Men's Hockey Hosts RPI & Union To Close Homestand

Friday, January 9

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

RPI

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Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

January 08, 2026 | Men's Ice Hockey

Princeton vs. RPI | January 9 | 7 p.m.
Hobey Baker Rink
Tickets | Live Stats | ESPN+ | International Stream | Game Notes

Princeton vs. Union | January 10 | 7 p.m.
Hobey Baker Rink
TV: SNY
Tickets | Live Stats | ESPN+ | International Stream

LOOSE ENDS
Princeton enters the weekend with a 42-71-2 record all-time against RPI in a series that dates back to 1952. The Tigers are 22-27-6 in games played at Hobey Baker Rink, including a 6-2 win over the Engineers last season. In the first meeting this year, Princeton recorded a 4-0 shutout at Houston Field House. Jake Manfre had two goals in the win, while Kai Daniells had a goal and an assist. Conor Callaghan made 22 saves for his first career shutout.

The Tigers are 29-44-9 all-time against Union, including an 18-17-4 mark at Hobey Baker Rink in a series that dates back to 1982. The Tigers are 2-0-1 in their last three meetings with the Garnet Chargers at Baker Rink, including a 2-1 win last season. In December, Princeton picked up a 5-1 win in its first game at the M&T Bank Center. The Tigers had five different goal scorers while Carson Buydens and David Jacobs each had two assists. Conor Callaghan made 29 stops while allowing just one goal.

The Tigers have won eight games in a row at Hobey Baker Rink, the longest home winning streak to start a season in Hobey Baker Rink history, surpassing a run of seven straight wins to open the rink in 1923.

The Tigers rank No. 9 in the nation in Scoring Offense (3.79 goals-per-game) which is also No. 4 in the ECAC.

The Tigers rank No. 23 in the nation in Scoring Defense (2.64 goals allowed-per-game) through 14 games.

Princeton is No. 13 in the country in Scoring Margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 1.14 goals-per-game.

The Tigers are 10-4-0 despite ranking No. 37 in the country on the power play (18.4%) and No. 42 in the country on the penalty kill (77.6%) over 14 games.

Princeton has scored 4+ goals in eight of 14 games (8-0-0 record) this season. Last year, they scored 4+ goals in in 8 of 30 games and were 5-2-1 in those games.

PRINCETON IN THE POLLS
The Tigers have entered the national rankings for the first time since the 2018-19 season, slotting in at No. 19 in the USA Hockey Poll and No. 20 in the USCHO.com Rankings.

Princeton ranks No. 12 in the National Collegiate Percentage Index (NPI). Five of Princeton's 16 remaining games come against teams ranked ahead of them in the NPI.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
Princeton has won five games in a row, starting with a sweep of Union and RPI on the road December 5-6. That streak is the second-longest active winning streak in the nation, trailing only North Dakota (8). Princeton has won its last six ECAC games, boasting the nation's longest conference winning streak and Princeton's eight consecutive home wins is tied with Cornell for the longest in the country.

HOT HANDS
Kai Daniells (11g, 8a) has points in seven of his last nine games. Overall this season, he has at least one point in nine of 14 games and seven of those games have been multi-point efforts. He has five games with three or more points.

Jake Manfre (6g, 2a) has points in five consecutive games (7g, 5a) and has recorded at least one point in 11 of 14 games this season (9g, 6a).

David Jacobs (3g, 5a) has eight points over a five-game point streak. Overall this season, he has points in 10 of 14 games (3g, 11a).

Brendan Gorman (7g, 6a) has points in 10 of 14 games this season.

Tyler Rubin has a four-game point streak with six total assists over that span.

Kai Greaves has an assist in each of the last three games and seven helpers over his last nine games.

ONE STEP UP
Ben Syer put together one of the best debut seasons behind the bench in Princeton program history during the 2024-25 season, recording 12 wins 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" Cahoon (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)

TIGERS RETURN CORE FROM 24-25
Last year, Princeton's senior class included just four players which was the second-smallest group of seniors in all of Division I men's hockey. The Tigers return 23 players from last year's team, including a group of nine seniors which comprises the third-largest senior class in all of Division I men's hockey behind only Ferris State (12) and Canisius (11).

Consistency is key for the Tigers as they return 163 of 184 points from last year to lead the country with 89% of their total points from last year returning. Princeton also brings back 64 of its 71 goals from last year, which accounts for 90% of goals scored during 2024-25 to rank No. 2 in the nation behind only Harvard (93%).

GO-GO GORMAN
Brendan Gorman had 13 total points (6g, 7a) over his last 13 games of the 2024-25 season and posted eight total multi-point games last year. He led Princeton in goals (12), assists (14), points (26), and faceoff wins (285). His 0.4 goals-per-game was No. 11 among all ECAC players and his two short-handed goals last year were No. 2 in the ECAC and No. 8 in the country.

Growth has been consistent for Gorman over his three previous seasons his point totals have increased from 19 as a freshmen to 24 as a sophomore before reaching the 26-point mark last year as a junior.

All-time, Gorman now ranks No. 33 in scoring by a Princeton men's hockey player with 82 points (31g, 51a) in 104 games. He is one point away from tying for the No. 31 spot and three away from No. 29.

Last season, Gorman was named third-team All-ECAC and he was a first-team All-Ivy selection.

Gorman's 0.50 goals-per-game are No. 10 in the ECAC.

KD, ARE YOU WITH ME?
The Tigers are glad Kai Daniells is with them in 2025-26 as the junior opened the season with four points (2g, 2a) in a sweep of Alaska-Fairbanks. Those four points in two games matched his entire output over 17 games during an injury-riddled 2024-25 season and perhaps hearken back to his rookie season in 2023-24 where Daniells had 19 points (8g, 11a) including five PPGs.

In November, Daniells had one of the best two-game performances in Princeton history with six goals over two games. On Friday against St. Lawrence, he tied the program record with five goals -- the most scored in a game by a Princeton player since 1962 and just the fourth time the mark was reached all-time. His five goals scored in one game were the most by a NCAA Division I player since 2011.

He followed that outing up with a goal and an assist against Clarkson to cap off a seven-point weekend.

Over the course of that weekend, Daniells scored two game-winning goals, a power-play goal, a 4-on-4 goal and an empty net goal.

Daniells now has 13 goals this season in 14 games, surpassing his career high (8) set in 30 games in 2023-24.

Daniells now has a career-high 23 points (13g, 10a) this season and ranks No. 1 in the nation in points-per-game (1.64) and No. 4 in goals-per-game (0.93).

He has three game-winning goals this season, one of three Tigers tied for No. 8 in the nation.

MAN AT THE TOP
Jake Manfre was the man at the top of the Princeton rookie scoring race in 2024-25 with 8-9-17 totals through 30 games. A four-point weekend against Ohio State last November earned him ECAC Rookie of the Week honors and ECAC Rookie of the Month honors for November. Manfre's three PPGs last season led the Tigers and were No. 16 overall in the ECAC and No. 5 among ECAC rookies. His two game-winning goals last campaign were No. 4 among ECAC rookies, and No. 11 by a freshman in all of Division I hockey.

Manfre had two goals on Nov. 1 against Alaska-Fairbanks, netting the game-winner in the third before tacking on an ENG to close the game.

This season, Manfre is second on the Tigers with 9 goals and has goals in five consecutive games with 8 total points (6g, 2a) in that span.

Manfre's 0.64 goals per game rank No. 5 in the ECAC and No. 12 in the country and his 1.07 points-per-game are No. 9 in the country. He also has three GWGs which are tied for No. 8 in the nation.

JACOBS' LADDER
David Jacobs was limited to 24 games last season, his lowest total over his first three seasons with the Tigers. That resulted in his lowest point total in his three seasons (3g, 11a) for 14 points after posting 24 points (7g, 17a) in 30 games the year before. Now in his second year as a captain, Jacobs enters the weekend No. 53 in Princeton's all-time scoring list with 66 points on 17 goals and 49 assists.

Jacobs has eight assists over his last five games (3g, 5a) and is coming off a three-goal weekend that snapped a streak of 19 games without a goal dating back to 1/18/25.

Jacobs has 11 assists overall in 14 games this season, ranking No. 6 in the ECAC in assists per game (0.79).