Men's Hockey Opens ECAC Playoffs At Brown Friday Night

No. 9 Seed Princeton (12-14-3, 7-12-3 ECAC) at No. 8 Seed Brown (13-13-3, 9-11-2 ECAC)
March 7 | 7 p.m.
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LOOSE ENDS
The Tigers enter this weekend with a 78-93-12 record all-time against Brown and a 36-47-6 record in games played in Providence. Princeton was 0-1-1 against the Bears in the two prior meetings this season, both games heading to overtime. Back in November, the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie at Meehan Auditorium before Brown claimed the shootout. In February, the Tigers had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before the Bears tied the game late and won in overtime via a Ryan St. Louis goal 0:51 in.

This will be the eighth time Princeton and Brown have met in the ECAC Playoffs and the first meeting since 2019. The all-time history in the playoffs between these two teams is as even as it gets. They have played 16 times and each team has won eight. 10 of the 16 playoff games between these two teams have been one-goal games, and each team has won five. Four of the playoff games between Princeton and Brown have required overtime, and each team has won two.

The most memorable playoff meeting between these two teams was arguably the most recent one -- Game Two of the Opening Round in 2019. A game that was tied at 2-2 after two periods saw Brown take a three-goal lead with three consecutive goals in the third period before Princeton scored three times in a span of 2:47 and eventually tie the game at 5-5 when Jackson Cressey scored with 0:59 left in regulation. Three overtime periods later, Brown's Alex Brink scored at the 103:30 mark to win it for the Bears.

ONE STEP UP
Ben Syer has put together one of the best debut seasons behind the bench in Princeton program history, recording 12 wins to this point which is tied for 2nd-most by a coach in his first season among Princeton's 18 all-time head coaches.
13: Richard Vaughan (1935-36); Bill Quackenbush (1967-68)
12: Ben Syer (2024-25); Don "Toot" Cahoun (1991-92); R. Norman Wood (1959-60); G.J. Gaw (1922-23)
10: Len Quesnelle (2000-01); Frank Frederickson (1933-34)
9: Jack Semler (1973-74); Jim Higgins (1977-78); Bob Prier (2011-12)
8: Guy Gadowsky (2004-05)
7: John Wilson (1965-66); W. Beattie Ramsey (1924-25)
5: Lloyd Neidlinger (1927-28)
4: Ron Fogarty (2014-15); Russell Ellis (1920-21)
3: M.J. MacDonald (1921-22)

I'M ON FIRE
Brendan Gorman enters the week with 20 points (9g, 11a) over his last 21 games and leads the Tigers overall with 26 points in 29 games. Even more recently, he has 13 total points (5g, 6a) over his last 13 games.

He has two short-handed goals this season, 2nd in the ECAC and 8th in the country. This season, he is averaging 0.9 points-per-game, which is No. 10 in the ECAC and No. 67 among all players in Division I. Gorman's 0.4 goals-per-game rank No. 10 in the ECAC and No. 63 in the country.

All-time, Gorman now ranks No. 45 in scoring by a Princeton men's hockey player with 69 points (24g, 45a) in 89 games. He recently broke a tie with current Carolina Hurricane Eric Robinson '18 at 67 points.

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 (116) and second in assists (41) and points (55). De la Durantaye has two game-winning goals this season to rank No. 8 in GWGs by a defenseman in the nation.

Entering this weekend, de la Durantaye is tied for 76th all-time on Princeton's career scoring list with 55 points (14g, 41a) in 116 games.

Among defenseman, de la Durantaye is No. 10 all-time in points and No. 10 in assists and is alone in No. 13 in goals.

LONG TIME COMIN'
The Tigers finished the non-conference portion of the season 5-2-0. The five wins in non-conference play are the most since Princeton also went 5-2-0 in non-conference play during the 2016-17 season.

THE 'E' STREET SHUFFLE
There were some sparks flying in E's crease as Ethan Pearson made 50 saves and allowed just two goals in a 1-0-1 weekend at Yale and Brown to earn ECAC Goaltender of the Week honors.

He was back in business against Bentley, stopping 61-of-62 shots faced en route to a pair of wins to again earn ECAC Goaltender of the Week accolades.

Recently, he won both games of the Harvard/Dartmouth trip to help Princeton sweep that weekend for the first time since 2010.

Pearson is 7-7-2 overall this season and boasts a 2.34 GAA and a .912 save percentage. His GAA is No. 5 in the ECAC and ranks No. 27 in the country, and he is No. 4 in the ECAC in save percentage and No. 37 in the country.

PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
Princeton has played 16 games this season against a team currently ranked or receiving votes in the current USCHO Poll. The Tigers are 5-11 against teams ranked or receiving votes, including a pair of wins over current No. 9 Ohio State. To this date, 11 of Princeton's 14 total losses have come to teams ranked or receiving votes in this week's national poll.

BETTER DAYS
These are better days for senior Alex Konovalov who has set a career high with 11 points this season, tallying 3 goals and 8 assists in 26 games. He has nine points over his last 14 games, including a career-high three points (2g, 1a) at Union. This comes after tallying six total points -- all assists -- over 43 games during his first three seasons.

MAN AT THE TOP
Jake Manfre is the man at the top of the Princeton rookie scoring race with 8-9-17 totals through 29 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 a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win at #19 Dartmouth. Manfre's three PPGs this season are No. 16 overall in the ECAC and No. 5 among ECAC rookies. His two game-winning goals this season are No. 4 among ECAC rookies, and also No. 11 by a freshman in all of Division I hockey.

IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND
Princeton struggled out of the gate last season, being outscored in the first period by an 42-21 margin over its 30 games during the 2023-24 season. So far this season, Princeton has tightened up (18-18) the goal differential in the first period. The Tigers are 7-3-2 when leading after one period and 1-8-0 when trailing through twenty minutes.

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 14 points (3g, 11a) in 21 games this season. He had his third career three-point game against UNH, scoring his first goal since March 1, 2024 -- ending a 14-game schneid. Two weeks ago, he had a two-goal game against Colgate for his second career multi-goal game.

Jacobs has crept into the Top-100 all-time in scoring by a Princeton player, tied for No. 82 all-time in points with 53 (15g, 38a) in 85 games. He reached 50 points in one fewer game than current AHLer Corey Andonovski.

EASY MONEY
It's been easy for E-Z lately as Jaxson Ezman has set a new career high in points with 14 -- including nine points (5g, 4a) in his last 13 games. He had the game-winning goals against Bentley (1/25) and Dartmouth (2/1) and had a three-point (1g, 2a) weekend to close the regular season.

HIGH HOPES
So far this season, Nick Marciano (+12), Alex Konovalov (+7), Jaxson Ezman (+7), David Ma (+6), Kevin Anderson (+5), Ian Devlin (+2), Brendan Gorman (+2) and Brendan Wang (+1) have set a new career highs in points. The next point from Michael Young and Carson Buydens will set new career highs.

THE RISING
Already through 27 games this season, Nick Marciano's career high in points has started rising. He has 14 points (3g, 11a) in 29 games after posting four total points over his first 48 games.

YOUNGSTOWN
Miles Gunty played three seasons with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL, winning a championship in 2023 and serving as alternate captain during the 2023-24 season. He had a breakout weekend for the Tigers to close out 2024, tallying three assists in the wins over Union and RPI to earn ECAC Rookie of the Week honors and enter this weekend with goals in two of his last three games.

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