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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Rensselaer
Men's Hockey Drops Playoff Opener To Rensselaer
March 08, 2002 | Men's Ice Hockey
March 8, 2002
Final Stats
TROY, N.Y. - Chris Migliore (Sr., Hamden, CT) scored two quick goals to open the third period and give Rensselaer a insurmountable lead, as the Engineers earned a 5-3 victory over Princeton in game one of the first round ECAC Playoff series on Friday night at Houston Fieldhouse. Princeton drops to 11-17-2, while Rensselaer improves to 17-12-4.
"We came out and scored a big goal early in the second period," said Princeton head coach Len Quesnelle. "Then they came out and did the same thing to us in the third period. I think we let our guard down for a second. We lost the first battle, but there are two more out there."
Rensselaer opened the scoring at 11:43 of the first period on a goal from Jim Vickers (Sr., Aurora, ONT). Marc Cavosie (Jr., Cohoes, NY) won a loose puck at center ice and sent it ahead to Matt Murley (Sr., Troy, NY) who was making a run on the left side. Murley took the puck behind the net and had his initial wrap around attempt blocked by Princeton netminder Dave Stathos (Sr., Longueuil, QUE). The rebound bounced out to Nolan Graham (Jr., Nanaimo, BC), who fed Vickers the point for a 1-0 Engineers lead. Rensselaer almost took a 2-0 lead at 14:22 of the opening period. The Engineers were peppering the Tigers while skating with a man-advantage and a rebound was up for grabs in the crease. David Schneider (Sr., Melrose Park, IL) was able to get his stick on the puck and clear it out before Rensselaer could get there.
David Del Monte (Sr., Mississauga, ONT) had a breakaway opportunity with just under a minute remaining in the period, but Engineers goaltender Nathan Marsters (So., Grimsby, ONT) was there to preserve the 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer tied the score at 1-1 just 20 seconds into the second period. Schneider cleared the puck out of the defensive zone and sent it up to Fouladgar-Mercer. He just fired the puck on goal and was able to beat Rensselaer goalie Nathan Marsters (So., Grimsby, ONT).
Steve Slaton (So., Plymouth, MN) gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with his first goal of the season at 4:27 of the second period while they were skating on the power play. Brad Parsons (Sr., Kingston, MA) had the puck down low and fed a wide-open Slaton who had crept in behind the defense into the left circle. Slaton capitalized on a wide open left half of the net.
An RPI goal was waved off at 6:31 of the second period. The referee blew the whistle just as Murley fired off a shot but the goal was denied because of a crease violation.
The Engineers knotted the score at 2-2 at the midway point of the second period. Carson Butterwick (Jr., Prince Albert, SASK) scored his 13th goal of the season at 10:03 with assists from Andrew McPherson (Sr., Winnepeg, MAN) and Scoot Basiuk (So., Prince Albert, SASK).
Migliore almost made the Tigers pay for a turnover in their defensive zone, but Stathos was able to make a glove save and keep the score tied at 2-2. with 5:47 remaining in the period, which is how the score would remain going into the second intermission
Rensselaer came out of the intermission firing, and jumped out to a two-goal lead just 1:18 into the third period. Both Engineer goals were scored by Migliore and assisted by Jim Henkel (Sr., Hazlet, NJ) and Eric Cavosie (Jr., Cohoes, NY). The first came 1:05 into the period when Henkel fed a wide-open Migliore who parked the puck in the left side of the net. The second goal came 13 seconds later when Migliore's initial shot was saved by Stathos, but he got his own rebound and scored his second goal of the period for a 4-2 Rensselaer lead.
The lead did not hold for long and Princeton settled down during a timeout and came out and closed the gap to 4-3 on Josh Roberts' (Sr., Orleans, MA) fourth goal of the season. Schneider and Parsons got the puck up the ice and Roberts was able to finish the play with a shot that hit the inside of the upper right crossbar and ricocheted into the net.
McPherson provided the final scoring of the night at 12:20 of the third period. Ben Barr's (So., Faribault, MN) shot was blocked by Stathos, but McPherson skated in, collected the rebound and beat Stathos low and to the stick side to provide the final 5-2 margin.
Stathos, the reigning ECAC Goalie of the Week, finished the night with 33 saves, including 15 in the second period. Marsters made 19 saves in the win.
The series resumes tomorrow at 7 p.m in a must win game for the Tigers. Princeton has never beaten Rensselaer in a playoff game (0-6) and will have to break that streak tomorrow night if it wants its season to continue.
Princeton (11-16-2) 0 2 1 - 3 Rensselaer (17-12-4) 1 1 3 - 5First Period - 1, Rensselaer, Vickers (Graham, Murley), 11:43.
Second Period - 2, Princeton, Fouladgar-Mercer (Schneider), :20. 3, Princeton, Slaton (Parsons, Parros), 4:27 (pp). 4, Rensselaer, Butterwick (McPherson, Basiuk), 10:03.
Third Period - 5, Rensselaer, Migliore (Henkel, E. Cavosie), 1:05. 6, Rensselaer, Migliore (Henkel, E. Cavosie), 1:18. 7, Princeton, Roberts (Schneider, Parsons), 1:50. 8, Rensselaer, McPherson (Barr, Butterwick), 12:20
Shots on Goal - Princeton 9-6-7. Rensselaer 16-12-10
Power Play Opportunities - Princeton 1 of 1, Rensselaer 0 of 4
Goalies - Princeton, Stathos, 58:34 (38 shots-33 saves). Rensselaer, Marsters 60:00 (21 shots-13 saves)
Attendance - 2,701