This weekend, Princeton men’s ice hockey (8–14–3 overall, 6–10–2 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) hosted two conference matchups: first falling to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers (9–18–3, 6–10–2) on Friday night before rallying back to beat the Union Garnet Chargers (13–14–3, 7–8–3) in a shootout win on Saturday.
Tigers fall to RPI despite season high 46 shots on goal
Starting their weekend slate in Hobey Baker Rink, the Tigers faced off against the RPI Engineers Friday night. After securing a 6–4 win in Troy, New York, when they faced RPI earlier this season, the Tigers hoped for a repeat showing.
Unfortunately for Princeton, the Engineers were first to find the back of the net. With 11:06 left in the first period, RPI forward Austin Heidemann cashed in on an orange and black hooking penalty, slapping the puck toward the net over the shoulder of junior netminder Ethan Pearson.
Down a goal with 10 minutes left in the first period, the Tigers went on the offensive. Fresh on the ice in transition, first-year forward Carson Buydens started off the attack, sliding a pass from sophomore forward David Jacobs into the net for his first collegiate goal.
Following the corresponding face-off at center ice, Buydens set up the Tigers again. Using the forecheck to win possession, Buydens and fellow forward junior Alex Konovalov were able to free the puck, creating space for first-year forward Michael Young to skate in front of the net and knock in his career first goal. Princeton closed out the first period up 2–1.
The Young Fella!
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) February 17, 2024
Michael Young slides home his first collegiate goal!@ecachockey | @NCAAIceHockey | @TeamECH pic.twitter.com/ARzp5FNiGo
RPI dominated the second period of offensive play, scoring twice to snatch a 3–2 lead going into the third. The first of the Engineers’ two goals was scored only 14 seconds into the period. The second came 12 minutes later, after a slapshot found its way behind Pearson from the blueline. During this time, the Tigers applied tons of offensive pressure, drawing a five-minute major for face-masking from the Engineers in the last two minutes of the period and outshooting the Engineers 13–10.
To start the final 20 minutes of play, senior forward Ian Murphy marked his return to the ice after being out for five games with injury. First-year forward Joshua Karnish took an initial shot towards the RPI goalie that was just wide, but Murphy perfectly positioned himself to knock in the rebound for his sixth goal of the year and bring the game to a 3–3 tie.
Throughout the period, both squads were looking for the game-winning goal opportunity, and on an odd man rush in transition, RPI found their chance. Coordinating their attack, the Engineers bested Pearson and took a 4–3 lead.
This left Princeton again playing from behind and chasing an equalizer. After taking a timeout with 2:31 left to play, the Tigers played their most ferocious hockey of the night with an extra attacker and no goalie in the net. The team had nine shots on goal with the extra attacker, bringing their total to a season-high of 46 for the night, but they were unable to find the back of the net.
“Our last four games we have been playing really well,” head coach Ron Fogarty told the Daily Princetonian. “To be credited with only two wins is really unfortunate, but they are playing good hockey.”
Saturday night shootout success over Union
Back in Hobey Rink Saturday night, the Tigers were able to turn around their Friday misfortunes with a huge comeback win over the Union Garnet Chargers in the shootout.
The first period of play was scoreless for both teams, with first-year goaltender Arthur Smith making 15 saves to keep Union off the scoreboard.
The second period was plagued with penalty minutes and multiple men in the box on both sides. With 8:52 left in the period — two players in the box for Princeton and one player for Union — the Garnet Chargers scored the first goal of the night. Capitalizing on the 4-on-3 advantage, Union forward Liam Robertson found open ice and maneuvered the puck past Smith. The Garnet Chargers closed out the second period with a second power play goal to leave the Tigers trailing 2–0 with 20 minutes left to play.
Despite the third-period deficit, Princeton demonstrated that they know how to play from behind. With 17:45 left and a player in the penalty box for each squad, the Tigers had an offensive push featuring unsuccessful shots from sophomore defenseman Tyler Rubin and senior forward Nick Seitz before senior defenseman Nick Carabin secured his first goal of the night.
“After the puck hit the goalie, Seitz hit it over to me, and I had a free puck infront of the net,” Carabin shared with the ‘Prince.’ This smooth play brought Princeton within one as they were hunting for the equalizer for the remainder of the period. In this time, Smith kept the Tigers competitive defensively, including a huge save when Union came barreling towards the net on a two-on-zero breakaway.
In the final minute, Carabin sent the Tigers into their eighth overtime showing of the season. With just over 40 seconds remaining to play, Princeton controlled the puck in the offensive circles looking for an opening, and Carabin found it with a slapshot to tie the game at two.
In The Nick Of Time!
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) February 18, 2024
Nick Carabin's second of the night sends us to OT!@ecachockey | @NCAAIceHockey pic.twitter.com/UrESd7i72L
“I saw absolutely nothing at all,” Carabin reflected. “I only knew I got the shot through when I saw all my teammates coming after me after I scored.”
The following 3-on-3 overtime play was dominated by Union offensive pushes, but again Smith kept his composure and made five saves to send the game to a shootout. “Going into overtime we have confidence in each other,” Smith commented about team mentality. “We know it's going to come down to one or two big plays and we have the guys to make those plays.” Saturday’s game marked a tied career high total of 36 saves for Smith, who is growing into a steadying force for the Princeton squad.
All three shootout chances for Union were subsequently denied, leading the way for familiar late game hero, senior forward Adam Robbins, to score the only goal of the shootout.
“The kid is electric in overtime,” remarked Carabin regarding Robbins’ goal. “He knows how to put the puck in the net and step up at big times.” This was Robbins’ fourth overtime/shootout game-winner of the year.
While the game officially ended in a 2–2 tie since there was no overtime goal, the 1–0 shootout success earned Princeton two points in their conference standings heading into the last stretch of their regular season.
“We have skilled players, our guys are just as talented as anyone in the country,” beamed Fogarty postgame. He added, “When they play in overtime they play with confidence, so it’s a big two points for us tonight.”
Princeton is set to play a weekend of ECAC and Ivy League hockey against Yale (10–14–2, 7–10–2 ECAC) and Brown (8–15–2, 6–11–1) away next weekend, hoping to lock down two more wins.
Ava Seigel is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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