Princeton men’s hockey (0–2 overall, 0–2 ECAC) dropped both of their home openers this weekend — losing to Harvard (2–1 overall, 2–1 ECAC) in overtime by a score of 5–4 and falling to an undefeated Dartmouth 5–1 (4–0 overall, 3–0 ECAC).
Princeton is under new leadership this season with head coach Ben Syer, who previously worked as a recruitment coordinator at Quinnipiac, helping to develop the hockey program into a national championship contending team, and at Cornell as an assistant coach for 13 seasons, helping to lead the Big Red to two ECAC titles.
“It’s been super exciting for us, I think it’s like a new generation of Princeton hockey and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” senior captain Noah de la Durantaye told The Daily Princetonian. “With Coach Syer and the whole staff coming in there’s new philosophies and new systems which is just awesome for us.”
After five consecutive losing seasons under old coach Ron Fogarty, the Tigers are off to a slow start in the Syer era. The first-time head coach did not have it easy in his debut weekend, however, as Princeton, fielding a roster that is more than half first-years and sophomores, faced off against a now undefeated Dartmouth team and a Harvard team that often finds itself in the top half of the ECAC.
“I always look at it as the team is a family, so when you talk about a new group coming in, it’s always asking ‘How do they get acclimated? What is expected of them?’ But on the flip side, we also have to ask the older guys what they are responsible for so we can follow the process every time,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’
New era, same fight: Tigers fall short in overtime thriller against Harvard
In the opening minutes, both teams worked on finding their pace and synchronization. Princeton’s skaters seemed to occasionally collide or clip skates with each other as they adjusted to Syer’s system, a natural challenge in early-season games.
Princeton’s defensive mishaps gave Harvard a few early chances, and as both sides adjusted, it became clear that the game would be a back-and-forth affair.
“Coach Syer has been great and everyone is super bought into the direction that he wants to lead the program,” junior forward Nick Marciano said. “We have progressed a ton in just the last few weeks … He expects a lot out of us, but as a [Division I] athlete, that’s exactly what you want — to be pushed and supported to improve every single day.”
Princeton drew first blood five minutes in, with junior forward David Jacobs and first-year forward Jack Manfre setting up Marciano, who slotted the puck home from the left circle on a low shot for a 1–0 lead. This was Manfre’s first career point, showing the Tigers’ reliance on youth this year.
“I mean, who doesn’t like scoring goals — it was awesome. We have had some tough weeks and plenty of early mornings so it felt great to see a lot of that work come to fruition in the first period,” Marciano told the ‘Prince.’
Despite continued back and forth attempts in the first period, both teams were unable to capitalize, and the Tigers held their lead 1–0 to end the period.
Harvard came out aggressively in the second period with a goal from Joe Miller within just 36 seconds. But Princeton didn’t take long to counter — less than a minute later, junior forward Brendan Gorman turned a defensive block into a coast-to-coast dash that ended with a shot to find the back of the net to regain the lead 2–1.
Both teams continued trading goals throughout the second and third periods. Harvard’s Salvatore Guzzo managed to level the score again midway through the second, while a penalty shot stop by senior goalkeeper Ethan Pearson kept the Tigers in the game.
Sophomore forward Carson Buydens delivered a big hit which sent him to the penalty box late in the second. This handed Harvard a power play which they converted quickly as Casey Severo found the back of the net to give the Crimson their first lead of the game.
A tense third period saw another power play, this time resulting in a clutch goal for the Tigers from sophomore forward Kai Daniells to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Despite Pearson’s stellar performance with 29 saves, Harvard’s Mick Thompson scored with just 24 seconds left in overtime, clinching the win for the Crimson 4–3.
Tigers flounder against Dartmouth after showing promise at Harvard
On Saturday, the Tigers dropped any momentum they had from the previous night’s overtime battle, falling to the Big Green 5–1 in a game that was never close.
“You go from one game last night to back at it again early this morning, and you know, I thought we showed some real flashes of some really good things, and now it’s on us as a staff and on us as a group to be able to keep morphing that group to be more cohesive as we move along here,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’
Early in the first period, the Tigers were playing Dartmouth neck and neck. The Tigers conceded a power play for tripping less than two minutes into gameplay, though Dartmouth was unable to convert. Throughout the first period, Dartmouth narrowly outshot Princeton 21–16 with nine on target.
“I was super happy with our first period,” de la Durantaye told the ‘Prince.’ “I think we were battling skating with them, we fought tooth and nail with them.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Arthur Smith, who started in place of Pearson due to the back to back games, kept the Tigers’ defense standing tall, tallying eight saves during the first 20 minutes, mainly dominated by Dartmouth’s offensive possessions.
The Big Green landed their first goal of five with 1:36 left off of a second-chance shot deflected off of Smith.
The second period began with the Tigers down a man and trying to unsuccessfully kill a penalty, surrendering to the Big Green their next goal just seconds into play. The Big Green continued their offensive pursuit and dominated possession, scoring two more unanswered goals throughout the period, making the score 4–0.
“I think that our message [at the second intermission] was that we’re the best when we’re doing it together as a group,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’ “Hockey is the ultimate team game, and the harder you play as a group of five, the harder you execute. But when you start to cheat that process, so to speak, you don’t get the same rewards as when you honor the process.”
The Tigers would not go down without a fight, even after Dartmouth’s fifth goal. In a battle close to the goal, sophomore defenseman Ian Devlin knocked the puck into the back of the net, making the score 5–1.
The Tigers will commence a long road game stretch starting next Friday in New Haven against Yale, where they will try to breathe some life into the Syer era.
“Close the book on this weekend and move on to next weekend. Yale is always a great defensive team, they don’t give up a lot,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’ “We’ll have tough competitions here coming up on the road, and I think it’s just a matter of being together constantly as a group and keeping our message consistent.”
Lily Pampolina is a staff Sports writer and a staff Audience creator for the ‘Prince.’
Francie McKenzie is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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