Men's hockey falls to University of Maine over weekend

As the majority of Princetonians relaxed at home after gut-busting amounts of Turkey, the men’s hockey team took their talents to the far north to do battle against the University of Maine. Although both of the teams’ two contests resulted in close struggles, the Tigers were unable to come out ahead in either, falling 3-5 both times.

The Tigers (2-8 overall, 1-5 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) came intoFriday’scontest looking to maintain momentum against the Black Bears (4-8-3, 2-4-0 American East) after their victory at home against Clarkson. In the first and second periods, it was a back and forth affair. Both periods saw the teams exchange goals — the Tigers in particular would ride the stellar play of sophomore forward David Hallisey, who found the back of the net for Princeton twice.

Indeed, upon entering the third period, the Tigers had yet to hold the lead in the game. This would come to an end by the7:50mark of the third period, as freshman forward Ryan Kuffner gave his team the 3-2 lead with just over 12 minutes to go. However, the Black Bears responded with fervor, and would end the game on a 3-0 run to finish it off. The Black Bears’ critical go-ahead goal would come with just 52 seconds to go.

The following day, as the Tigers came in ready to take revenge, they found themselves embroiled in another tight match with the Bears. In the second struggle, the trading of goals did not take place — rather, the Bears struck first and struck hard, scoring the first two goals of the game and entering the final period with a 2-0 lead. While the men from Maine looked to close out, the Tigers stormed back, as freshman forward Max Veronneau cut the deficit in half just about 6 and a half minutes into the final period. His efforts would be backed up by Kuffner, who snuck the puck in with just4:35left to bring the Tigers level. Indeed, the tables had turned, as the Tigers looked to make the same comeback the Bears had made just the previous day.

However, the Tigers would be unable to maintain their momentum through overtime. Indeed, the Black Bears’ Blaine Byron, who had scored the Bears’ first goal of the game, came through one more time with the game winning goal just three minutes into overtime. Thus, the Tigers would walk away from Maine empty-handed.

Despite the disappointing results, the Tigers will return to the ice this upcoming weekend, as they take on their intra-conference rivals: the Brown Bears and the Yale Bulldogs.