To secure home ice for playoffs, m. hockey must win on the road

When the men's hockey team last met Cornell and Colgate Dec. 3-4, sophomore goalie Dave Stathos had possibly the best weekend of his career to lead the Tigers to two victories.

This weekend, Stathos might have to do it again to give the Tigers home ice in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs next weekend.

Princeton (10-13-3 overall, 8-8-3 ECAC) sit in a four-way tie for third in the ECAC with Clarkson, Dartmouth and Renssalaer going into this weekend's series. The Tigers will need a win and a tie against the Big Red and the Red Raiders to ensure them of a top-five finish and the playoff series at home that accompanies it.

"With everything so tight, this weekend means a lot," injured senior defenseman Darren Yopyk said.

Harvard and Cornell are only a half game back of the group at the .500 mark, meaning that a bad weekend could easily drop the Tigers into the eighth playoff position and a tough first-round series on the road.

Yale is in the ninth position and needs a miracle to move up to fifth place, while Union lies a game ahead of Brown in the battle for the tenth and final spot in the postseason.

The only two teams so far to secure home-ice advantage are St. Lawrence and Colgate. St. Lawrence has proven to be the cream of the conference this year with a winning percentage well over .700. Streaking Colgate has won its last three to take second place.

The Saints control their own destiny this weekend against Dartmouth. A win or a tie will clinch the ECAC regular season title for St. Lawrence. The best Colgate can hope for is to tie St. Lawrence for the title with two wins and a Saint loss.

Ancient Eight

The tight race in the ECAC is not the only thing on the minds of the Tigers this weekend. They can also claim their second consecutive Ivy League title with a win over Cornell. Princeton has gone 5-2-2 against other Ivy teams this season and needs this win to take the title over Dartmouth. The unofficial title, which only includes games against other Ivy League teams, would be a source of pride for the Tigers.

"We'd really like to hang another Ivy League banner up," Yopyk said. "It's always a goal to beat the other Ivy League teams."

Beating the Big Red will not be easy, however, as Cornell's defense has been dominant, allowing fewer than three goals in its last seven games. Anchoring that defense has been goalie Matt Underhill, who has compiled a 4-1-2 record over those games.

"Even with how important the games are this weekend, we have to practice and play just like we would for any other important game," Yopyk said. "We can't let ourselves get tight."

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In contrast to the defensive minded Big Red, Colgate relies on its high-powered offense — led by center Andy McDonald. McDonald leads the league in points per game this season with 1.82.

In their first meeting the Tigers limited McDonald. The Red Raider captain was only able to notch an assist on a power play goal against Stathos, who made 29 saves in that game.

"Right now our goal is to make it back to Lake Placid [for the ECAC Final Five], and we have to keep winning now to do that," senior forward Benoit Morin said.