Princeton men’s ice hockey (12–9–1 overall, 8–6–0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) opened its weekend road trip with a 3–1 victory over Clarkson (11–14–3, 5–8–3) on Friday night before falling 6–2 at St. Lawrence (4–21–3, 3–12–1) the following day.
On Friday, Princeton defeated Clarkson at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, New York, securing a season sweep over the Golden Knights for the first time since 2009. The Tigers arrived eager to compete, and both teams fought intense battles in the first period, though neither was successful in finding the net.
About two and a half minutes into the game, sophomore forward Miles Gunty sparked a give-and-go that carried him up the ice and into a two-on-one rush. Gunty fired the puck to record the Tigers’ first shot on goal, but Clarkson’s goaltender turned it aside. Midway through the period, Clarkson capitalized on Princeton pushing its numbers up ice, generating a four-on-one counterattack that was denied by junior goaltender Conor Callaghan.
After a scoreless first period, both teams entered the second period eager to get numbers on the board. In a four-on-four sequence in the first minute, senior forward David Jacobs passed the puck between two Golden Knights players and found first-year defender Chris Reiniger in front of the goal. Reiniger launched the puck under the middle of the crossbar, giving Princeton a 1–0 lead and marking the first collegiate goal of his career.
Five minutes into the period, during a power play, the Tigers worked as a unit, possessing the puck in the attacking zone. Junior forward Kai Daniells passed to Reiniger, whose shot was blocked once again. Later in the period, a Clarkson defender one-timed a shot at Princeton’s goal, but Callaghan made a stick save to preserve the lead.
About a minute into the third period, Princeton found itself on another power play. Senior forward Jaxson Ezman won a faceoff and passed back to Reiniger, who sent the puck off the boards to Jacobs. Jacobs quickly passed it back to Ezman, who finished with a one-touch shot to put the Tigers ahead 2–0.
With a little under eight and a half minutes left, Clarkson generated pressure after Callaghan lost his stick during a save. A rebound was picked up by a Golden Knight and scored, cutting the lead to 2–1. With about a minute and a half remaining, Clarkson pulled its goalie, but senior forward Brendan Gorman won a foot race in front of an open net and scored an empty-net goal with half a minute left, securing Princeton’s 3–1 victory.
The Tigers were unable to replicate that success on Saturday, falling 6–2 to St. Lawrence (4–21–3, 3–12–1). The Saints struck first in the eighth minute of the opening period and doubled the lead on a power play late in the frame. Callaghan was busy early, turning aside breakaways and point shots to keep the deficit to two.
Seven minutes into the second period, senior defender David Ma jumped into the play and rifled home his first goal of the season off a feed from Jacobs to make it 2–1. St. Lawrence responded just 42 seconds later to restore its two-goal advantage.
The Tigers pushed again in the third period. Just over seven minutes in, Ma scored his second goal of the night, cutting the deficit to 3–2 and energizing the bench. Minutes later, a missed opportunity in the crease turned into a St. Lawrence counterattack, resulting in a goal that made it 4–2.
Princeton pressed with Callaghan leaving the net, but St. Lawrence defended well and added two empty-net goals to secure the 6–2 win. Several misconduct penalties occurred in the final minute as the Tigers’ frustration spilled over.
Callaghan finished with 27 saves, as St. Lawrence outshot Princeton 32–23.
“St. Lawrence was really ready to play, and we weren’t,” head coach Ben Syer told The Daily Princetonian. “We weren’t ready to match their intensity and didn’t work as well to create our opportunities.”
Still, Syer took positives from the match moving forward.
“It was great to see Ma get a couple,” he said. “Both goals were timely and kept us in it.”
Princeton now returns home to Baker Rink for Ivy League matchups against Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday.
Kai Kim is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince’.
Isa Mena is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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