-on-one to score his fifth goal of the year. Ten minutes into the second period, the Saints replied with a power-play goal of their own.
Princeton regained the lead later in the second period after a skirmish in front of the St. Lawrence goal saw Bartlett prod home from close range. With their minds perhaps still on the previous night’s collapse, the Tigers shifted to a defensive strategy in the third period but were eventually undone by some slick passing and precise finishing from St. Lawrence with seven minutes left in regulation.
Princeton soon regained its composure and nearly stole a late winner, only to see a shot from freshman defenseman Michael Sdao flash well wide of the goal after a three-on-one. Overtime ensued, though neither team could find a breakthrough.
“We definitely feel that we could, and should, have gotten more than one point out of this weekend,” Arhontas said.
Despite this weekend’s setbacks, the team still hopes to finish in the top eight of the ECAC and gain home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
“While the regular season and Ivy League championships are out of reach at this point, we still have our sights set on the ECAC tournament championship and the NCAA bid that comes with it,” Arhontas said. “The playoffs are [a] whole new season, and we definitely feel that we have the talent and experience to make a run come playoff time.”
First, though, the team will again travel to upstate New York next weekend for two difficult matches against No. 16 Union and Rensselaer.
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