Men's Hockey: Princeton can’t pull final trigger in crunch time

The men’s hockey team stayed close to its opponent for most of Saturday’s matchup at Baker Rink, but Harvard held onto its lead and overcame the Tigers 4-3. The Tigers (4-9-2 overall, 3-7-1 ECAC Hockey) had won the first game of the season series in Cambridge, Mass., by the same score on Nov. 4. On Sunday, a frustrating weekend continued with a 3-2 loss at Quinnipiac.

Against Harvard, senior forward Marc Hagel scored two goals in a 12-second span, setting the program record and ranking 17th all-time in the NCAA for fastest consecutive goals scored by the same player.

But the Crimson (4-3-3, 3-3-2) proved why it boasts the nation’s top power play unit, converting 32.1 percent of its opportunities, by scoring three of its four goals in advantage situations. Harvard snatched an early lead and maintained its advantage for most of the game, except when Hagel’s goals tied the matchup.

Junior defender Michael Sdao and sophomore forward Jack Berger received overlapping boarding penalties early in the first period. The penalties helped Harvard score a five-on-three goal just seven seconds after the second infraction. Alex Killorn won a faceoff against sophomore forward Andrew Calof and sent the puck to Alex Fallstrom down the left side. Harvard’s Patrick McNally, the nation’s top-scoring freshman defenseman, shot the puck past sophomore goaltender Sean Bonar at one minute, 48 seconds, to put the Crimson on the scoreboard.

The Tigers gained control of the puck and outshot Harvard 11-8 in the first period but still went scoreless.

Forward Marshall Everson took advantage of another Princeton penalty in the 10th minute of the second frame. Luke Greiner shot at the goal from the left faceoff circle before Bonar stopped the puck, but Everson went for the rebound, giving the Crimson a 2-0 lead at 9:18.

Harvard outshot Princeton 10-8 in the second period, but Bonar made nine saves, while Harvard goalie Steve Michalek stopped only six. Sdao and sophomore forward Andrew Ammon almost put the puck in the net, but Michalek thwarted both attempts until Hagel broke through twice in the final minute.

Princeton was on the power play for Hagel’s first goal. Sdao and Berger both shot in the attack zone and then slipped the puck to Hagel, who waited on the doorstep and sent the puck past Michalek. Just 12 seconds later, Berger slammed the puck down the boards to sophomore defender Jeremy Goodwin, who sent the puck to Hagel from the right faceoff circle. Hagel beat Michalek again, tying the game 2-2 at 19:16.

Harvard’s Eric Kroshus scored another power-play goal in the second minute of the third period. Kroshus upped the score to 3-2 with a shot from the right. Danny Biega, who assisted Kroshus’ goal, shot past Bonar five minutes later as Kroshus returned the favor.

The Tigers rallied seconds later, as freshman defender Kevin Mills scored his first career goal. Sdao and junior forward Eric Meland skated the puck down the ice to Mills. Michalek stopped one shot, but the rookie snatched the rebound from the crowded doorstep and put Princeton within one goal at 7:40.

Michalek frustrated Princeton’s attempts at a comeback for the rest of the game. In the Tigers’ best chance, Goodwin slammed the puck at the goal in the 10th minute and Hagel picked it up from the left side of an open cage, but Michalek flung himself in front of the net to stop the shot.

Though Princeton outshot the Crimson again in the third period, 15-8, the Tigers only made one shot at the cage in the final minute after head coach Bob Prier pulled Bonar for an extra player at 18:24. Overall, Princeton outshot Harvard 34-26, but Michalek made 31 saves. Harvard went 3-for-5 on the power play and the Tigers went 1-for-2.

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Within the first eight minutes of Sunday’s game, the Bobcats (11-6-3, 3-4-3) captured an early advantage with two power plays. Yuri Bouharevich and Clay Harvey set up Zack Currie, who put the puck past junior goaltender Mike Condon. Currie’s third score of the season gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead midway through the first period.

Kevin Bui and Currie each added to Quinnipiac’s lead in the second period. After Currie slammed the puck past Condon’s shoulder inside the Tigers’ defensive zone, the Bobcats had ratcheted up the score to 3-0.

Princeton’s backup netminder denied a two-on-one situation between with Bobcats forwards Russell Goodman and Matthew Peca at the end of the second, and Condon stopped another Goodman shot just seconds later.

The Tigers gained momentum with their own set of power plays in the third period. Sdao got past the Bobcats’ goaltender at the 15:19 mark to avoid a shutout. Freshman forward Aaron Kesselman picked up the puck off the left boards and took a shot that missed the front of the net, but sophomore defenseman Kevin Ross picked it up and sent it to Sdao, who rocketed it past Bobcats goalie Eric Hartzell.

Prier pulled Condon for an extra attacker at 17:09 in the third period. Hartzell blocked several shots until sophomore forward Andrew Calof one-timed the puck past the Bobcat goalie. Calof’s rocket came from within the faceoff circle and brought the Tigers within a goal of tying the game. But the Bobcats held off Princeton for the last minute and won the game, 3-2.

The teams were even with 38 shots.

Princeton will take a 19-day break from play before participating in the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis, opening the tournament against Northeastern.