Princeton University
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Union
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February 16, 2002 | Men's Ice Hockey
"The last few weeks I have felt as if we were getting better and this is a big step for us," said Princeton head coach Len Quesnelle. "Brad [Parsons] is starting to feel comfortable for the first time this year and it couldn't come at a better time for us."
The Skating Dutchmen jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal at 15:05 of the first period. Joel Beal sent a pass from the left circle across the ice to a wide-open Dutchmen skater in the right circle. A sliding David Del Monte (Sr., Mississauga, ONT) tried to block the puck and accidentally deflected it past goalie Dave Stathos (Sr., Longueuil, QUE) and into the net. The Tigers had a 15-8 shot advantage until the last minute of the period when Union fired off six quick shots to close the gap to 15-14 at the end of the period.
Princeton's power play continued to click with Brad Parsons' man-advantage goal at 5:30 of the second period. George Parros (Jr., Randolph, NJ) had the puck up high and fed Paquin down low on the left. He held it long enough to draw Union netminder Brandon Snee and fed Parsons who was skating in on the right side, collected the puck and parked it in the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
The Tigers' special teams came though again at 8:38 of the second period. Parsons had the puck at the point, waited for a screen and cashed in by beating Snee high and to the glove side to Princeton a 2-1 lead. David Schneider (Sr., Melrose Park, IL) assisted on the goal.
Neil Stevenson-Moore's (North Vancouver, BC) goal at 4:49 of the third period gave the Tigers a two-goal cushion. Del Monte fed Stevenson-Moore in the high slot and he connected for his fifth goal of the season. Paquin also assisted on the goal.
Dan Hursh (So., Calgary, ALB) scored his second goal of the season, and Princeton's fourth unanswered goal of the game, at 8:17 of the third. Paquin took a shot from the left circle and a trailing Hursh was able to collect the rebound and give Princeton a 4-1 lead.
The Skating Dutchmen cut into that lead at 14:14. Jason Kean's shot knocked Stathos' down and the rebound came out to Kris Goodjohn. Goodjohn had an almost impossible angle, but still managed to find the back of the net to cut the lead to 4-2.
Union almost made it a one-goal game at 16:55. Stathos got knocked down and Union's Jeff Wilson poked the puck toward a wide open net, but Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer (So., Manlius, NY) came in and took the puck out of the crease to preserve the 4-2 lead.
Stathos finished with 39 saves, while Snee had 31 between the piped for the Skating Dutchmen.
"We knew that we need to cone up with a win tonight," said Princeton defender Luc Paquin. :The standings are really tight and we knew that we needed to get two points."
Princeton will hit the road for a pair of games at Dartmouth and Vermont on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23 respectively. The Tigers will then return home to close out the regular season by hosting Brown on Friday, March 1 and Harvard on Saturday, March 2. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.