Saturday, March 24
Allentown, Pa.
3:30 PM
Princeton University
19-13-4
2
vs
4
Ohio State
25-9-5
1
2
3
F
Princeton
0
0
2
2
Ohio State
2
0
2
4
Team Stats
PRINM
OSU
Shots
25
28
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
8
8
Penalty Mins
27
16
Faceoffs Won
27
36
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
+1
Goals
0
Sh
4
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice HockeyD
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyD
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyPhoto by: Lisa Boehm
Epic Princeton Run Ends in 4-2 Loss at NCAA Midwest Regional
March 24, 2018 | Men's Ice Hockey
The Princeton men's hockey team's epic run came to a halt in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal in a 4-2 loss to Ohio State at the PPL Center. The Tigers entered the weekend as the hottest team in college hockey on an eight-game unbeaten streak that included four consecutive victories over ranked teams.
Trailing 4-0, Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty put senior Ben Halford in net for the final 1:39 for his final appearance as a Tiger. Fogarty also let his seniors take the final shifts of their Princeton careers, and they wouldn't go without a fight, scoring two goals in the final 26 seconds.
Matt Nelson scored on a power-play goal from Joe Grabowski and David Hallisey with 26 seconds left before Hallisey found the back of the net with Becker and Nelson assisting with 10 seconds to go.
The Tigers swept No. 2 seed Union (#16 ranked) in the ECAC quarterfinals, knocked off No. 1 seed Cornell (#2 ranked) in the ECAC semifinals 4-1 and took down No. 3 seed Clarkson (#10 ranked) in the championship game 2-1 in overtime. Facing a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs and the No. 5 ranked Buckeyes would be nothing new for a team that has played essentially playoff style hockey since February, starting with the fight to get home ice for the first round of the playoffs.
"Obviously the game didn't go our way," Fogarty said. "And the pain, the feelings are going to be temporary for guys, but the things that they did this season are going to be unforgettable for our fans, our alumni and for themselves. For these two seniors [David Hallisey, Matt Nelson] to have four wins and five wins [as freshmen and sophomores], a game under .500 [a year ago] and get to this stage and hoisting a trophy; not many teams get to do that. They've done something special. They don't have that feeling right now, but they'll soon look back at this game and realize to get here is very difficult and they did something spectacular for Princeton University."
A game that focused on special-team play with 16 combined penalties and 23+ minutes of special teams action forced the Tigers out of rhythm.
"There wasn't much of a flow to the game," Fogarty said. "It was a special teams game, and to move on and in any tournament game, you have to win that battle."
Ohio State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals 20 seconds apart. Mason Jobst's power-play goal at 13:32 got the momentum started for the Buckeyes, when he fired from the top of the left circle with Flyers draft pick Tanner Laczynski and Wyatt Ege assisting. Kevin Miller made it 2-0 when he put away a Ronnie Hein pass in the paint.
Princeton had a great chance to get back into the game with a 5x3 opportunity that spanned two periods, but less than two minutes into the second frame, the Tigers were rattled when the nation's leading scoring defenseman Josh Teves was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct and forced to exit his first NCAA game early. The penalties kept coming and that, along with the loss of a key component to the Tigers special teams in Teves, had Princeton out of its game and not looking as cohesive as it has been during its eight-game unbeaten streak.
The team started to stitch some plays together at the close of the second and had some nice chances, with Ryan Kuffner trying a backhand, Max Véronneau just going wide on a backdoor, Max Becker with a breakaway and Liam Grande picking off a pass to go in 1x1. Unfortunately, all of those came up empty.
Laczynski increased the lead to 3-0 at 3:55 of the third. Freddy Gerard put the Buckeyes up 4-0 on a goal that was reviewed for goaltender interference six minutes later.
Ryan Ferland, the MVP of the ECAC tournament, finished the game with 24 saves and had some highlight reel worthy stops. Sean Romeo made 23 on the opposite end for Ohio State, who will take on the winner of the Penn State/Denver matchup tomorrow.
"Experience is great," Fogarty closed with. "Ohio State lost last year in the tournament in overtime, and they took that experience to move forward with it. Where we are at right now is a new starting point, I'm sure this isn't a finishing point for us, or waiting for another two, three, or ten years to get back. I know it's going to be a contagious feeling for our three classes that will be returning, and they'll pass that onto our incoming freshmen. We'll be here again for sure."
Trailing 4-0, Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty put senior Ben Halford in net for the final 1:39 for his final appearance as a Tiger. Fogarty also let his seniors take the final shifts of their Princeton careers, and they wouldn't go without a fight, scoring two goals in the final 26 seconds.
Matt Nelson scored on a power-play goal from Joe Grabowski and David Hallisey with 26 seconds left before Hallisey found the back of the net with Becker and Nelson assisting with 10 seconds to go.
The Tigers swept No. 2 seed Union (#16 ranked) in the ECAC quarterfinals, knocked off No. 1 seed Cornell (#2 ranked) in the ECAC semifinals 4-1 and took down No. 3 seed Clarkson (#10 ranked) in the championship game 2-1 in overtime. Facing a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs and the No. 5 ranked Buckeyes would be nothing new for a team that has played essentially playoff style hockey since February, starting with the fight to get home ice for the first round of the playoffs.
"Obviously the game didn't go our way," Fogarty said. "And the pain, the feelings are going to be temporary for guys, but the things that they did this season are going to be unforgettable for our fans, our alumni and for themselves. For these two seniors [David Hallisey, Matt Nelson] to have four wins and five wins [as freshmen and sophomores], a game under .500 [a year ago] and get to this stage and hoisting a trophy; not many teams get to do that. They've done something special. They don't have that feeling right now, but they'll soon look back at this game and realize to get here is very difficult and they did something spectacular for Princeton University."
A game that focused on special-team play with 16 combined penalties and 23+ minutes of special teams action forced the Tigers out of rhythm.
"There wasn't much of a flow to the game," Fogarty said. "It was a special teams game, and to move on and in any tournament game, you have to win that battle."
Ohio State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals 20 seconds apart. Mason Jobst's power-play goal at 13:32 got the momentum started for the Buckeyes, when he fired from the top of the left circle with Flyers draft pick Tanner Laczynski and Wyatt Ege assisting. Kevin Miller made it 2-0 when he put away a Ronnie Hein pass in the paint.
Princeton had a great chance to get back into the game with a 5x3 opportunity that spanned two periods, but less than two minutes into the second frame, the Tigers were rattled when the nation's leading scoring defenseman Josh Teves was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct and forced to exit his first NCAA game early. The penalties kept coming and that, along with the loss of a key component to the Tigers special teams in Teves, had Princeton out of its game and not looking as cohesive as it has been during its eight-game unbeaten streak.
The team started to stitch some plays together at the close of the second and had some nice chances, with Ryan Kuffner trying a backhand, Max Véronneau just going wide on a backdoor, Max Becker with a breakaway and Liam Grande picking off a pass to go in 1x1. Unfortunately, all of those came up empty.
Laczynski increased the lead to 3-0 at 3:55 of the third. Freddy Gerard put the Buckeyes up 4-0 on a goal that was reviewed for goaltender interference six minutes later.
Ryan Ferland, the MVP of the ECAC tournament, finished the game with 24 saves and had some highlight reel worthy stops. Sean Romeo made 23 on the opposite end for Ohio State, who will take on the winner of the Penn State/Denver matchup tomorrow.
"Experience is great," Fogarty closed with. "Ohio State lost last year in the tournament in overtime, and they took that experience to move forward with it. Where we are at right now is a new starting point, I'm sure this isn't a finishing point for us, or waiting for another two, three, or ten years to get back. I know it's going to be a contagious feeling for our three classes that will be returning, and they'll pass that onto our incoming freshmen. We'll be here again for sure."
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