.png&width=24&type=webp)
.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Hosts UMass Thursday in Men's Hockey
December 11, 2002 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 11, 2002
The Princeton men's hockey team closes out a three-game homestand Thursday night when it plays host to Massachusetts at Baker Rink at 7:00 p.m. It is Princeton's last game before a week-long four-game trip to England.
Prior History With UMass - Princeton and Massachusetts have faced-off seven times with the Tigers holding a 5-2-0 series advantage, and have a 2-1-0 edge at Baker Rink. The teams last met earlier this season in Amherst, where the Minutemen came away with a 5-3 victory at the Mullins Center. Mike Patton, Chris Owen, and Sebastian Borza scored in the game.
Scouting the Minutemen - Massachusetts is 9-6-0 this season and 4-5-0 in Hockey East and has been listed in the other teams receving votes category in both national polls. Following a 2-4 start, the Minutemen have won seven of their last nine games, including wins against Boston University, Dartmouth, Vermont, UMass-Lowell, Northeastern and Rensselaer. Last Time Out - Princeton returned home last weekend for a set of ECAC games against Harvard and Brown. On Friday night, the Crimson topped the Tigers 6-3 and despite scoring the first two goals on Saturday, the Tigers fell 5-2 to Brown.
A Look Forward - The Tigers resume the regular season on Dec. 28 at the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament against Wayne State and then play in the championship/consolation game the following day against Merrimack or Rensselaer.
"Toot's" Back - Tonight marks the return of former Tiger Head Coach Don Cahoon to Baker Rink. Cahoon guided the Tiger hockey program from 1991-2000 before taking the UMass position in 2001. Cahoon was 122-129-32 at Princeton, claiming the ECAC Championship in 1998 and competing in the NCAA Tournament that season.
"Cheerio" - Next week Princeton travels to England to compete in four exhibition games against British Teams. Over the course of the week, the Tigers will face the Nottingham Panthers, Basingstoke Bisons, Guildford Flames and Cardiff Devils. The team in Guildford is owned by former Tiger John Hepburn '72.
The Hot Hand - Chris Owen has scored four goals over the last three games, including two in the loss to Harvard. Owen's recent streak has moved him to the team lead in goals (6) and points (8).
More For Borza - Sebastian Borza's first period assist on Saturday against Brown was his third point in four games. Borza also scored goals in back-to-back games for the Tigers, scoring the first and second goals of his college career at Yale and at Massachusetts.
Seamus Scores - Freshman defenseman Seamus Young scored the first goal of his short college career in the third period on Friday night against Harvard. Young's first collegiate points came earlier in the season as he tallied assists in multiple games.
Mags Attack - Matt Maglione continued his string of putting points on the board, scoring his second goal of the season against Brown. The goal gave him his fourth point over the last five games and places him first among Tiger defenseman with seven points.
Two For Fitzie - James Fitzpatrick tallied two assists on Friday night against Harvard for his first points of the season. It was also his first-career multiple-point game, which came in his 38th game as a Tiger.
Two For Slaton - Steve Slaton registered two assists on Saturday against Brown. It was Slaton's first two-assist game since Dec. 30, 2000 against North Dakota, a span of 56 games. Slaton's four assists ranks him second on the squad in that category.
Underclass Presence - In both games over the weekend, the Princeton lineup was dominated by underclassmen, with 12 of the 18 skaters dressed each night being either freshmen or sophomores.
Tending the Goal - Princeton continued its goalie rotation the past weekend with all three goaltenders seeing action. Each goalie played a period against Harvard while Trevor Clay played the full 60 minutes against Brown.
Closing In On 425 - Princeton is two wins away from recording its 425th win at Baker Rink. The Tigers are 423-417-55 at home in the 71 seasons they have played at Baker Rink.