Men's Hockey Renews Ivy Rivalries at Brown and Harvard

Nov. 10, 2004

Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's hockey team (1-2-1; 1-1 ECACHL) will stay in the Ivy League this weekend with games at Brown (0-2-1; 0-2-1 ECACHL) and Harvard (0-2-1; 0-2-1 ECACHL). Princeton picked up its first win of the season Saturday night when it defeated Dartmouth 3-0.

Both games will be broadcast live on GoPrincetonTigers.com with the links being available on the main page in the schedules box, on the multimedia page and on the men's hockey schedule Friday afternoon. Additionally, as will be the case for league games this season, fans can follow along with live stats through Gametracker.

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Setting the Table... The Princeton men's hockey team, fresh off last Saturday night's win at Dartmouth, continues its ECAC Hockey League schedule this weekend on the road at Brown and Harvard.

Last Time Out... Princeton split a pair of league games on the road at Vermont and Dartmouth. Friday night, Vermont goaltender Joe Fallon stymied the Tigers all night for a 2-0 win and a night later, Princeton junior goaltender Eric Leroux did it to Dartmouth as the Tigers came away with a 3-0 shutout win.

This Week in the ECAC... All 12 ECAC teams will be in action this weekend with 10 competing in league games and two in non-conference play. Princeton and Yale visit Brown and Harvard; Vermont and Dartmouth head to Clarkson and St. Lawrence; Rensselaer and Union have a home-and-home series; while Colgate visits UMass-Lowell for one and Cornell heads to Michigan State for a pair of games.

Last Weekend's League Recap... In last weekend's ECAC Hockey League opening weekend, four teams swept, four teams split, and four teams were swept. Colgate, Cornell, Union and Vermont were the sweepers; Dartmouth, Princeton, Rensselaer and St. Lawrence were the splitters; and Brown, Clarkson, Harvard and Yale were the swept.

On to Brown... Princeton and Brown have met 130 times with the Bears holding a 76-50-4 overall edge and hold a 41-22-1 in games played in Providence. Brown has won six straight in the series and eight of the last 10, including a sweep of Princeton in the first round of the 2003 ECAC Playoffs. Eight Princeton players have recorded a point against Brown, but no players have more than one. Scouting the Bears... Brown enters the weekend as one of three teams in the league without a win. Brown opened the season with a tie at home against Harvard and was swept last weekend at Colgate and Cornell. Brian Ihnacak leads the team with four points while Scott Rowan has been in the Brown net for all three games. Brown was chosen eighth in the league's preseason media poll and seventh in the coaches poll.

The Series With Harvard... Just as Princeton has struggled with Brown over the past few seasons, Harvard has struggled with Princeton. Princeton has won three straight in the series and is 5-1-1 in the last seven. Dating back to 1996, Princeton is 10-4-1 in its last 15 games with Harvard. The Crimson does however lead the all-time series with a record of 138-48-9 and is 67-14-4 on home ice although Princeton has not lost at the Bright Hockey Center since the 1998-99 season (4-0-1). Senior Neil Stevenson-Moore and junior Seamus Young each have three career points against Harvard and junior Eric Leroux won both games in goal last season.

Scouting the Crimson... Harvard is 0-2-1 on the season after playing three league games. Harvard opened the season with a 2-2 tie at Brown and was swept at Cornell and Colgate last weekend. Dylan Reese's two points lead the Crimson. Princeton and Harvard each played against Windsor in exhibition action. Princeton topped the Lancers 9-2 while Harvard played them to a 2-2 tie.

So What Do the Polls Mean... Ask any coach and they will tell you they don't put much emphasis on preseason polls. To see why, look at the ECAC preseason media poll where Princeton was picked to finish 12th and Dartmouth was picked to finish first.

All About Defense... In last weekend's trip, Princeton allowed only two goals, one of which was scored on an empty net. The last time Princeton allowed two or fewer goals on an ECAC weekend came at the end of the 2000-01 season at home against Dartmouth and Vermont. The single goal allowed by Princeton goaltenders this weekend marked the first time that Princeton goaltenders have held a pair of league opponents to one goal for a weekend.

Goaltending Performances... Junior Eric Leroux made 41 saves Saturday night at Princeton defeated Dartmouth 3-0. It was Leroux's first win of the season and the sixth of his career. Of those six wins, three of them have been shutouts. In addition to the Dartmouth win, he shut out Yale and Union last season.

What About the Other Guy... Sophomore B.J. Sklapsky had a strong game on Friday night at Vermont. He allowed just one goal on 29 shots to improve his stats on the season. His goals-against average now sits at 1.25 and his save-percentage dropped to .950.

Sproat Sprouts... Junior Dustin Sproat gave Princeton the lead five minutes into the second period at Dartmouth. His first goal of the season and 11th of this career gave Princeton a lead it would not relinquish. He now has three points on the season. Atop the Standings... Sophomore Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and junior Patrick Neundorfer each picked up a point at Dartmouth and are tied for the team-lead in points. Goeckner-Zoeller scored a goal and Neundorfer assisted on it.

Points on D... Senior Luc Paquin made a great clearing pass off the glass to help set up Goeckner-Zoeller's goal. It was his second assist of the season and both have come on Goeckner-Zoeller goals.

Carthas Can... Junior Brian Carthas added an insurance goal into the empty net on Saturday at Dartmouth. It was his first of the season and the second of his career.

Coaching Firsts... First-year Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky picked up his first win behind the Princeton bench on Saturday at Dartmouth in his fourth game. He is now 1-2-1 at Princeton. The games against Vermont and Dartmouth were his first appearances against ECAC teams, either as a coach or player. In four seasons playing at Colorado College and five coaching at Alaska-Fairbanks, he had never faced an ECAC team.

Reversing the Trend... Princeton's win at Dartmouth snapped a seven-game winless streak for the Tigers at the hands of the Big Green. Princeton's last win over Dartmouth was also a shut out in Hanover.

Shot Charts... Princeton has been outshot in all four games this season. Interestingly enough, in the two games that Princeton has allowed over 40 shots, Princeton is 1-0-1. In the two games that Princeton has allowed under 40 shots, they are winless (0-2).

Looking Ahead... Princeton begins a three-game homestand next weekend when Union and Rensselaer visit Baker Rink on Friday and Saturday. Princeton then has it's home-and-home series with Yale. hosting the Bulldogs on Nov. 23 and visiting Yale on Nov. 27

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