Men's Hockey Set For Home-And-Home With No. 18 Quinnipiac

Princeton vs. #18 Quinnipiac | January 10 | 7 p.m.
Baker Rink | Hockey Jersey Night
Tickets | Live Stats | ESPN+ | International Stream | Game Notes

Princeton at #18 Quinnipiac | January 11 | 7 p.m.
M&T Bank Arena
Tickets | Live Stats | ESPN+ | International Stream

LOOSE ENDS
The Tigers are 12-25-1 all-time against Quinnipiac in a series that dates back to the 2005 season. The Tigers are 4-14-1 all-time against the Bobcats at Hobey Baker Rink, the last win on home ice coming December 9, 2016 via a 5-3 victory. Princeton enters the weekend looking to snap a 10-game losing streak in the series.

ALL THE WAY HOME
The Tigers are in the middle of a stretch where they play 11 of 13 games at home between 11/29-1/26 with only a pair of one-game road trips mixed in. The Tigers are 4-2-0 to start that block of games at Baker Rink and are now 4-3-1 at home this season.

ONE STEP UP
Princeton's performance of late has marked a step up for the Tigers in terms of the Pairwise rankings and overall national notoriety. The Tigers were named "Team Of The Week" by College Hockey News after the sweep of OSU and were as high as No. 20 in the Pairwise rankings before settling down to No. 32 this week. Entering this weekend, Princeton has played the No. 19 toughest schedule with its previous opponents boasting a combined win percentage of .541 (95-79-22).

THE WALL
Arthur Smith was named honorable mention All-Ivy last season in goal as a freshman bolstered by a 5-1-0 record against Ivy opponents with a 2.26 GAA and a .926 save percentage. This season, he earned ECAC Goaltender of the Week honors after stopping 66-of-68 shots in two wins over No. 12 Ohio State -- his second career ECAC Goaltender of the Week honor. He then followed up with ECAC Goaltender of the Month honors for December after a 3-0-0/1.01/.962 line in Princeton's three wins. That marked the second December in a row that Smith was named ECAC Goaltender of the Month -- overall in December games over his two seasons, Smith is 6-0-1 with a 1.40 GAA and a .947 save percentage.

He currently ranks No. 2 in the ECAC and No. 7 in the country in save percentage (.937) and is No. 1 in the ECAC and No. 7 in the country in GAA (1.72). He is 5-2-0 overall, No. 2 in the ECAC and No. 13 in the country with a .714 winning percentage.

Dating back to 11/29 against Ohio State, Smith is 5-1-0 (1 shutout) with a 1.17 GAA and a .957 save percentage. He leads all goalies with 6+ appearances in that span in in GAA, and is second in wins and save percentage.

I'M ON FIRE
Brendan Gorman enters the week with nine points (4g, 5a) over his last seven games and leads the Tigers overall with 13 points in 13 games. His 1.0 points-per-game rank No. 3 in the ECAC and No. 39 in the country and 0.46 goals-per-game this season rank 9th in the ECAC and 45th in the country. He has two short-handed goals this season, 2nd in the ECAC and 3rd in the country.

All-time, Gorman now ranks No. 74 in scoring by a Princeton men's hockey player with 56 points (18g, 38a) in 73 games.

WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN
When a Tiger is in trouble and finds themselves in the sin bin, the penalty kill has stepped up and taken care of business as the Tigers are 9-for-9 on the penalty kill over their last four games and have killed off their last 10 penalties dating back to the game against Union on December 6. That run of staunch PKs has moved Princeton up to No. 5 in the ECAC and No. 22 in the country on the penalty kill at 82.1% after starting the season 23-for-30 (76.6 percent).

JACOB'S LADDER
David Jacobs had 15 points (5g, 10a) as a freshman in 2022-23 over 32 games before climbing the points ladder last year and becoming almost a point-per-game player with 24 points in 30 games last season as a sophomore. He has nine points (1g, 8a) in 13 games this season. He is coming off his third career three-point game last time out against UNH, scoring his first goal since March 1, 2024 -- ending a 14-game schneid.

Jacobs has crept into the Top-100 all-time in scoring by a Princeton player, sitting at No. 98 all-time in points with 48 (13g, 35a) in 75 games.

MAN AT THE TOP
Jake Manfre is the man at the top of the Princeton rookie scoring race with 4-3-7 totals through 13 games. After tallying an assist in his first collegiate game against Harvard (11/8) he notched his first career goal in his third career game with a redirection at Yale (11/15) before exploding for 2 PPGs and an assist in a 3-1 win over Ohio State (11/29) and adding an assist against the Buckeyes on 11/30 for a four-point weekend to earn ECAC Rookie of the Week honors and ECAC Rookie of the Month honors for November. More recently, he had the lone goal -- a PPG -- in a 1-0 win at Army. Manfre's three PPGs this season are No. 3 in the ECAC, No. 32 overall in the nation and tied for No. 8 among all freshmen in the country. His two game-winning goals this season are No. 5 in the ECAC, No. 32 overall in the country and are tied for No. 4 among all freshmen in the nation.

HUMAN TOUCH
Princeton has had the first human to touch the puck on face-offs at a good clip to start the season, ranking No. 37 in country in faceoff % at .497 (373-378) through four games. Freshman Drew Garzone is 59% on faceoffs this season (94-66) and ranks No. 16 in the country in faceoff win percentage among players to win at least 94 draws. Garzone also ranks No. 3 in the country in overall faceoff percentage among freshmen.

NO SURRENDER
There was no retreat from senior defenseman Noah de la Durantaye last season as he had career highs in points (18) and assists (15) while his three goals were one away from his career high. He is Princeton's active leader in games played (101) and tied in assists assists (38) while ranking second in points (51). De la Durantaye has two game-winning goals this season to rank No. 4 in the ECAC and No. 34 in the country while also sitting tied for No. 5 in GWGs by a defenseman in the nation.

Entering this weekend, de la Durantaye is tied for 87th all-time on Princeton's career scoring list with 51 points (13g, 38a) in 101 games.

Among defenseman, de la Durantaye is tied for No. 12 all-time in points No. 13 in assists and is alone in No. 15 in goals.

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