Princeton University Athletics
Hobey Homecoming
November 06, 2003 | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 6, 2003
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's hockey team returns home to the ice of Baker Rink for a pair of ECAC games this weekend. On Friday, the Tigers will face Colgate and on Saturday, No. 15 Cornell comes to town. Last weekend, the Tigers opened the season with two hard fought losses at No. 13 St. Cloud State.
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Let's Play the Feud... The Princeton men's hockey team begins the ECAC portion of its schedule this weekend at home against Colgate and No. 15 Cornell.
Last Time Out... The Tigers opened the 2003-04 season a week ago in St. Cloud, Minn. Princeton faced the Huskies twice and despite two valiant efforts, dropped two close games to the 13th-ranked team in the nation. Colgate won its only game last week, a 6-0 shutout of Findlay, while Cornell went 0-1-1 against Western Michigan.
The Series with Colgate... Princeton and Colgate will face off for the 80th time on Friday night. Colgate leads the series 39-34-6, but Princeton leads at home 20-17-4. Colgate enters the series unbeaten in three (1-0-2) against Tigers.
The Series with Cornell... Saturday's meeting with Cornell will be the 117th meeting between the two schools. Cornell leads the series 68-42-7, including a 27-20-5 advantage at Princeton. Cornell enters the series on a six-game winning streak against Tigers.
Scouting the Raiders... Colgate is 2-1-1 on the season. After a season-opening tie at Northeastern, the Raiders earned a home-ice split with then 12th-ranked Ferris State. After an off-weekend, Colgate shut out Findlay 6-0 at home last weekend. Scouting the Big Red... Like Princeton, Cornell is one week into its season. The Big Red opened at home last weekend against Western Michigan. On Friday, they rallied to earn a 5-5 tie, before falling 3-2 on Saturday.
Top Tigers vs. Colgate... Every returning player in the Princeton lineup, with the exception of sophomore Brian Carthas, has at least one career point against Colgate. Five Tigers have two career points versus the Raiders including sophomore Dustin Sproat, junior Mike Patton and senior Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer. None of the three Princeton goaltenders has faced Colgate. Top Tigers vs. Cornell... Only three of Princeton's 25 skaters have registered career points against the Big Red. Junior Neil Stevenson-Moore has a goal while junior Matt Maglione and freshman Seamus Young each have assists. Goaltenders Trevor Clay and Eric Leroux each are each 0-1-0 against Cornell.
The Waiting Game... Because of Ivy League rules regarding the length of the season, Princeton and the five other Ivies have had to wait until last weekend to officially begin the season. In fact, when St. Lawrence met Miami on Oct. 3 in the first game of the college hockey season, Princeton was still 12 days away from officially being allowed to practice.
All ECAC This Weekend... This weekend there is a full slate of league games on the calendar. Rensselaer and Union visit Clarkson and St. Lawrence in the North Country, Harvard and Brown take on Dartmouth and Vermont, and Colgate and Cornell come to Princeton and Yale.
Rankings Game... Cornell fell to No. 15 in the USCHO.com poll and received votes in the USA Today/AHM Poll, while Colgate received votes in the USCHO.com poll. Going back to the start of 2002-03, Princeton is 1-8-0 against ranked teams, the lone win being a 2-1 triumph at Harvard. The losses came to North Dakota, Providence, Ohio State, Cornell (2), Harvard and St. Cloud State (2).
Hobey Homecoming... This weekend's games are Princeton's first of the season on the ice of Baker Rink. Last season the Tigers struggled on home ice, playing to a 1-11-1 record at Baker.
Looking Ahead... Princeton continues its ECAC schedule next weekend on the road. On Friday the Tigers return to the site of last season's biggest win, the Bright Hockey Center at Harvard, and on Saturday they travel to Brown, whom they met last season in the ECAC playoffs.
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 that are either nationally ranked or receiving votes in the three national polls, five of who played in the NCAA tournament a year ago.
OT Struggles... Friday night's overtime loss at St. Cloud State brought Princeton's string of overtime games without a win to 18. The Tigers last overtime win came March 5, 1999 at Rensselaer. Princeton is 0-4-14 in that stretch.
Star of the Games... Princeton goaltender Eric Leroux was the top Tiger all weekend long. The sophomore made a combined 88 saves on 93 shots in both games, leading to his being named the first star on Friday night and the third on Saturday. His save total of 46 on Saturday was a career high. He is currently 0-11-0 in his career as he chases for that ellusive first win. On Monday Leroux was named to the ECAC Honor Roll for his performances.
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PSSPOTW... Sophomore goaltender Eric Leroux was Princeton's top player last weekend at No. 13 St. Cloud State. On Friday he made a career-high 42 saves, then topped it the following night as turned away 46.
Here's his look back on the opening weekend of the season and a look ahead to the first weekend of conference play.
Leroux looking back... "Considering these past games were our first two, we played well as a unit, hopefully showing that we are a team that can compete with the best in the nation."
Leroux looking forward... "After looking at some mistakes and some good plays from last week, we are looking forward to beginning our conference play against two good teams this weekend: Colgate and Cornell.". |
These Guys Can Play... Six Tigers made their collegiate debut this weekend at St. Cloud State. They were freshmen Ian McNally, Darroll Powe, Daryl Marcoux, Max Cousins, Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and Kevin Westgarth.
Exhibition Opener... Princeton scored six times on 50 shots to defeat Guelph two weekends ago. The Tigers fell behind early as Guelph scored three goals in the game's first six minutes but were able to tilt momentum in their favor and pull out the victory.
Hyphen Happy... Not only does Princeton lead the nation in players with hyphenated names, but two of them combined to score five goals against Guelph. Senior Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer found the twine three times for the hat trick, while freshman Grant Goeckner-Zoeller added two goals in his first appearance wearing the Orange and Black.
Pass 'em the Puck... Two Tigers posted multiple assists in the game vs. Guelph. Junior Mike Patton assisted on Fouladgar-Mercer's second and third goals, while sophomore Patrick Neundorfer assisted on both of Goeckner-Zoeller's goals.
Instant Contribution... While the stats from the exhibition game do not count towards the year-end totals, several new Tigers contributed with points. Goeckner-Zoeller had two goals, while fellow freshmen Kevin Westgarth, Ian McNally and Max Cousins all posted assists in their Baker Rink debut.
Back Between the Pipes... Sophomore Eric Leroux established himself as Princeton's No. 1 goalie down the stretch last season, playing to a 2.33 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage in his last three starts of the 2002-03 season, one-goal losses to Cornell and Brown (2).
Give Me 40... Junior Trevor Clay earned all three Princeton wins last season and in each outing, he made over 40 saves to earn the win. He made 45 saves twice in wins over Rensselaer and Harvard, and made 42 on another occasion to earn another win versus Rensselaer.
Leaders of the Pack... Princeton recently announced that seniors Chris Owen and Steve Slaton would serve as the squad's captains for the 2003-04 season. Owen had a breakout season in 2002-03, tallying 17 goals and 23 points, while Slaton has amassed double-digit points totals twice in his career while also serving as a defensive mainstay.
Party On 'Garth... The 2003-04 Princeton lineup boasts brothers for the first time since 1996-97. Freshman forward Kevin Westgarth joins sophomore defenseman Brett Westgarth as being the first Tiger-brother teammates since Michael and J.P. Acosta.
Capital Gains... Senior Matt Maglione is the only Tiger to have been drafted by a National Hockey League team. Maglione was chosen 249th overall in the eighth round of the 2001 entry draft by the Washington Capitals.
In the Pros... Six former Tigers have reached the NHL, most notably, current Washington Capitals center Jeff Halpern. At the start of the 2003-04 season, there was one Tiger on an NHL roster, three on AHL rosters, five playing in the ECHL and several playing in Europe.
Mariucci Magic... This season Princeton competes in the Dodge Holiday Classic, formerly the Mariucci Classic, at the University of Minnesota. The last time Princeton was in the tournament, the Tigers earned wins over ranked powerhouses Boston University and Minnesota to claim top honors.
Middle Ground... Through 80 seasons at Baker Rink, Princeton is exactly .500 on home ice, playing to a record of 425-425-96.
Smart Kids... The Princeton men's hockey team led the ECAC with 12 of its members named to the 2002-03 ECAC All-Academic Team. To qualify for the honor, players must have a GPA above 3.00 and have appeared in over half of the team's games during the season. Returning players named to the team were Trevor Clay, Jesse Masear, Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, Dan Hursh, Chris Owen, Mike Patton and Steve Slaton.