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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Hockey Flies to Fort Myers for Florida College Classic
December 28, 2009 | Men's Ice Hockey
Game 14 & 15: Florida College Classic
vs. Maine, Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 4 p.m.
vs. Colorado College/Cornell, Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 4/7:30 p.m.
Germain Arena; Estero, Fla.
Links: VIDEO | AUDIO | STATS | GAME NOTES (PDF)
PRINCETON (12/28/09) - The Princeton men's hockey team travels to sunny Florida this week for two games at the Florida College Classic at the Germain Arena in Fort Myers. Princeton will face Maine on Tuesday in the opener and Colorado College or Cornell on Wednesday.
The trip marks Princeton's first voyage to Florida to play and the third time the Tigers have played a tournament in a distinctively non-college hockey destination. The Tigers played at the Great Western Freeze Out in the 1993-94 and 1995-96 seasons.
Princeton has placed second in the last two holiday tournaments in which it has played. Last season the Tigers placed second at the RPI Thanksgiving Tournament, beating Northeastern in the first round and falling to Mercyhurst in the final game. In the 2005-06 season, Princeton beat Denver in the opening round of the Denver Cup and lost to Boston College in the title game. Princeton last won a holiday tournament in 1999 when it topped Minnesota and Boston University to win the Mariucci Classic.
The Tigers enter the tournament following a 17-day layoff for the holidays. The Tigers entered that break following a win on Dec. 12 at then ninth-ranked UMass Lowell. The win salvaged a split of the weekend series for the Tigers, who played both games with a lineup that was two players short because of injuries.
The River Hawks took the opening game 4-1, but Princeton got Game 2 by a 3-2 margin as freshman Eric Meland scored two goals and senior goaltender Zane Kalemba made a career-high 45 saves. Junior Kevin Lohry netted the game winner in the third period as the Tigers stopped a seven-game winless skid.
Meland's two-goal performance was the third in three years when a Princeton freshman scored his first two collegiate goals in the same game. Sophomore Marc Hagel did it last season against Northeastern and junior Cam Ritchie did it two seasons ago at Quinnipiac. Meland's goals came just 10 seconds apart in the fifth minute of the first period.
Senior Dan Bartlett continues to lead the Tigers in scoring with 10 points as he netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the loss to UMass Lowell. Junior Mike Kramer ranks second with seven points and seniors Cam MacIntyre and Jody Pederson each have six points. Pederson had an assist in the win over UMass Lowell and was one of three Tiger defensemen with a point in the two-game series.
Princeton's first opponent in Florida is Maine. The Tigers are 4-5 all-time against the Black Bears but haven't faced Maine since the 1996-97 season. The teams' last three meetings all came in a holiday tournament hosted by Maine in the mid-90s with Princeton winning in the 1994-95 season and Maine in the 1996-97 campaign.
Maine is currently 9-7-1 overall and 7-4-1 in Hockey East. The Black Bears enter the weekend on a five-game winning streak and have only allowed a single goal in each game of the stretch. Princeton and Maine have both faced St. Lawrence and UMass Lowell. Princeton fell to St. Lawrence and split with Lowell, while Maine has wins over each.
Should Princeton face Colordao College on Wednesday, it would be the 10th meeting between the Tigers. CC leads the all-time series against Princeton with an 8-1 record. The teams last played in 1990 with CC winning 4-3 at home. Princeton head coach Guy Gadowsky graduated from CC in 1989, a season before the teams began a two-season home-and-home series. Colorado College is currently 11-4-3 overall and 8-3-3 in the WCHA. The Tigers are 1-2-2 in their last five but have lost only three games since mid-October. Princeton and CC have not faced any common opponents.
If Princeton meets Cornell on Wednesday, it would be the second meeting between the teams this season. Cornell leads its all-time series with Princeton by a 77-48-7 margin, including a 5-2 win earlier this season in Ithaca. The Tigers hold a 10-5 edge over Cornell in games at neutral sites. Cornell is currently 7-2-2 overall and 6-2-1 to rank second in the ECAC. The Big Red is 2-0-2 in its last four with wins over Colgate and RPI and tied with Boston University and Union.