Men's Hockey Faces Challenging Weekend in Central New York

Nov. 30, 2005

Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton men's hockey team heads to Central New York this weekend to take on two of the league's toughest competitors; No. 11 Cornell and No. 13 Colgate. The contests will end a 10-game stretch of games for the Tigers against league opponents that will have made up almost half of the season's 22 league games.

The puck will drop for both games at 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on GoPrincetonTigers.com. The broadcasts will begin at approximately 6:55 p.m. Links to the broadcasts can be found on the men's hockey schedule page. Livestats will also be available for both games and the Gametracker links can be found on the schedule page.

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This Week's Storylines

New York State of Mind
Princeton plays its fifth and sixth games this season in the State of New York this weekend. The Tigers face Cornell on Friday night and Colgate on Saturday night.

Last Time Out
Princeton picked up its third win of the season with a 6-3 triumph at Quinnipiac last Saturday. The Tigers rallied from a 2-0 deficit with the next six goals to split the season series.

Road Warriors
This weekend's games end a stretch where the Tigers will have played seven-of-eight games away from Baker Rink. Of the seven, six will be league games in New York. The Tigers have visited Union, Rensselaer, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, and now Cornell and Colgate in the last month.

A Third of the Way
November was one of the busiest months on the Princeton schedule as the Tigers have completed a third of their schedule in the first month of the season. Through 10 games, Princeton is 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the ECAC Hockey League. The Tigers have six games in December, five in January and eight in February. December in CNY
Princeton visited Cornell and Colgate on the same weekend last year, playing at Colgate on Dec. 3 and Cornell on Dec. 4.

The Series With Cornell
Princeton is 41-71-7 all-time against Cornell and is 12-39-2 in games played in Ithaca. Cornell has won the last 10 meetings in the series, including a 5-0 win last February in Princeton and a 5-3 win in Ithaca last fall. Princeton's last win in the series came on Feb. 9, 2001 at home.

Scouting the Big Red
Cornell is currently ranked 11th in both national polls and is the highest ranked ECACHL team. The Big Red are 6-3-1 overall this season and enter the weekend after sweeping Niagara. Cornell started the year 4-1, before an 0-2-1 stretch that included league losses to Dartmouth and Union. Cornell is 3-2-1 in the league, which is tied for sixth place.

One Year Ago in Ithaca
Last year Cornell topped Princeton 5-3 at Lynah Rink. Princeton's three goals were the most that any ECACHL team scored against Cornell all season. The game was tied 2-2 in the second before Cornell scored twice late to take a 4-2 lead. Princeton got back within one in the third on a shorthanded goal by Landis Stankievech, but Cornell added a final goal to make the score 5-3. It was just one of three games in which Cornell surrendered three or more goals.

The Series with Colgate
Princeton is 34-43-6 all-time against Colgate and is 10-24-2 when the teams have met in Hamilton. Colgate has swept the series in each of the past two seasons and has a seven-game unbeaten streak in the series, dating back to a 2-1 Princeton win on Nov. 30, 2001. Last season, Colgate won 4-2 in Hamilton with an empty-netter and 3-1 in Princeton.

Scouting the Raiders
Colgate is ranked 13th in both national polls with a 8-2-3 overall record. The Raiders have lost just once in their last 10 games, but have gone to overtime in three of their last four games, including twice last weekend against Western Michigan. The Raiders won one of those games and tied the other.

One Year Ago in Hamilton
Last year Princeton scored 58 seconds into the third period to tie the score at 2-2, but Dmitry Yashin's goal seven minutes later proved to be the game winner. The Raiders added an empty-net insurance goal and won 4-2.

Against Ranked Teams
Princeton is 0-2 this season against teams ranked in the nation's top 15. Both losses were by one goal to the team that was ranked 15th at the time. The first was a 2-1 loss at home to Harvard and the second was a 3-2 loss on the road at St. Lawrence. Including this weekend, Princeton has nine more games on its schedule against teams that are currently ranked

Back to Last Week
After a disappointing game on Tuesday night in which Quinnipiac scored the game winner with 1:06 remaining, the Tigers bounced back with a strong showing on Saturday at Quinnipiac, scoring a season-high six goals in the 6-3 win. After a scoreless first period, Quinnipiac jumped to a 2-0 lead after scoring two two-man advantage goals. The Tigers bounced right back though and scored the next six before Quinnipiac added a final score.

Rookie of the Week
Freshman Brandan Kushniruk became Princeton's first ECACHL Rookie of the Week honoree since the 2001-02 season when he was named the Rookie of the Week on Monday. Kushniruk scored two goals and added an assist in the Tigers 6-3 win. He also had an assist in Tuesday's game for a four-point week. He is the only player on the Tiger roster to receive a Rookie of the Week award.

More Kush
Brandan Kushniruk recorded his first collegiate goal and multiple-point game as he keyed the Tigers comeback against Quinnipiac. He scored Princeton's first goal, assisted on its second and scored an insurance goal late.

Six Games-Six Points
Freshman Brett Wilson continued his point-scoring streak with an assist on Saturday. He has a single point in each of the six games that he has played in this season.

Streaks
While Brett Wilson's six-game point-scoring streak is the longest on the team, three players carry two-game streaks into this weekend. Brandan Kushniruk has four points in two games, while sophomore Kyle Hagel and junior Kevin Westgarth each have a goal and an assist in the last two games.

Offensive Outburst
The six goals Princeton scored on Saturday were equal to a third of their output for the previous nine games. Eleven of Princeton's 18 skaters tallied points in the win, led by Brandan Kushniruk's three. Senior defensemen Brian Carthas and Seamus Young record multiple points in the win. It was the first time since Princeton's season-opening win at Notre Dame that Princeton had a player post multiple points in a game.

Defensive Points
Defensemen Brian Carthas and Seamus Young each had a goal and an assist in Saturday's win. Young's goal snapped a 46-game stretch without a goal and tied his career high for points in a game, while Carthas recorded his first career multiple-point game.

Balanced Effort
Princeton's 25 goals this season have come from 13 scorers, led by junior Grant Goeckner-Zoeller's five. Brett Wilson and senior Patrick Neundorfer each have three goals each.

Defense First
Princeton has held its opponents to three goals or less, not counting empty-net goals, in eight of 10 games.

Tipping the Scales
After being outshot in its first seven games of the season, Princeton has outshot its opponents in its last three games.

Century Mark
Senior captain Patrick Neundorfer played in his 100th game for the Tigers on Saturday. His presence was felt as he scored the goal that gave Princeton's its first lead of the game. Brian Carthas is the next closest Tiger to 100 games as he has appeared in 90 games.

81 Goals
Princeton scored 81 goals in 31 games last season. That number was 19 more than the total of 62 that Princeton scored in 31 games last season. Princeton has 25 goals through 10 games this season.

Polling Station
Princeton was picked to finish 10th by both the coaches and the media in the ECACHL preseason polls. Cornell was chosen first in both polls, while Colgate was picked second by the media and fifth by the coaches.

On the Horizon
The Tigers host Alabama-Huntsville for two non-league games to close out the first portion of the season. The teams played to a 5-5 tie last season at Baker Rink. Princeton is then off for 20 days before resuming the schedule at the Denver Cup.

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