Princeton University
St. Cloud State
Men's Hockey Drops Hard Fought Game at No. 13 St. Cloud State
November 01, 2003 | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 1, 2003
Box Score
St. Cloud, Minn. - For the second night in a row, the Princeton men's hockey team played a spirited 60 minutes of hock, but for the second night in a row, it was St. Cloud pulling out a hard-fought victory at the National Hockey Center. Sophomore goaltender Eric Leroux made 46 saves and junior Neil Stevenson-Moore scored for Princeton, but the Tigers fell 3-1.
Just like Friday night, St. Cloud came out of the gates flying and outshot Princeton in the first period. The Huskies fired 18 shots on Leroux while Princeton had six shots. The Huskies broke through at 11:42 of the period to take a 1-0 lead. While on the power-play, Mike Doyle carried the puck into the Tiger zone and deked a Tiger defenseman to go in on a breakaway. Doyle attempted to deke Leroux, but the goaltender's right pad stopped Doyle's shot. However, the rebound went right back into the slot where Billy Hengen collected it and fired it into the Tiger goal. Princeton created some chances for itself later in the period, but St. Cloud State goalie Jason Montgomery was equal to the task, stopping freshman Ian McNally from point-blank range, and eating up shots from freshman Max Cousins and sophomore Dustin Sproat on a late Tiger power-play.
Princeton began the second period strong and spirited and the hard work paid off when Stevenson-Moore knotted the game up at one apiece. Sophomore Brian Carthas sprung Stevenson-Moore on a one-on-one. Stevenson-Moore cut in on the St. Cloud net, leaning on Husky defenseman Matt Gens. Stevenson-Moore got a shot off that Montgomery was able to control, but as Gens pushed Stevenson-Moore through the crease, the loose puck was knocked into the Husky net and the game was tied. Jesse Masear also assisted on the goal.
Just under five minutes later, the Huskies went on the power-play, and just as on their attempt in the first period, they were able to score off the rush and reclaim the one-goal lead. Matt Hendricks picked up the puck in the neutral zone and carried it into the Tiger defensive zone. He skated along the near boards and cut to the middle where he snapped a shot that beat Leroux high on the glove side.
The Tigers got into some penalty trouble late in the second period but were able to kill off three successive penalties to keep the score at 2-1 going into the third period. Leroux made 15 saves in the period to bring his two-period total to 32.
The Tigers again came out strong in the third and used their speed to generate two good scoring opportunities early but were unable to finish and draw even. Play went back-and-forth until St. Cloud scored an insurance goal at 11:45. Tim Conboy and Casey Borer worked the puck and forth along the blueline until Conboy fired a shot that beat Leroux.
Princeton stormed back and generated chances after the Conboy goal but Montgomery held the Tigers at bay, including late stops on Sproat and sophomore Mark Masters.
For the second straight evening Leroux made over 40 saves. For the weekend, he stopped 88 of the 93 shots he faced. Montgomery made 14 shots and earned his second win of the season.
Princeton is now 0-2-0 on the season and begins the ECAC portion of its schedule next weekend as it hosts Colgate on Friday night and Cornell on Saturday. Game time on both nights is 7 p.m.
Princeton 0-1-0--1
St. Cloud 1-1-1--3
First Period: Scoring - 1, SC - Hengen (Doyle, LaMere) 11:42, pp. Penalties - Neundorfer, PRI (Tripping) 10:28; Raduns, SC (Obstruction Hooking) 15:52.
Second Period: Scoring - 2, PRI - Stevenson-Moore (Carthas, Masear) 3:45. 3, SC - Hendricks (LaMere, Gens) 9:39, pp. Penalties - Goeckner-Zoeller, PRI (Hooking) 6:56; Marcoux, PRI (Holding) 11:35; K. Westgarth, PRI (Slashing) 15:43; Jensen, SC (Cross-Checking 17:05; K. Westgarth, PRI (Slashing) 17:51.
Third Period: Scoring - None. Penalties - Raduns, SC (Roughing) 4:17; Fouladgar-Mercer, PRI (Hooking) 5:18; Patton, PRI (10 Minute Misconduct) 5:18; Gens, SC (Cross-Checking) 8:31; McNally, PRI (Roughing) 17:20; LaMere, SC (Kneeing-5:00) 18:10.
Goaltending - PRI - Leroux (58:19; 49 shots, 46 saves); SC - Montgomery (60:00; 15 shots, 14 saves)
Shots on Goal - PRI 6-6-2-15; SC 18-15-16--49
Power-Plays - PRI (0-5); SC (2-8)