Princeton University
Vermont
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Freshman Leads Men's Hockey Over Vermont
November 17, 2001 | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 17, 2001
PRINCETON, N.J. - Freshman Neil Stevenson-Moore (North Vancouver, B.C.) had a three-point night while scoring his first two collegiate goals, including the third-period game-winner, as Princeton defeated Vermont 5-4 Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink.
The Tigers entered the third period with a 3-1 lead, but Vermont's Bryson Busniuk scored a pair of goals 10 seconds apart to tie the game at the 5:10 mark. Less than four minutes later junior Trevor Beaney (Cornwall, Vt.), who was moved from defense to right wing, scored the first goal of his career to give Princeton a 4-3 lead. Dave Bennett (Warwick, R.I.), who also was switched from defense to forward, and Scott Prime (Moncton, New Brunswick) assisted on Beaney's goal. The Catamounts even the scored at 11:24 on a goal by Patrick Sharp, but Stevenson-Moore scored the game-winner less than two minutes later at 12:52 when he beat Vermont goalie Shawn Conschafter. Freshman Mike Patton (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had the lone assist.
"I saw [Conschafter] cheating over a bit," Stevenson-Moore said, "and I was able to score stick side."
The crazy third period included five goals in slightly more than seven minutes.
"It was a little wild down the stretch," Princeton coach Len Quesnelle said. "Vermont stepped up its play in the third period, but I thought we demonstrated our character after giving up those two quick goals. Emotionally it was a good sign that we responded as we did."
Ryan Cox gave Vermont a 1-0 lead 1:29 into the game when he converted a power-play opportunity. Princeton responded with a power play of its own, as Stevenson-Moore scored his first goal at 17:43 of the first period. Captain David Schneider (Melrose Park, Ill.) and David Del Monte (Mississauga, Ont.) picked up the assists.
George Parros (Randolph, N.J.) scored his team-leading third goal of the season to open the second period, and freshman James Fitzpatrick (Lawrenceville, N.J.) notched his first college goal as Princeton made it a 3-1 game before the midpoint of the second period. Del Monte assisted on Parros' tally, while Stevenson-Moore setup Fitzpatrick.
The 3-1 advantage had as much to do with the play of Tiger goalie Dave Stathos (Longueuil, Que.) as it did with offense. The senior stopped all 19 second-period shots that he faced en route to a 27-save night.
Princeton entered the game having scored two or fewer goals in its last seven outings, and put five goals on the board for the first time since a 7-2 win at Union if mid-February.
Princeton, playing it first home game of the season, is now 1-4 and 1-3 in the ECAC, while Vermont fell to 1-5 and 1-2 in the conference.
The Tigers play Dartmouth on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. The annual "Skate with the Tigers" event will follow the game against the Big Green. After traveling to Yale on Nov. 24, Princeton has three consecutive home games against Northeastern (Nov. 27), Colgate (Nov. 30) and Cornell (Dec. 1). All three games start at 7 p.m.
Tiger Tidbits: Princeton played without the injured Brad Parsons (Kingston, Mass.), the team's top returning scorer, for the fourth straight game ... Freshmen account for three goals and two assists against Vermont ... The Vermont game was the first in eight games that Stathos was not forced to make more than 30 saves ... Three Princeton players scored their first collegiate goals against the Catamounts - Stevenson-Moore, Fitzpatrick and Beaney ... Three Stars - 1. Stevenson-Moore, 2. Busniuk, 3. Del Monte.
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