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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Close Regular Season at Brown and Yale
February 22, 2006 | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 22, 2006
PRINCETON - The Princeton men's hockey team travels to Brown and Yale this weekend to close out the 2005-06 regular season. The Tigers will finish between ninth and 11th in the ECAC Hockey League standings and will look to gain momentum leading into the opening round of the league playoffs.
Both games this weekend will begin at 7 p.m., and can be heard live on GoPrincetonTigers.com. Links to the broadcasts can be found on men's hockey schedule page. There will also be Gametracker live stats for both games.
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This Week's Storylines
Regular Season Wrap
The Princeton men's hockey team wraps up the regular season with games this weekend at Brown and Yale. Princeton can finish either ninth, 10th or 11th in the final league standings and will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs.
Last Weekend
For the second-straight weekend, Princeton had both of its games go to overtime. On both nights Princeton led in the third period but its opponent rallied to force the extra session. On Friday, the game with Rensselaer ended locked up at 4-4, while on Saturday, Union scored in overtime for a 5-4 win.
Four Straight in OT
Princeton's stretch of four-straight overtime games is the first such streak in Princeton's men's hockey history. Princeton has played three-straight overtime games on several occasions, most recently in the 2000-01 season.
Race to the Postseason
With just one weekend remaining before the start of the ECACHL postseason, the Tigers sit in a tie for 10th in the league standings, a point behind ninth-place Quinnipiac and tied with Yale. All three can not gain home ice and are battling for position. None of the three can fall to 12th.
Princeton vs. Brown
Princeton is 51-77-5 all-time against Brown and is 23-41-1 when the teams meet in Providence. The teams skated to a 2-2 tie in early January at Baker Rink, and split their games last season, with each team winning on the road. Princeton won 5-2 last fall in Providence and was led by Patrick Neundorfer's two goals and Grant Goeckner-Zoeller's four assists.
Scouting The Bears
Brown's 3-18-6 overall record and 2-14-4 league record rank at the bottom of the league, but the Bears have had 10 games go to overtime this season. Brown is winless in 11 games (0-8-3) and last won on Jan. 10 against Connecticut. The Bears were swept last weekend in the North Country by St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
January at Baker
Princeton and Brown skated to a 2-2 overtime tie in early January when the teams met for the first time this season. In the game, Brett Wilson gave Princeton's a first period lead of 1-0 and a second period lead of 2-1, but both times, Brown answered back in the tie. Jeff Prough had two assists for Brown in the game. B.J. Sklapsky made 28 saves for Princeton and Adam D'Alba made 27 for Brown.
Princeton vs. Yale
Yale is 118-95-9 all-time against Princeton and holds a 58-28-3 edge in games played in New Haven. Yale has won the last two meetings in the series, taking a 7-1 win last season in New Haven and a 6-1 win in Princeton in January. The Tigers posted a 6-3 win at home in the first meeting between the two last season.
Scouting The Bulldogs
Yale is 8-16-3 entering the weekend and holds a 6-12-2 league record to be tied with Princeton for 10th in the standings. Yale has dropped four-straight games entering the weekend and last won on Feb. 5 against Connecticut. Last weekend, Yale was downed by Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
January at Baker
After a strong first period in which Princeton took a 1-0 lead on Grant Goeckner-Zoeller's goal, Yale took control in the second period by scoring the game's next six goals for a 6-1 win. Blair Yaworski led all Bulldogs with three points in the game, while three others each had a point. Yale scored two empty-net goals in the game.
Home Ice Wrap
The Tigers wrapped up the 2005-06 home season last weekend with a tie and loss. That made Princeton's home record 6-5-2 this season, which was its first .500 home record since going 7-6 in the 2001-02 season.
Overtime Trials
Princeton played back-to-back overtime games for the second-straight weekend for the first time ever. Princeton last played three overtime games in a row at the very beginning of the 2000-01 season when the team played three-straight ties. Princeton is 0-4-2 in six trips to overtime this season. Friday's opponent, Brown, is 0-4-6 in overtime this season.
Leading Scorer
Junior Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, a two-time ECAC Hockey League Player of the Week Award winner this season, had three points in two games last weekend to raise his season-point total to 26 on 15 goals and 11 assists. He is six points shy of his career-high of 32, achieved last season.
Freshman Scoring
Freshman Brett Wilson posted a career-high of three points in Saturday's game against Union. He now has 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in his freshman season, the most since Grant Goeckner-Zoeller had 20 in the 2003-04 season.
Senior Standouts
Two senior defenseman, Brian Carthas and Seamus Young, each recorded three assists in the final home weekend of their Princeton careers. Each player has three goals and 14 assists for 17 points this season. For Carthas, that is 11 points more than his previous career-high, and four more points than he had in his career entering the season. For Young, it is seven more points than his previous career high of 10.
KWestgarth
Junior Kevin Westgarth was one of four Tigers with points in both games last weekend. Westgarth scored in both and added an assist in the Union game. He currently ranks second on the team with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points, which is six more than his career total entering the season.
Senior Strengths
Two Princeton senior forwards made important contributions in Friday's tie with Rensselaer. Captain Patrick Neundorfer had a goal and assist in the game to raise his season point total to 14 and Sebastian Borza scored Princeton's fourth goal in the game, his first goal of the 2005-06 season.
Between the Pipes
Senior Eric Leroux played in both games over the weekend for Princeton. On Friday he made 25 saves for the tie, and the following night, he steered away 43 Union shots in the overtime loss.
Balanced Effort
Princeton's 73 goals this season have come from 16 scorers, led by Grant Goeckner-Zoeller's 15 goals and Brett Wilson's 11. Patrick Neundorfer comes next with eight goals scored.
Defense First
Princeton has held its opponents to three goals or less, not counting empty-net goals, in 19 of 27 games.
The PP
Three of Princeton's nine goals last week came with the man advantage. Princeton has scored 24 of its last 53 goals on the power play, including three in the Union game.
A Win Against Each League Opponent
With its sweep of St. Lawrence and Clarkson, the Princeton senior class has now defeated each league team at least once. The group was down to its final chance against Colgate, Cornell, St. Lawrence and Clarkson and picked up a win against each.
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 73 goals through 27 games this season and is on pace to score 84.
On the Horizon
Princeton will be on the road for the ECACHL first round next weekend against an opponent to be determined.