Princeton Wins Season Opener 4-2 Over Holy Cross

Sunday, October 29

Princeton, N.J.

4:00 PM

Princeton University

1-0

Holy Cross

3-1-2

Holy Cross

Princeton

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

October 29, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Holy Cross came into Hobey Baker Rink with five games under its belt and an undefeated 3-0-2 record. It'd leave with a loss as Princeton opened the season with a 4-2 victory.

Freshman goaltender Ryan Ferland got the starting nod and made 38 saves in his first win. Senior Eric Robinson, freshman Reid Yochim and sophomore Jackson Cressey each scored a goal and assist while sophomore defender Derek Topatigh had a three-point affair.

The Tigers penalty kill was able to kill off six of seven penalties, and converted on one of its two power-play chances.

"That's a very good team, Holy Cross, at 3-0-2, and they are big and strong," Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty said. "We had a lot of scoring opportunities but the parade to the penalty box ruined our flow of rolling four lines. When you start a new season, that first win is big. It took us until Thanksgiving last year to capture that win, so this one is big on Day 1."

Junior Max Véronneau scored the first goal of the season for Princeton at 3:32 of the second on a great feed from Yochim at the opposing blue line. Topatigh had collected the puck in the Princeton zone and Yochim pushed it ahead just on the other side of the Holy Cross blue line. With three defenders on the other side of the line, Véronneau still got it it first and flipped a backhanded shot past netminder Paul Berrafato.

Logan Ferguson evened things up five minutes later as the Crusaders scored just three seconds after a Princeton penalty had expired, not giving the Tigers a chance to get a fifth player in on the action before Ferguson put it away.

Princeton was able to get its monies worth on a Neil Robinson tripping call at 9:40 as the Tigers scored on the delayed penalty and then converted on the power-play opportunity. Cressey was tripped in the high slot but he still managed to get the puck to Topatigh at the right point. With Ferland headed towards the bench, Topatigh sent the puck across the ice to Robinson who skated in on Berrafato and then popped in his own rebound to regain the lead, 2-1.

Yochim collected his first career goal with a blast from the right point on the Princeton power play 32 seconds later as the Tigers took a 3-1 lead.

The Crusaders were finally able to convert on one of their seven power-play chances at 13:36 of the third as Scott Pooley notched his seventh goal of the season, from Spencer Trapp and Tommy Muratore.

Holy Cross pulled Berrafato, who finished with 34 saves, with 1:55 remaining and had one shot on goal before Max Becker picked off a pass, found Robinson up ice and Cressey poked in the empty-net goal with at 18:36.

Princeton begins ECAC play next weekend, Nov. 4 and 5, hosting Colgate and Cornell. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Notes:
This is Princeton's first win in a season opener since the 2013-14 season when it defeated Dartmouth 3-2 in OT
This is Princeton's first win over a non-league opponent in the season opener since 2005-06 when it defeated Notre Dame, 5-3 - though it is just the third time the team has opened with someone other than an Ivy League team.