Men's Hockey: Princeton splits pair at Baker Rink

The men’s hockey team found mixed results in its role as host at Baker Rink to division opponents St. Lawrence and Clarkson this past weekend. In spite of a late two-goal third period rally, the Tigers (2-4-1 overall, 2-3 ECAC Hockey) failed to overcome St. Lawrence 3-2 on Friday night, but dropped Clarkson in a 3-0 shutout on Saturday afternoon.

Overall, while sophomore forward Andrew Ammon was pleased with the win over Clarkson, he said they will need to work on the problems they faced during the SLU game.

“We will be looking to limit turnovers and turn more shots into goals in our upcoming games,” Ammon said.

Princeton outshot St. Lawrence (3-5, 3-1) over the entire game, particularly in the third period, but three early goals by the Saints put the game out of reach. Greg Carey’s goals in the third and 19th minutes and Jacob Drewiske’s goal in the 18th minute of the second period ultimately helped St. Lawrence dominate the scoreboard in the early going and hold on for a victory against the Tigers.

Carey picked up the puck from teammates Kyle Flanagan and Patrick Doherty inside the neutral zone, earning himself his first goal of the season. Drewiske made the score 2-0 in 18th minute when he found a center pass from teammate Chris Martin.

In the next minute, Doherty won the puck in a faceoff and sent it to Carey, who shot past sophomore netminder Sean Bonar and earned his second goal of the night and of the season.

After St. Lawrence earned all of its three goals in the second period, senior defender Derrick Pallis helped reverse the deficit. Pallis made his first of two assists in the ninth minute of the third period by snatching the puck at the blue line from Ammon’s shot ring. Pallis then passed from the center to Ammon, who slammed the puck past SLU goaltender Matt Weninger, changing the score to 3-1.

Pallis followed with another assist 10 minutes in the closing minute after Princeton pulled Bonar for an extra attacker. Junior forward Will MacDonald won the puck in the left faceoff circle and dropped it to Pallis on the blue line. Pallis set up a center shot for junior defender Michael Sdao who slipped the puck past Weninger on the first shot, earning Sdao his fourth goal of the regular season.

Even though the Tigers fell short in the SLU game, Princeton did outshoot its opponent in every period of the game and 37-20 overall. During their most successful period, the third period, the Tigers outshot the Saints 17-5.

SLU’s Weninger made his most saves of the night that period, 15. He stopped 35 total shots while Princeton’s Bonar made 17 total saves during the game.

On Saturday afternoon, Princeton reversed its two-game losing streak in front of a 1,989-member crowd on Alumni Day by beating Clarkson (6-3-3, 1-2-1) 3-0. Within the first minute of the game, junior forward James Kerr earned his first career point when he passed the puck behind the goal to MacDonald. MacDonald then set up the puck on the left post for freshman forward Aaron Kesselman, who earned himself his second goal of the season.

After a scoreless second period, the Tigers capitalized on a power play after Clarkson’s Alex Boak took the bench for interference in the fifth minute of the third period. Two minutes later, Pallis skated the puck into the zone and then tipped it to sophomore forward Andrew Calof.

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Calof skated to the center and again fed the puck to Pallis who set up the shot for sophomore forward Jack Berger just in front of the net, Berger’s second goal of the season.

In the 18th minute of the third period, senior forward Marc Hagel capped the Tigers’ win with a shot on an empty goal in an extra attacker situation. Freshman defender Aaron Ave pressured Clarkson’s Julien Cayer behind the net, and Cayer slipped and lost the puck at the front of the cage. Hagel skated to the checkered red line and shot into the empty net, earning his first goal of the season.

The Clarkson game was Bonar’s second win of the season. The Princeton goaltender made 26 saves while Clarkson’s Paul Karpowich made 28.

Princeton outshot its opponent once again, this time 31-26. The Tigers went 1-for-2 on power plays and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

The Tigers will face their opponents in upstate New York for the new two weekends. Princeton faces Cornell on Friday, Nov. 18 and Colgate on Saturday, Nov. 19.