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Princeton University Athletics
New Hampshire Defeats Princeton 6-3 in Men's Ice Hockey
December 18, 2000 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 16, 2000
Durham, N.H. - A goal was scored for in the first minute in the third consecutive Princeton men's ice hockey game, however, it was the Tigers' opponent who got off to the quick start this time. Princeton knew playing No. 5-ranked New Hampshire would not be easy on the road, but when Nathan Martz scored on a rebound in the early stages of the game, the Tigers knew that they were in trouble. As if this early marker wasn't enough to psyche out Princeton, the Wildcats would go on to score two more goals in the first period. Martz scored his second goal of the game after New Hampshire forced a turnover in its offensive zone, which has been a tremendous problem for the Tigers in their last two games. Four of Rensselaer's goals last weekend came on defensive by the Tigers, and considering that New Hampshire plays on the largest sheet of ice in the country (200 ft. by 100 ft.), the Tigers couldn't afford to be so sloppy with the puck in their own end. The third and final goal of the first period came on a New Hampshire power play at 19:14 when Lanny Gare threaded a beautiful pass through the crease to Matt Swain. Nate Nomeland was hugging the right post and his back-side defender failed to drop down with the puck on the other side of the ice, which made Swain's goal incredibly easy. The Tigers left the ice down 3-0 to a national powerhouse, who played in the national title game just two seasons ago, and it would have been easy for the Tigers to pack in after the first stanza. As has been the case this season, however, the Tigers came back with a vengance in the second period.
"I thought that we weren't skating very hard in the first period, " commented Princeton coach Len Quesnelle.
Princeton jumped on the board at 12:12 of the second period when Shane Campbell beat Matt Carney high to the glove side. Campbell's fifth goal of the season came as a result of a nice three-man weave down the right side between Campbell, Ethan Doyle and Steve Slaton. This was a power-play goal. One minute later Princeton would score its second goal one minute later as Neil McCann was the beneficiary of heavy traffic in front of the Wildcat netminder. Chris Owen and David Del Monte recorded the assists, and Owen's assist was his first collegiate point. Unfortunately, the Tigers failed to go in to the dressing room with a one-goal deficit. New Hampshire's Johnny Rogers scored on a rebound off of Princeton's Dave Stathos, who replaced Nate Nomeland half-way through the second period.
"Our goalies played well tonight. We made the goalie change in order to give both guys a chance to get some work, because we have a rather long layaoff until our next game, said Quesnelle."
Josh Roberts scored his second goal of the season just five minutes into the final period when tremendous forechecking by Doyle, George Parros and himself paid off. Roberts skated out in front of the net and made Carney look foolish to help get the men of Old Nassau jump back into the fray. After a near miss by Princeton's Kirk Lamb, New Hampshire's Colin Hemingway skated coast-to-coast to extend the Wildcats' lead to two goals. Hemingway was able to skate unmolested all the down the ice, because a Princeton defender fell down at center ice. The No. 5-ranked team in the country would put the final nail in Princeton's coffin at 19:36 when Corey-Joe Ficek scored an empty-net goal.
The Tigers were dissapointed with the loss, however, they learned tonight that they can play with anyone in the country. This lesson comes at a great time for the Tigers, who face No. 13-ranked Wisconsin in the Badger Hockey Showdown in Milwaukee, Wisc. on Dec. 29. Princeton will play either North Dakota, who won last year's national championship, or Boston University, who is a perennial power in the tough Hockey East Conference.
Totals:
New Hampshire (3-1-2=6) Princeton (0-2-1=3)
New Records: New Hampshire (12-3-3, 4-2-2 Hockey East) Princeton (5-5-3, 4-3-2 ECAC)
Shots: New Hampshire 29 Princeton 27
Goal History:
1st 01:00 (UNH) Nathan Martz (2) (Darren Haydar, Corey-Joe Ficek) (UNH leads 1-0) 1st 08:03 (UNH) Nathan Martz (3) (Darren Haydar, Colin Hemingway) PPG (UNH leads 2-0) 1st 19:14 (UNH) Matt Swain (7) (Lanny Gare, David Busch) (UNH leads 3-0) 2nd 12:12 (Prin) Shane Campbell (5) (Ethan Doyle, Steve Slaton) PPG (UNH leads 3-1) 2nd 13:10 (Prin) Neil McCann (2) (Chris Owen, David Del Monte) (UNH leads 3-2) 2nd 13:57 (UNH) Johnny Rogers (4) (Colin Hemingway, Garrett Stafford) (UNH leads 4-2) 3rd 05:31 (Prin) Josh Roberts (2) (Ethan Doyle) (UNH leads 4-3) 3rd 17:00 (UNH) Colin Hemingway (5) (Jeff Haydar, Garrett Stafford) (UNH leads 5-3) 3rd 19:36 (UNH) Corey-Joe Ficek (6) (Nathan Martz, Garrett Stafford) (UNH wins 6-3)