Men’s Hockey (5–4, 2–2 ECAC) continued its longest winning streak at Baker Rink since 2008 with a 4–3 win over Clarkson on Nov. 22, with junior Kai Daniells delivering yet another standout performance after a 7–4 victory over St. Lawrence that weekend. With seven goals and one assist across the two games, Daniells put together one of the most explosive individual weekends in Baker Rink history.
The six points collected across the series vaulted Princeton from 12th place in the ECAC to a tie for seventh, just two points shy of third place in an early-season standings bottleneck.
Sophomore forwards Julian Facchinelli and Luc Pelletier each added a goal to power Princeton’s comeback.
“Scoring goals is fun, and it’s a great reward for doing the right things over the course of a given shift,” Facchinelli told The Daily Princetonian. “My job there was to crash the net and create some chaos, and I was in the right spot to knock in a great pass from [senior forward] Jaxson Ezman. That play was a great example of how we played all weekend — everyone buying in and sticking to our identity.”
Jacobs also credited junior goalie Conor Callaghan for a key penalty-kill moment: “Cally made a great stop there like he has been all season and he laid the puck in a great spot for me to make a clear and kill off the penalty. Anytime we can create offense out of a penalty kill is huge, and it was a big goal for us to get the comeback started.”
The home undefeated streak was in jeopardy early, as the Tigers trailed by two after the first period. Clarkson struck twice in just 48 seconds: first on a power-play goal from forward Owen Van Steensel, and then on a net-drive finish from forward Luke Pakulak, whose attempt deflected off a Tiger defender’s skate.
The Orange and Black began clawing back in the second. At 11:39, Pelletier exited the penalty box, collected a stretch pass from Jacobs, and converted a breakaway by slipping a shot five-hole to cut the deficit to 2–1.
“We work on communication so much in practice that when I saw David had the puck, I let him know I was open and he made a great pass to lead me and give me an opportunity to break free,” Pelletier told the ‘Prince.’ “It’s a great example of the chemistry we’re building.”
Late in the period, Princeton nearly tied the game on a 5-on-3 opportunity but couldn’t capitalize.
The equalizer finally came 4:29 into the third period when Daniells maintained puck possession low in the Clarkson zone, buying time for his linemates to change. Senior forward Kevin Anderson jumped into the play, followed up his own rebound, and roofed a shot over Shane Soderwall for his first of the season.
Facchinelli then gave Princeton its first lead at 8:12, backhanding an Ezman pass out of the air to finish off a 2-on-1. Daniells added what became the game-winner with 2:40 remaining, collecting a puck kicked loose by sophomore forward Jake Manfre and firing a patient wrister inside the post for his sixth goal of the weekend.
Clarkson pulled within one with 44.4 seconds to play on a goal from Rémi Gélinas, but Callaghan made one final stop, and a Daniells faceoff win with 1.6 seconds left sealed the sweep.
After scoring the equalizer, Anderson reflected on the team’s depth. “It was great to get offense from a lot of different guys on Saturday — we have a lot of depth and that makes us hard to defend for an entire game when we’re playing the way we’re capable of,” he told the ‘Prince.’ “My goal started with a great forecheck and patience from Daniells. He allowed me to get to the place I needed to be on the ice and have time to get off the first shot and then a rebound.”
The team then traveled to Ohio over Thanksgiving break for two matches against Bowling Green.
“This is a big weekend for us on the ice and off. Getting to travel over Thanksgiving break is a great chance to keep growing our chemistry as a group,” Jacobs told the ‘Prince’ prior to the games. “It’s another chance for us to be resilient, play Princeton Hockey, and test ourselves against a tough opponent.”
The Tigers lost both matches.
Chloe Lydia Li is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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