Princeton
University has advanced to the quarterfinals of the ECAC Tournament for the
second straight year. The Tigers completed a two-step sweep of visiting Brown
University with a 7-1 win on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink, one night
after an 8-2 victory over the Bears in the opener of the best-of-three series.
The
Tigers got goals from seven different players on the evening, and 27 saves from
Ryan Ferland, after breaking open a 1-0 game with four goals in the middle
period. Ryan Kuffner’s second-period score, his 28th goal of the
season, stood up as the game-winner. It also tied a 20-year-old Princeton
single-season record, set by retired NHL player Jeff Halpern in 1998 when the
Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.
Kuffner
finished the night with a goal and two assists, as did linemate Max Veronneau,
who recorded his 100th career point on Kuffner’s goal. Reid Yochim
and Eric Robinson also posted two assists apiece for Princeton, which finished
2-for-6 on the power play.
The
Tigers ended the game with six seniors on the ice, including relief goaltender
Ben Halford, in their final appearance as a class at Baker Rink. Senior
defenseman Matt Nelson closed out the scoring with a power-play goal with 34
seconds remaining in regulation, assisted by classmates Robinson and Joe
Grabowski. Also on ice were seniors Max Becker and David Hallisey. Princeton outshot Brown, 44-30, over three periods.
Brown
(8-19-4), which defeated both Dartmouth and Harvard last week in its
regular-season finale, got its lone goal Saturday from Zach Giuttari, on a
power play early in the third period. The Bears also received 37 saves overall
from Luke Kania in Brown’s final game of the 2017-18 campaign.
Princeton
(15-12-2), which now is assured of its first winning record since 2010-11, will
play on the road next week in a best-of-three series at an opponent yet to be
determined. The winner of that series will advance to the ECAC Tournament
semifinals on March 16 in Lake Placid.
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