Princeton University
Colgate
Players Mentioned
Men's Hockey Hands No. 12 Colgate 6-2 Loss
January 13, 2012 | Men's Ice Hockey
PRINCETON, N.J. (1/13/12) - Freshman Aaron Kesselman had a three-point game, scoring twice, as the Princeton men's hockey team handed No. 12 Colgate a 6-2 loss at Baker Rink on Friday, Jan. 13.
Sophomore Jack Berger added two goals, junior Will MacDonald and sophomore Andrew Calof had two helpers apiece, and senior Brodie Zuk had one goal and one assist. Austin Smith would score both goals for the Raiders.
The Tigers' six goals is the most goals they've scored in a game this season. The win was also Princeton's first over a ranked team since Feb. 25, 2011 when the Tigers defeated No. 14 Rensselaer, 4-3.
Princeton had a 1-0 lead before Colgate evened the game in the final minute of the first period with a power-play goal. The Tigers then scored four goals in the second period. The last time Princeton scored four goals in one period was on Dec. 10, 2010 against UMass-Lowell, a 5-2 come-from-behind win. Colgate made it a 5-2 game in the third before a short-handed goal would seal the win for the Orange & Black.
The Tigers came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. The offense was in tune, the checking was on point and the defense was relentless.
Kesselman would put Princeton on the scoreboard at 9:26 when he tapped in a shot from sophomore Kevin Ross on on the far post. Freshman Aaron Ave would pick up the secondary assist.
Smith capitalized on a penalty in the final 20 seconds of the first period, to knot the game at the first intermission.
A big check by sophomore Jeremy Goodwin on Kevin McNamara would lead to Princeton's second goal at 6:36. McNamara skated into Colgate's offensive zone and tried to feed a teammate before a backcheck by Goodwin sent McNamara's pass to sophomore Matt Farris. Farris skated in on goalie Eric Mihalik and went glove side for his first goal of the year.
Just 16 seconds later Kesselman would push Princeton's lead to 3-1. Princeton collected the ensuing face off behind its own net and Zuk got the puck at the blue line. He sent it over to the right side to MacDonald, and MacDonald who push it back to Zuk in the middle for a backhand that was tipped in by Kesselman.
Zuk would score himself at 11:30 on the first of two Princeton power-play goals. Zuk and MacDonald traded what seemed like five shots on continuous rebounds before Zuk finally got it by Mihalik.
Berger added the second power-play goal at 19:43 as senior Marc Hagel sent the puck into the slot off a Calof pass and Berger buried it on the right side.
Smith got his second of the night at 6:13 of the third when he redirected a shot by Chris Wagner in the slot to make it 5-2, but the Raiders wouldn't get any closer.
Twenty-eight seconds after getting called for hooking, Princeton's penalty kill would pick up its third goal of the season. Calof's speed was no match for Spiro Goulakos, as Calof pushed the puck ahead and past the defender in the neutral zone and raced to the goal in a 2x1 situation. Calof sent a cross-ice pass to Berger and the Tigers' short-handed goal iced the game.
Junior Mike Condon made 26 saves in his second win of the season. Eric Mihalik stopped 23 for the Raiders.
Princeton had a 29-28 edge in shots and went 2 for 4 on the power play and 4 for 5 on the penalty kill.
The Tigers improve to 6-10-4 overall and 5-8-1 in league play, while Colgate drops to 12-7-2 and 7-2 in league play. Princeton will face No. 9 Cornell tomorrow. The Big Red won a 3-2 game at Quinnipiac this evening.