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Princeton University Athletics
Hockey team falls 3-2 at Bemidji State
December 11, 1999 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 10, 1999
PRINCETON, N.J. - The return to Minnesota was not a rewarding one for Princeton's men's hockey team. Last year the Tigers won the prestigious Mariucci Classic championship by defeating host Minnesota in the first game and shutting out Boston University in the finals. This year Princeton fell to Bemidji State 3-2 Friday in the first of two games this weekend.
Special teams were the difference at Bemidji as all five goals were scored on the power play. The Beavers converted on three of five power-play opportunities, while the Tigers scored on two of 10 chances.
With Princeton's Ryan Kraliz in the penalty box for boarding, Bemidji's Stefan Bjork opened the scoring with a first-period power-play goal at 7:56. Bjork made it 2-0 with his second extra-man tally, this one at 13:59 of the second period while Benoit Morin sat out a cross-checking penalty.
Kraliz brought the Tigers back to within one when he scored his first career goal with nearly four minutes remaining in the second period. Shane Campbell and captain Darren Yopyk assisted on the power-play goal. After Princeton defenseman David Schneider was whistled for interference, Brad Johnson gave the Beavers a two-goal cushion at 3-1 when he scored on the power play at 6:56 of the third period. Bjork assisted on the play, giving him a three-point night.
David Del Monte's power-play goal with one second remaining in the third made it 3-2. It was Del Monte's second goal of the season and second in two games.
Craig Bradley was in goal for Princeton, stopping 23 shots, including 10 in the first period. Bemidji goaltender Adam Pavlatos turned aside 24 Princeton shots.
This season Princeton special teams have converted 16 of 68 (23.5%) power-play opportunities and opponents have scored on 16 of 61 (26.2%) chances.
The non-conference loss drops Princeton to 3-5-3 overall, while Bemidji improved to 4-10-1. The two-game series concludes Saturday, Dec. 11, at 8 p.m. ET. The broadcast of the game will be available via goprincetontigers.com. Next week Princeton will travel to Notre Dame to face the Fighting Irish on Dec. 19 and 20. Both games begin at 7 p.m.