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Princeton University Athletics
Another heartbreaker
March 12, 2000 | Men's Ice Hockey
March 11, 2000
POTSDAM, N.Y. - After exchanging dramatic victories in Lake Placid each of the last two ECAC postseasons, Clarkson eliminated Princeton in a first-round, best-of-three playoff series at Cheel Arena with a 2-1 victory.
The Golden Knights, the No. 5 seed, notched their second one-goal win against the No. 6-seeded Tigers in 48 hours, earning a 2-0 sweep in the series and a return trip to Lake Placid for the ECAC Final Five. Clarkson won Game 1 of the series 3-2 on Friday.
Seven of the last 10 meetings between these two teams have either ended in a tie or have been a one-goal game, and this night would be no different.
Similar to Friday's game, Princeton scored first. Junior Chris Corrinet, in the midst of an eight-game goal drought, collected Rob Chisholm's pass from behind the net and beat Clarkson goalie Karl Mattson at 3:05 of the second period to give Princeton a 1-0 lead. It was Corrinet's 10th of the year as Ethan Doyle also picked up an assist. With Clarkson on the power play, Golden Knight top scorer Erik Cole tied the game at 1-1 five minutes later. It was Cole's 19th of the season and second goal of the series as Kerry Ellis-Toddington and David Evans were credited with assists. Cole's goal the night before had tied the game at 2-2. Evans then scored the eventual game-winner at 17:20 of the second from Cole and Kevin O'Flaherty. It was Evans' 11th of the year.
The Tigers received a strong performance from sophomore goalie Dave Stathos, who stopped 35 shots, nine in the first period, 14 in the second and 12 in the third. Clarkson's Mattson was forced to make just 19 saves as Princeton registered only five shots in the first and third periods.
Clarkson, which extended its home playoff-winning streak to 17 during the last eight years, continued its domination of Princeton in Potsdam, winning 25 of 27 games. The Knights now stand at 17-14-3 (8-9-4 ECAC regular season), while Princeton finished 10-16-4 (8-9-4 ECAC).
This was the fourth consecutive year that Princeton and Clarkson have met in the postseason. The prior meetings were in Lake Placid, and the last two were the most memorable.
In 1998 Syl Apps' double-overtime goal gave Princeton a 5-4 victory and its first ECAC tournament title and first trip to the NCAA tournament. Last year Princeton rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game on Scott Bertoli's goal with less than a minute remaining in the third period. But Clarkson's Willie Mitchell scored from center ice with three seconds left to give the Golden Knights a numbing 6-5 victory.
One-Timers . . .
* A preseason poll picked Princeton for 11th place. The same poll had Clarkson No. 1. The Tigers finished the ECAC season in sixth place, but were battling for third the last weekend of the regular season.
* Without captain Darren Yopyk, who broke his leg against Harvard on Feb. 25, Princeton won just one of its last five games (4-1 vs. Brown at Baker Rink).
* The Tigers leading scorer was junior Kirk Lamb with 28 points (eight goals and 20 assists). Senior Benoit Morin, perhaps more noted for his three consecutive seasons of 100-plus penalty minutes, was second in scoring with 27 points (9G, 18A). Junior Chris Corrinet had 24 points (10G, 14A), while sophomore Brad Parsons had 21 points (11G, 10A).
* Parsons led the team in goals with 11, while Lamb had a team-high 20 assists.
* David Schneider was the highest scoring defenseman with 16 points (5G, 11A).
* Goalie Dave Stathos had a 9-11-1 record, but a solid 2.82 goal-against average and an impressive .912 save percentage.
* Princeton had advanced to Lake Placid each of the past three years and four of the last five.
* Prior to losing to Clarkson, Princeton had won its last four first-round series.
* The Class of 2000 (Chris Barber, Brad Meredith, Benoit Morin and Darren Yopyk) ended its career with 66 victories, more wins than any other class in Princeton history.
* Princeton's only two wins in Potsdam came in 1998 (4-3) and 1989 (8-6).
Additional Princeton hockey information is available on the Internet at www.goprincetontigers.com and http://hockey.ecac.com.
Princeton at Clarkson -- Game 2 ECAC playoff game summary Clarkson 2, Princeton 1
Scoring:
1st Period: none
2nd Period: PRN 03:05 Chris Corrinet (Ethan Doyle, Rob Chisholm) CLK 08:06 PP Erik Cole (Kerry Ellis-Toddington, David Evans) CLK 17:20 David Evans (Erik Cole, Kevin O'Flaherty)
3rd Period: none
Princeton Goaltending: 1st - 2nd - 3rd - Total (Minutes) Dave Stathos 9 - 14 - 12 - 35 (59:36) Empty Net (0:24)
Clarkson Goaltending: 1st - 2nd - 3rd - Total (Minutes) Karl Mattson 5 - 9 - 5 - 19 (60:00)
Princeton Power Play: 0/5
Clarkson Power Play: 1/2
Penalties:
1st Period: PRN 06:29 Brad Meredith (2 - Hitting from Behind) CLK 07:08 Murray Kuntz (2 - Interference) PRN 16:22 Ethan Doyle (2 - Hooking) PRN 19:50 Shane Campbell (2 - Boarding)
2nd Period: PRN 07:24 Scott Prime (2 - Hooking) PRN 13:56 David Del Monte (2 - Holding)
3rd Period: CLK 05:51 Matt Saper (2 - Holding)
Princeton Penalties: 5 for 10
Clarkson Penalties: 2 for 4
Attendance: 1922
Referee: Scott Hansen Assistant Referee: Mike St. Louis Assistant Referee: Kevin Redding