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Princeton University Athletics
Men's Hockey Hosts Yale Tuesday Night
November 25, 2003 | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 25, 2003
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's hockey team hosts Yale tonight in its first mid-week game of the 2003-04 season at Hobey Baker Rink at 7 p.m. Both Princeton (2-6-0; 2-4-0 ECAC) and Yale (2-6-0; 2-4-0 ECAC) enter the game off a weekend split with Vermont and Dartmouth.
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Drop the Puck... The Princeton men's hockey team completes a three-game homestand tonight against its travel-partner Yale. The two teams complete the home-and-home series Saturday night in New Haven.
Last Time Out... The Tigers posted their second consecutive weekend split, topping Vermont 2-1 on Friday night and falling to Dartmouth 6-3 on Saturday.
The Series with Yale... Princeton and Yale will meet for the 216th time dating back to January, 19, 1901, and Yale is the opponent that Princeton has faced most often. Yale holds an all-time series edge at 113-93-9, but Princeton leads 40-38-4 at home. Yale enters on three game-win streak against Princeton, winning games by scores of 6-1, 7-1 and 6-1. The last Princeton win was Nov. 20, 2001, a 2-1 overtime win at Princeton. Princeton head coach Len Quesnelle is 2-4-0 as head coach against Yale.
Top Tigers vs. Yale... Senior Matt Maglione and junior Neil Stevenson-Moore lead active Tigers in points against Yale with two each. Maglione had the game-winning overtime goal in Princeton's last win over the Bulldogs, and also had an assist in that game. Stevenson-Moore has two career assists against Yale. Scouting the Bulldogs... Yale is currently tied with Princeton, Colgate and St. Lawrence at eighth in the ECAC standings. Yale is 2-6-0 overall and 2-4-0 in the league. The Bulldogs opened the season on the wrong end of two lopsided games against North Dakota. The following weekend, they fell to Cornell and earned their first win of the season over Colgate. After being swept by Brown and Harvard, Yale split last weekend, dropping a 9-4 decision to Dartmouth and topping Vermont 6-4.
Good Friday... Friday night has been Princeton's best night this season, posting a 2-2-0 record in Friday games with both losses coming in overtime. On Saturday, Princeton is 0-4-0 and has allowed an average of 5.25 goals in those four losses. Tonight is Princeton's first midweek game of the season. Last season Princeton was 0-2-0 in midweek games, falling to Yale and UMass at home. The game against Massachusetts was decided in overtime.
Looking Ahead... Princeton completes its home-and-home series Saturday evening in New Haven and stays on the road the following weekend at Yale and Rensselaer.
Strength of Schedule... The 2003-04 Princeton hockey schedule is one of the toughest in the nation. The Tigers currently have 10 opponents on their schedule who are either nationally ranked or receiving votes in the three national polls, including Brown which recently entered the Top 15. Five of those opponents competed in the 2003 NCAA tournament a year ago, and three were in the Frozen Four.
Two League Wins... With Princeton's 2-1 win over Vermont Friday night, the Tigers equalled last season's mark for league wins. Last season Princeton was 2-18-2 in the ECAC. The Tigers are currently 2-4-0 this season.
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Senior defenseman Steve Slaton takes a four-game point scoring streak into tonight's game against Yale. Slaton currently leads the Tigers this season with five points, and is on pace to surpass his previous high of 10 points in a season, which he has accomplished twice in his career, both as a freshman and as a junior.
Slaton on his recent offensive play... "I am not really doing anything all that different. Right now, I am just getting good bounces and I have been able to take advantage of it."
Slaton on the team... "As a team we have worked really hard and there has only been one game that we weren't really in this season. With a few bounces are record could be very different. But that doesn't mean we are content. We have to go out now and make sure those bounces fall in favor." |
Vermonster... Freshman Colin Koch made his collegiate debut on Friday night against Vermont. Koch, a native of Charlotte, Vt., was originally a member of Princeton's Class of 2006, but deferred a year to complete rehab on an injury. As fate would have it, making his first start, against his home team, Koch would score on his first shot in his first shift to give Princeton an early 1-0 lead. Koch's father, Randy, played for Vermont and is a member of the Vermont Athletics Hall of Fame.
Power Play Wake Up... After struggling on the power play all season long, Princeton scored three power play goals over the weekend. Prior to the outburst Princeton had only scored one power play goal in its first six games. Two of those man advantage goals came from senior Steve Slaton, including the game-winner against Vermont.
Points Leader... Senior Steve Slaton earned goals in both games last weekend and leads the Tigers with five points this season. All five points have come in league games, including points in his last four games. While Slaton has scored 10 points in a season twice, he is on pace to set new highs in all three offensive categories.
Back In the Lineup... Freshman defenseman Max Cousins returned to the Tiger lineup last weekend after missing three games with an injury. Cousins earned an assists on Grant Goeckner-Zoeller's power play goal.
In the Pipes... Sophomore Eric Leroux saw all the action in goal last weekend, making 21 saves on Friday to record his second career win. On Saturday, Leroux stopped 38 Dartmouth shots.
Middle Ground... Tonight marks Princeton's fifth home game of the season. Through 80 seasons at Baker Rink, Princeton is just below .500 on home ice, playing to a record of 426-428-96.
OT Struggles... The last time Princeton defeated Yale was on Nov. 20, 2001 in overtime. Since then Princeton has a string of nine overtime games without a win. The Tigers are 0-4-5 in that stretch.
Hyphen Happy... Not only does Princeton lead the nation in players with hyphenated names, but two of them factored into the scoring last weekend. Grant Goeckner-Zoeller had points in both games and Neil Stevenson-Moore earned an assist against Vermont.