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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Hockey to Play a Pair of Preseason Games
October 21, 2011 | Men's Ice Hockey
The Princeton men's hockey team will play a pair of exhibitions at Hobey Baker Rink this weekend, Oct. 21 and 22. The Tigers host University of Guelph on Saturday at 7 p.m., and Neumann University on Sunday at 4 p.m. Admission to both games is free of charge. Livestats for both games will be available on GoPrincetonTigers.com.
This is Guelph's second trip to Princeton. Princeton earned a 6-4 win on Oct. 25, 2003 coming back from three-goal deficit with a five-goal run. This will be Princeton and Neumann's first meeting.
It will be a new era for Princeton as first-year head coach Bob Prier took the reins in May. The Tigers concluded last season with a 17-13-12 mark and an 11-9-2 record in the ECAC. Princeton was upset in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament, it's fifth straight year hosting an ECAC playoff series. Princeton lost eight players due to graduation but brings in a healthy number of freshmen, 10 in all. The Tigers do return their leading scorer, ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year, Andrew Calof. Calof finished the year with 33 points on nine goals and 24 assists and had a +14 on-ice rating. Also returning is senior defender Derrick Pallis and sophomore junior forward Rob Kleebaum, who each had 20+ point seasons. The Tigers' netminding tandem of sophomore Sean Bonar and junior Mike Condon are also both back and will challenge for that starting role. Bonar has a 2.20 goals against average last year and a .912 save percentage, while Condon had a 2.82 GAA and a .902 save percentage.
Guelph, a Canadian University playing in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) is 0-4 on the season. They will make a stop in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday night to play Cornell before traveling to the Garden State. The Gryphons finished fourth in the OUA West last year with a 15-10-3 record and bring back 16 players from that team. Team captain fifth-year Kris Belan has been the team's leading goal scorer in each of the last three seasons. He has three points in three games this year. Fifth-year Zach Lillie and third-year Edward Gale however have the most points, with four apiece. Cody St. Jacques has played in three games and has a 6.00 goals against average and an .824 save percentage making 84 saves and allowing 18 goals. Andrew Loverock started in the last game and gave up five goals on 36 shots.
Located in Ashton, Pa., Neumann University is a Division III program competing in the ECAC West. The Knights won the NCAA Division III championship in 2009 and earned an at-large bid last year. Neumann is ranked No. 11 in the nation. The Knights return 97 percent of its point production from last year including leading scorer Michael Rey. As a rookie, Fey had 15 goals and 15 assists and earned the league's Rookie of the Year honor. All-America defender William Lacasse finished the season with 21 points, while Steve Gervais and Jordan Zalba had 19 points apiece. Goaltender Ross MacKinnon returns for his senior season. He finished last season with a 2.53 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
Princeton kicks off the regular season next weekend when it visits Dartmouth for the fifth installment of the Ivy League Shootout. Princeton will face Yale on Friday, Oct. 28 and Brown on Saturday, Oct. 29. Both games start at 4 p.m.