Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell
Men's Hockey Falls 5-3 at Cornell
December 04, 2004 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 4, 2004
Box Score
Ithaca, N.Y. - Three Tigers scored goals as the Princeton men's hockey team fell at Cornell by a score of 5-3. Princeton became the first team to score more than two goals on Cornell in a single game but it wasn't enough as the Big Red posted the win. Princeton falls to 4-7-1 with the loss.
Cornell controlled play early in the period, but thanks to the nation's best power play, Princeton scored first with a goal at the 12:32 mark. Junior Sebastian Borza won an offensive zone draw back to senior Jesse Masear at the left point. Masear skated to the center of the zone and took a wrist shot through a screen the beat Cornell goaltender David McKee for his second goal of the season and the third of his career. Princeton held the lead despite being outshot 11-3 in the period and it looked as though the Tigers would take that lead into the locker room, but Cornell scored on a delayed penalty with just 33.7 seconds remaining in the period. Mitch Carefoot came up with the puck at the top of the right circle and threw it towards the net where Chris Abbott redirected it out of the air and by junior goaltender Eric Leroux. Jeremy Downs also assisted on the goal. Leroux made 10 saves in the first period to the two made by McKee,
Cornell took its first lead of the night in the first minute of the second period when Raymond Sawada scored at the 56-second mark. Downs made a good play to keep the puck in the zone and fed Sawada for the goal.
Princeton countered and evened up the score at 2-2 when junior Dustin Sproat was credited with a goal at 3:55. Sophomore Grant Goeckner-Zoeller fed Sproat in front but he had trouble controlling the puck and as he tried to move the puck to his forehand it bounced off a Cornell skate and into the Big Red net. Junior Patrick Neundorfer also assisted on Sproat's 10th of the season. Sproat has scored goals in eight of his last nine games.
Cornell made it 3-2 when Shane Hynes deflected a Matt Moulson shot at 12:03. Moulson shot against the grain as Leroux went across the crease and Hynes directed the wide shot by Leroux. The Big Red scored its second goal with less than a minute left in a period when Paul Varteressian scored from a low angle, banking the puck into the net off of Leroux for his second of the year with just 18.8 seconds left. Cornell outshot Princeton 13-11 in the period.
Princeton moved within a goal at 4-3 early in the third when freshman Landis Stankievech scored his first goal of the season while the Tigers were shorthanded. Stankievech blocked a Cornell point shot and tracked down the rebound and scored on the breakaway high to the glove side of McKee for Princeton's first shorthanded tally of the season.
That was as close as Princeton would get through as Cornell reassumed the two-goal lead when Cam Abbot scored on the power play. Abbot took advantage of a bad Princeton line change and went in all alone on Leroux and made a backhand to forehand to move to make the game 5-3.
Leroux finished the night with 27 saves while McKee made 18 for Cornell, as the Big Red outshot Princeton 32-21.
Princeton will play out of the ECAC Hockey League next weekend when the Tiger visit Merrimack of Hockey East for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday nights.