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Princeton University Athletics
Men's Hockey Begins Important Four-Game Stretch Saturday at Northeastern
December 11, 2003 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 11, 2003
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's hockey team (4-8-0; 4-6-0 ECAC) begins a pivotal stretch of games with its non-conference game at Northeastern (1-9-2; 0-7-1) Saturday night. Following that, Princeton will face Harvard on Tuesday night, then head to Minneapolis to compete in the Dodge Holiday Classic over the weekend with defending National Champion Minnesota, No. 5 New Hampshire and No. 14 Miami.
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Drop the Puck... The Princeton men's hockey team plays its fourth consecutive game away from home with its non-conference game Saturday night at Northeastern.
Last Time Out... For the fourth consecutive weekend Princeton split it's league games, using a strong and complete game on Friday night to shut out Union 4-0. The following night, the Tigers got off to a slow start and fell at Rensselaer 6-4.
The Series with Northeastern... The Tigers and the Huskies will meet for the 30th time on Saturday night at Matthews Arena. Northeastern holds a 24-12-3 series advantage and leads 14-4-0 in Boston. Northeastern has won five straight games, and is unbeaten in 15 games dating back to Princeton's last series win on Jan. 25, 1975.
Scouting the Huskies... Northeastern enters the weekend off its first win of the season a week ago against Vermont. The Huskies are 1-9-2 overall and 0-7-1 in Hockey East. Northeastern's ties have come against Colgate and Providence.
Top Tigers vs. Northeastern... Only eight current Tigers were in the lineup when Northeastern visited Baker Rink in the 2000-01 season, and none of them had points in that game. Playing Out of Conference... Princeton's game with Northeastern will be it's third non-conference game of the season. The Tigers are currently 0-2-0 in those games with both losses coming at St. Cloud State.
Recent Non-League History... The Tigers have not won a game against a non-league opponent since Jan 4, 2002 at Bowling Green, a span of eight games. However, Princeton did defeat Rensselaer in a non-league game last season, 4-3, in the HSBC/Rensselaer Holiday Tournament.
Princeton vs. Hockey East... Princeton has lost seven straight games against teams from Hockey East, including three losses last season; one to Providence and two to Massachusetts. Princeton's last win over a Hockey East team was on Dec. 28, 1998 against Boston University at the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis.
Good Friday... Friday night has been Princeton's best night this season, posting a 3-2-0 record in Friday night games with both losses coming in overtime. Conversely, on Saturday nights, Princeton is 0-6-0 and has allowed an average of over five goals per game in those six losses.
Old Barns... Matthews Arena and Baker Rink are the two oldest college hockey venues in the nation.
Looking Ahead... Next week is a busy week for the Tigers against some top-notch opponents. On Tuesday, Harvard visits Baker Rink for a game and over the weekend, Princeton heads to Minnesota to play in the Dodge Holiday Classic with the National Champion Golden Gophers, No. 4 New Hampshire and No. 14 Miami.
Strength of Schedule... The 2003-04 Princeton hockey schedule is one of the toughest in the nation. The Tigers currently have 11 opponents on their schedule who are either nationally ranked or receiving votes in the three national polls. Five of those opponents competed in the 2003 NCAA tournament a year ago, and three were in the Frozen Four.
Four Wins... Princeton's win on Friday night was its fourth of the season. That number surpasses the total of last season. In 2002-03, Princeton was 3-26-2.
A Balanced Attack... Twelve Tigers recorded points last weekend and six had points in both games.
Scoring Streaks... Junior Mike Patton had points in both games last weekend to extend his scoring streak to four games. He has two goals and three assists in the span. Sophomore Patrick Neundorfer has a three-game streak going with two goals and an assist.
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Freshman Grant Goeckner-Zoeller posted four assists last weekend as Princeton earned a split with Union and Rensselaer. The freshman from Los Angeles currently ranks second in the ECAC in scoring with two goals and five assists for seven points.
Goeckner-Zoeller looking back on last weekend... "Last weekend we played four of our best periods of hockey all year. We know if we play like that we can compete with anyone in the country. It is just a matter of being consistent and continuing to improve every day."
Goeckner-Zoeller on the Northeastern game... "This Saturday is a good chance for us to get our first non-conference win of the season. We also want to be playing well when Harvard comes to town next Tuesday." |
Shutout Info... On Friday night, sophomore goaltender Eric Leroux made 16 saves in Princeton's 4-0 shutout of Union. The shutout was Princeton's second in a three-game stretch, after Princeton had gone it's previous 41 games without one. It was also Princeton's first road shutout since Nov. 18, 2000 when the Tigers shut out Dartmouth 6-0, 55 road games ago.
Power Play Wake Up... After struggling on the power play all season long, Princeton has scored 10 power-play goals in its last six games, including three against Yale and two in each of last weekend's games. In that span the Tiger pp has jumped from 4.3% to 15.7% efficiency.
Bus Troubles... The start of Saturday's game at Rensselaer was delayed 45 minutes after Princeton's bus was stuck in the snow storm that blanketed much of the east coast.
Give Me Nine... Princeton scored eight goals over the weekend, a weekend high for the season. The last time Princeton scored eight or more goals in a weekend was Nov. 17 and 18, 2000 at Dartmouth and Vermont.
Century Mark... Senior captains Steve Slaton and Chris Owen both played in their 100th games as Tigers two weekends ago at Yale. The next Tiger to reach the milestone will be Matt Maglione who is two appearances away.
First Goal... Freshman Darroll Powe notched his first career goal Saturday night at Rensselaer. He posted his first point a week earlier when he set up a goal for junior Neil Stevenson-Moore.
Points Leader... With his four point weekend, junior Mike Patton climbed to the top of the team lead in points. He now have three goals and six assists for nine points. Patton tied for the team lead in points in 2002-03, registering 10 goals and 13 assists.