Defeated in the Empire State: Men’s hockey falls to RPI, Union on the road

In a two-game weekend road trip to upstate New York, the Princeton men’s hockey team (10–13–2 overall, 5–11–2 ECAC) dropped both games in high-scoring affairs. The Tigers lost the first 4–1 to the Rochester Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers (11–17–2, 6–12–0) on Friday night, then fell to the Union Garnet Chargers (17–10–3, 10–6–2) on Saturday, 7–3.

“We have a lot of injuries right now and some illness, but now we have to be able to recalibrate,” head coach Ben Syer told The Daily Princetonian. “Our guys battled throughout the evening, but it’s so important that we are able to set a tone.”

Routed by RPI

The first period was marked by an aggressive Tiger offense that forced 26 shots against the Engineers, with 14 on goal. Princeton dominated possession throughout the first 20 minutes by intercepting RPI’s passes in the neutral zone and controlling the puck off of second-chance shots.

Going into the first break, the game was scoreless but sizzling with Tiger momentum after Princeton ended the period on a power play that saw three on-target shots and strong pressure in the offensive third.

“I thought we played a really good first period against RPI, but we had a real short lineup,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’

The Engineers broke the ice just four minutes into the second period, scoring their first goal off a pass and cut that was dished back to an incoming RPI attacker for a 1–0 lead. The goal came seconds after Princeton narrowly missed a shot from the top of the slot.

After successfully burning off two power plays, Princeton was able to even the score. Cruising down the ice on a fast break, junior forward Kevin Anderson delivered a near-perfect pass to his incoming teammate, first-year forward Luc Pelletier, who one-timed a shot right into the top left corner of the net.

The remainder of the second period was scoreless, though the Tigers sacrificed a penalty for hooking in the final minute of play. Going into the final period, the score was tied at 1–1.

It did not take long for the Engineers to break the stalemate after the break. Utilizing their final seconds of the power play, RPI scored their second goal in a similar fashion to their first, on a pass cut back from the goalpost and to the front of the net, leading2–1.

Just minutes later, RPI was able to break through again, pulling away from the Tigers and leading 3–1.

Princeton continued to fight back, nearly cutting their deficit in half with another offensive effort from Pelletier, who put the puck into the back of the net and seemed to bring the score to 3–2. However, his goal was called offside, keeping the Tigers behind by two.

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Princeton was unable to come back from behind and conceded an empty net goal in the final minutes of the game, yielding a final score of 4–1 in favor of the Engineers.

Unraveled by Union

After the loss from the night before, Princeton continued gameplay in the Empire State against Union, falling behind early and losing 7–4.

“We need to be the first one to throw the punch instead of always playing catch-up,” senior forward Alex Konovalov told the ‘Prince.’ “I’m really proud of how our guys rebounded today, it was a real back and forth game.”

Unlike on Friday, scoring started early for both teams, with Union netting their first goal just 27 seconds into the game off a deep shot that worked its way through several Tiger defenders.

Minutes later, Princeton responded with a goal off a breakaway from Konovalov, sniping a shot that bounced off the top crossbar and into the back of the net.

“You’ve always gotta be ready to go,” Konovalov told the ‘Prince.’ “Just being ready to jump out of the gate, it’s something we’ve been working on.”

Midway through the first 20 minutes, the Chargers were able to sneak past the Tigers again, putting them up 2–1.

Shortly after, Princeton seemingly tied the score at two goals apiece, though like the night before, the goal was reviewed and called back for offsides. After a defensive battle for the remainder of the period, the Tigers were trailing by one going into the first break.

With another strong start to the period, Union scored their next goal just one minute into play off an intercepted pass in the Tiger’s defensive zone. Princeton trailed 3–1.

The Tigers continued to battle, and they cut the deficit once again with Konovalov’s second goal of the night, shuffling inside the Charger defense and finishing off of a second-chance shot, making the score 3–2 going into the third period

The Chargers continued their pursuit thereafter, scoring their second power play goal of the game, which reinstated their two goal lead and brought Union’s Colby MacArther’s game total to three goals.

From here, the teams traded goals back and forth, resulting in a total of six points scored in the third period.

“It got really high scoring near the end,” Konovalov told the ‘Prince.’ “We need to do a better job of getting there from the get-go.”

However, the Tigers quickly responded to Union’s efforts. Junior forward Brendan Gorman netted the Tigers’ third goal off of an assist from first-year forward Jake Manfre and his strong attack down the ice, cutting the goal deficit down to one as Princeton trailed 4–3.

Just a minute later, Union widened their lead, bringing the score to 5–3. Anderson nailed a one-timer from the top right of the offensive zone to bring the Tigers within one, but the Chargers countered moments later, bringing the score to 6–4.

After the Tigers pulled senior goalie Ethan Pearson out of the net in a last-ditch effort toward a comeback, Union scored their final goal of the game, sealing a 7–4 win over the Tigers.

“I thought that, obviously, giving up a goal on our first shift tonight clearly put us behind the eight ball,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’ “But I was really happy with how our guys battled.”

Princeton will return home to Hobey Baker Rink this upcoming weekend to take on fellow Ivy League and ECAC opponents Brown (12–11–2 overall, 8–9–1 ECAC) and Yale (6–17–2 overall, 5–11–2) on Friday and Saturday night.

“The biggest thing is to find ways to get a healthy and full lineup,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’ “I think that’s our biggest challenge here, and we’ll spend the week working with guys on our rehab.”

“Every time we get to step on the ice at Hobey, it’s a privilege,” Konovalov told the ‘Prince.’ “It’s senior weekend and all of our guys are really looking forward to that. We’re hoping to put on a really good game and just make the entire university proud.”

Lily Pampolina is an associate Sports editor and a staff Audience creator for the ‘Prince.’

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.