Men's Hockey: Rematches await against Big Green, Crimson

The Tigers have already faced both of these teams at least once this season. Princeton fell to Dartmouth 2-1 in a non-league game at the end of October, then lost to the Big Green again on Nov. 20 by a score of 3-2 and earned a 1-0 win against Harvard on Nov. 19.

The Tigers go into the weekend ranked 20th in the nation, just behind the No. 17 Big Green.

In their previous matchup against the Crimson, the Tigers relied on an early goal by senior forward Mike Kramer and held their advantage through the end of regulation play. Despite enjoying a lead for most of the game, the Tigers posted numbers very similar to those of the Crimson in a competitive, evenly-matched contest. Princeton took 35 shots while Harvard took 36. Consequently, both sophomore goalie Mike Condon and Harvard goaltender Kyle Richter posted stellar save percentages.

Princeton will have to play another strong defensive game against the Crimson if it wants to come away with a repeat of the earlier victory. In the last contest, the Tigers fought off three power plays without letting in a single goal while Harvard had to defend only one man-down situation. The shutout was the first of Condon’s collegiate career.

“This weekend we really just need to focus on our team objectives and limit the number of penalties we take,” Kramer said in an e-mail. “We need to play an up-tempo game, get a lot of shots on net and capitalize on the scoring chances that we have.”

A win against Harvard this weekend would solidify the Tigers’ first season sweep of the Crimson since the 2003-04 season. Harvard has only one win in its last 11 games.

Dartmouth will likely pose the bigger challenge for the Tigers this weekend, as the Big Green has posted only three losses in its last 10 games, and all three came against top-10 teams.

In Princeton’s first loss to the Big Green, Dartmouth outshot the Tigers, 29-22, but the Tigers had 13 more chances in the second defeat. In the rematch, Princeton and Dartmouth traded goals in the first period, and the game was tied at 1-1 for 20 minutes of play.

Two of only three shots for the Big Green found the back of the net, however, and Dartmouth took a 3-1 lead.

Princeton was left to play catch-up for the rest of the game and could only manage one more goal, which senior forward Kevin Lohry scored in the first few minutes of the third period. To put themselves in a position to win this weekend, the Tigers will need to stay on top of an opportunistic and talented Dartmouth squad.

“We need to play with a lot of speed to force Dartmouth into playing our style of hockey,” Kramer said. “If we can control the tempo against them and stay out of the penalty box, we put ourselves in a good position to win.”

Princeton and Dartmouth have traded two-game win streaks over the past several years, but this weekend Princeton aims to break the trend and earn a split with Dartmouth in league play. The Tigers are currently sixth in the league standings with 19 points, just one point shy of a fourth-place tie with both Dartmouth and Cornell. A road sweep would go a long way in Princeton’s hunt for a top-four finish in the ECAC Hockey standings and a first-round bye in the 12-team tournament.