Men's Hockey: Tigers drop 3 of 4 over break

The men’s hockey team earned its first victory of the season Saturday night against Brown, regaining some momentum after a 5-3 loss at No. 5 Yale on Friday. The Tigers (1-3 overall, 1-1 ECAC Hockey) battled back from a two-goal deficit to beat the Bears (1-2-1, 0-1-1) 4-3 and split their first weekend of league play.

Things looked bleak early on for the Tigers on Saturday night, as Brown leapt out to a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes on goals by forwards Jack Maclellan and David Brownschidle.

Princeton was unable to retaliate for the rest of the first period but came out with a strong attack after the break.

“We didn’t lose our composure,” senior forward Kevin Lohry said. “We made some good saves that gave us confidence and allowed us to play more aggressively in the second and third periods.”

Senior forward Matt Arhontas scored three minutes into the second period on a power play, then after a quick possession by Brown, the Tigers regained the puck and Arhontas scored his second goal in as many minutes. The Illinois native now has five goals on the season and has scored in each of Princeton’s four games. Freshman forward Andrew Calof and senior forward Mike Kramer assisted on both goals.

The Bears responded with two power plays, but on their second attempt, Princeton won a key faceoff and Lohry scored a shorthanded goal to give the Tigers their first lead of the game, 3-2. The goal was Lohry’s first of the season.

Brown, which finished last season second to last in the ECAC Hockey league, tied the game just eight minutes later with a shorthanded goal of its own just seconds before the end of the second period. Brownschidle picked up his third point of the game with an assist on the play.

Nevertheless, the Tigers refused to relinquish their momentum. The squad failed to capitalize on a continuation of a power play from the second period but earned another chance just a minute later. This time, sophomore defender Michael Sdao found the back of the net for what would become the game-winning goal.

Sophomore goalie Mike Condon defended the Princeton net with 37 saves, including 11 consecutive stops to maintain the team’s second and decisive lead.

The Tigers were extremely effective at keeping a full team on the ice, accruing just four penalties compared to the 11 they racked up against Yale.

“We didn’t have as many penalties against Brown and we had a wealth of different scorers, which is always good,” Lohry said.

Princeton entered Friday’s league opener as a heavy underdog against Yale, which finished first in the league last season before suffering a first-round loss to Brown in the ECAC Hockey tournament.

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“We knew that we had not gotten off to a great start to the season, so we just wanted to get on the board early,” Lohry said.

The Tigers did just that with two goals in the first period, but they allowed Yale to score even earlier and more often. An offensively explosive first period left the Bulldogs in the lead, 3-2.

“I think we started out well but had too many defensive lapses,” Lohry said of Princeton, which was able to close the lead to one goal on three different occasions.

The relentless Bulldog attack forced senior goalie Alan Reynolds to make 41 saves throughout the game.

Calof, Sdao and Arhontas all contributed goals for Princeton, but Yale pulled away by two for the final time on a goal by defender Kevin Peel halfway through the third period.

Performing perhaps as expected this weekend, the Tigers can take some encouragement away from the split.

“We’re really glad to finally get a win on the board,” Lohry said. “I think there are a lot of positive signs.

The team travels to upstate New York next weekend, where it will face Colgate on Friday and defending ECAC champion Cornell on Saturday.