Men's Hockey Wraps Up Regular Season at Home This Weekend

Feb. 26, 2004

Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's hockey team will wrap up the 2003-04 regular season on home ice this weekend when it welcomes Rensselaer and Union to Baker Rink for a pair of ECAC contests. Prior to Saturday night's game with Union, Princeton will recognize the five members of its Class of 2004: Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, Dan Hursh, Matt Maglione, Chris Owen and Steve Slaton.

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Drop the Puck... The Princeton men's hockey team wraps up the regular season this weekend at home against Rensselaer and Union.

Last Time Out... The Tigers went 0-1-1 on its final regular season road trip at Dartmouth and Vermont. On Friday night, senior Matt Maglione scored twice and freshman BJ Sklapsky made 38 saves as the Tigers and Big Green skated to a 2-2 tie. Saturday, sophomore Patrick Neundorfer tallied the Tigers' lone goal in a 4-1 loss at Vermont.

The Series with Rensselaer... Princeton is 25-51-8 all time against Rensselaer and 11-19-5 against the Engineers in games played in Princeton. Before RPI's win in December, princeton had been unbeaten in three games against the Engineers last season, including a pair of 4-3 victories and a 2-2 tie. Junior Mike Patton leads all current Tigers in points against Rensselaer with six, while junior Neil Stevenson-Moore has five. Scouting the Engineers... Rensselaer is 17-13-2 overall and 11-8-1 in the ECAC. The Engineers sit fifth in the league standings and could potentially be Princeton's opponent in the playoffs next weekend. RPI was swept at home last weekend by Cornell and Colgate, but before that had won nine of its last 12 games.

Earlier this Season... Rensselaer took a 4-0 lead midway through the second period, only to have the Tigers cut the lead to 4-3 early in the third period. That however was as close as Princeton would get as the Engineers pulled out a 6-4 win. Freshman Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and junior Mike Patton each had three points in the loss.

The Series with Union... The Tigers are 17-9-3 all time against Union and are 10-4-1 in games played at Baker Rink. Before Princeton's win in December, the Dutchmen had won two straight with a sweep of the Tigers last season. Seniors Chris Owen and Steve Slaton lead all Tigers with four career points against Union.

Scouting the Dutchmen... Union is 12-15-5 overall and 6-11-3 in the ECAC, which ranks the Dutchmen 10th. Union's season can be best looked at in three streaks. The Dutchmen began the season 7-2-3 in their first 13 games. Then came a an 11-game winless streak (0-10-1). That streak ended with a win over Sacred Heart and Union is 5-3-1 since, including shutouts of Dartmouth and Cornell in that stretch.

Earlier this Season... Senior Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer had a goal and an assist to help lift the Tigers to a 4-0 win over Union at Messa Rink. Ten other Tigers tallied points in the win and sophomore Eric Leroux made 16 saves for his second career shutout.

A Look at the Standings... Princeton is currently 12th in the ECAC standings with 11 points. The Tigers can finish as high as 10th as both Union and Vermont can both be caught in the standings.

A Look Ahead... Princeton will open up the ECAC playoffs next weekend on the road. Princeton could wind up being at one of eight different rinks for the first round depending on what happens in this weekend's games. The only places Princeton can not end are Colgate, Union and Vermont.

Ranked Opponents... Princeton's game with Colgate was its seventh game this season against a ranked opponent. The Tigers are 1-6 in those games. The win came at Harvard, while the losses came to Miami, St. Cloud State (2) and Colgate on the road and to Cornell and Brown on home ice.

Hollywood... Los Angeles native Grant Goeckner-Zoeller stands atop the Princeton point standings with five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 27 games. That point total surpasses the rookie totals of sophomore Dustin Sproat (11 in 2002-03), junior Neil Stevenson-Moore (12 in 2001-02) and senior Steve Slaton (10 in 2000-01). His point total is the highest for a Princeton freshman since Benoit Morin had 24 points in the 1997-98 season. He has tallied 13 points in his last 14 games.

Capital Gains... Senior Matt Maglione scored both Tiger goals in Friday's tie at Dartmouth. It was his third multiple-poitn game of the season and the second time a Tiger has scored twice in a game this season. Maglione is also 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.

Party On Garth... Freshman Kevin Westgarth tallied the first multiple point game of his career Friday night when he posted helpers on both of Maglione's goals. Westgarth was ranked 34th when the National Hockey League's Central Scouting Service recently released its preliminary ranking of college hockey players that are eligible for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He has two goals and three assists this season.

Goal Scoring... Sophomore Patrick Neundorfer tallied his team-leading seventh goals of the seaosn Saturday night at Vermont.

Sklap Happy... Freshman B.J. Sklapsky made his second career start Friday at Dartmouth and made 38 saves, including six in overtime to earnt he second tie of his career. Sklapsky is now 0-1-2 on the season, and every game in which he has played over a period in has been decided in overtime.

Middle Ground... Princeton's win over Harvard on Dec. 16 was Princeton's third win at home this season. Through 80 seasons at Baker Rink, Princeton is just below .500 on home ice, playing to a record of 428-432-97.

Class of '04... Here's a brief look at Princeton Class of 2004.

Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer

Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer has appeared in 92 games for the Tigers, scoring seven goals and posting 13 assists for 20 points. Fouladgar-Mercer has played as a winger for four seasons and posted a career-high four goals and four assists for eight points as a sophomore. This season, he has scored two goals and added five assists for seven points. Both of his goals this season have been game-winning goals, as his first tally lifted Princeton over Harvard and the second proved to be the game-winner at Union. A native of Manlius, N.Y., Fouldagar-Mercer is a computer science major and is a member of the 2003 ECAC All-Academic Team.

Dan Hursh

Dan Hursh has played in 80 games at Princeton, posting eight goals and four assists for 12 points in his career. Hursh tallied his career high of five points twice, as both a sophomore and as a junior. Early in the 2002-03 season, Hursh scored goals in three consecutive games en route to a season total of four. This season, Hursh has battled through injuries to appear in 15 games and has one goal, which tied Princeton 2-2 with Brown entering the third period. A native of Calgary, Alb., Hursh is a politics major and is a two-time member of the ECAC All-Academic Team.

Matt Maglione

Matt Maglione has appeared in 111 games for the Tigers and leads the class in points scored with 43 on 15 goals and 28 assists. This season Maglione has four goals and seven assists for 11 points for his second consecutive double-digit point season. Maglione is the only current Tiger to have been received an ECAC weekly honor during his career and is currently tied for third in the Princeton record books for goals in a career by a defenseman. A native of Fayetteville, N.Y., Maglione is a sociology major and is the only current Tiger to have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft. He was selected by the Washington Capitals in the 2001 draft.

Chris Owen

Chris Owen, one of the team's two captains, has skated in 117 career games as a Tiger and has scored 24 goals and added 17 assists for 41 career points. Owen set career highs for goals and points as a junior when he scored 17 times and posted 23 points. His 17 goals was the most for a Tiger in a season since Jeff Halpern scored 22 in 1998-99. He has recorded two career game-winning goals, both of which lifted Princeton to wns over Harvard. He has appeared in every game for the past two seasons and has three goals and two assists this season. A native of Westwood, Mass., Owen is a politics major and is a two-time member of the ECAC All-Academic Team.

Steve Slaton

Steve Slaton, one of the team's two captains, has appeared in 117 games, scoring seven goals and adding 26 assists for 33 career points. Slaton is currently having his best offensive season with three goals and eight assists for 11 points. His previous high for points in a season was 10, achieved both as a freshman and a junior. All three of his goals have come on the power play and he scored the game-winner against Vermont. Slaton has not missed a game since his freshman season and will finish his career ranked second in games played by a Princeton defenseman in a career. A native of Plymouth, Minn., Slaton is a politics major and is a two-time member of the ECAC All-Academic Team.

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