Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Rensselaer (ECAC First Round)
Third Period Rally Falls Short as Men's Hockey Falls 5-4 at Rensselaer
March 05, 2004 | Men's Ice Hockey
March 5, 2004
Final Stats
Troy, N.Y. - The Princeton men's hockey team dropped the opening game of its ECAC first round playoff series against Rensselaer 5-4 Friday night at Houston Fieldhouse. Freshman Darroll Powe had a goal and an assist as Princeton's third period rally fell just short.
Rensselaer took a 1-0 lead early in a back-and-forth first period on a Ryan Shields goal at 4:56. The goal came as Blake Pickett fired a point from the right point that was blocked on its way to the net. The puck however ricocheted right to Shields who slid it around Princeton goaltender Eric Leroux to make give the Engineers the 1-0 lead.
RPI extended the lead to 2-0 at 6:26 of the second when Kevin Croxton one-timed a Kirk MacDonald pass on the power play. Princeton responded just over two minutes later when sophomore Sebastian Borza capped an end-to-end rush with a blast that beat RPI goaltender Nathan Marsters high on the glove side. It was Borza's second goal of the season. RPI however reassumed the two-goal advantage at the 16:59 mark when Brad Farnyuk scored on a blast from the point that hit off a Princeton stick on its way to the net. Croxton scored to make it 4-1 five minutes into the third period. The Tigers moved the margin back to two at 7:30 of the third period when sophomore Patrick Neundorfer scored his team-leading eighth of the season. Sophomore Seamus Young started the play by feeding Powe in the neutral zone. Powe carried the puck in and drove to the net, taking a shot that Marsters saved, but Neundorfer found the rebound and put it upstairs to make the score 4-2.
Rensselaer reassumed the three-goal advantage when Nick Economakos added a power play tally at 13:23 to make it 5-2. Princeton came back with two goals at 16:32 when Powe beat Marsters through the legs for his fourth goal of the season and second point of the night. Freshman Grant Goeckner-Zoeller assisted on the goal. Princeton moved with a goal at 17:48 when senior Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer beat Marsters for his third goal of the season. Senior Matt Maglione and Goeckner-Zoeller assisted on the goal. For Goeckner-Zoeller, he now has 20 points to lead the team.
Thee Tigers peppered Marsters over the final two minutes, but Marsters was able to stop all shots and maintain the win for the Enginners.
The teams meet again tomorrow night in Game 2 of the best-of-three series.
Princeton 0-1-3-4
Rensselaer 1-2-2-5
Scoring:
First Period:
1, RPI - Shields (Pickett) 4:56.
Second Period:
2, RPI - Croxton (MacDonald, Economakos) 6:26, pp.
3, PRIN - Borza (Unassisted) 8:40.
4, RPI - Farnyuk (Basiuk, Economakos) 16:59, pp.
Third Period:
5, RPI - Croxton (Basiuk, Eizenmans) 4:48.
6, PRIN - Neundorfer (Powe, Young) 7:30.
7, RPI - Economakos (MacDonald, Barr) 13:23, pp.
8, PRIN - Powe (Goeckner-Zoeller) 16:32.
9, PRIN - Fouladgar-Mercer (Maglione, Goeckner-Zoeller) 17:48.
Goaltenders:
PRIN - Eric Leroux (60:00; 21 shots, 16 saves)
RPI - Nathan Marsters (60:00; 26 shots, 22 saves)