Princeton University
Cornell
Players Mentioned
Men's Hockey Takes Cornell 2-1 in Home Opener
November 07, 2014 | Men's Ice Hockey
PRINCETON, N.J. (11/7/14) - Sophomore Colton Phinney made 40 saves in the 2014-15 debut at Hobey Baker Rink as Princeton defeated Cornell 2-1, before a standing-room only crowd.
Senior defender Aaron Ave scored his first goal of the season on Princeton's first power-play opportunity of the game at 3:14 of the first period. The Tigers circled the puck around with freshman Connor McLaren getting the final touch to Ave on the left point. Ave rifled a shot through traffic to light the lamp.
Cornell battled to get the equalizer throughout the game, outshooting Princeton 41-20. The Tiger penalty kill was on point going 5 for 5, with Phinney coming up strong between the pipes.
"Colton Phinney was by far the first star for us tonight," Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty said after the game, "He gave us an opportunity to win. The first 15 minutes we were overzealous and watching Cornell in our defensive zone a lot. Once we got rid of the penalty trouble, I thought we did a good job and we're started to roll four lines."
The Big Red called a timeout and pulled netminder Mitch Gillam with 59 seconds remaining to try to get the tying goal but it was the Tigers that struck first.
Sophomore Garrett Skrbich was able to slip by his defender and pushed the puck into the empty net.
Patrick McCarron was able to score an extra-attacker goal with 16 seconds remaining to steal a shutout from Phinney.
Gillam finished the night with 18 saves as Cornell drops to 0-2-1.
Princeton faces No. 4 Colgate tomorrow night at 7 p.m., as the program continues its alumni weekend.