Sunday, December 31, 2023

Princeton Tops Harvard, 5-2, in 2023 Finale

Nick Carabin tallied a goal and two assists, and Nick Seitz set up three goals as Princeton rebounded for a 5-2 win over visiting Ivy League and ECAC Hockey rival Harvard yesterday at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink It was Princeton's first victory over Harvard since Nov. 2019, and also marked the completion of the two-game 2023-24 season series between the two schools, who played to a tie in Cambridge, Mass. in early November (with Princeton winning a subsequent shootout).

After Jack Bar and Joe Miller staked Harvard (1-6-3 overall, 1-4-3 ECACH) to a 2-0 lead just over 16 minutes into Saturday's contest, Princeton (6-5-2, 5-3-1) then rebounded with five unanswered goals spanning the last two periods for the win. Jaxson Ezman got the Tigers on the board with a shot from the slot 3:30 into the middle stanza to make it 2-1, before Adam Robbins and Kai Daniells tallied power-play goals just under 12 minutes apart to give Princeton a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Ezman salted away the contest on his second goal of the afternoon, with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, before Carabin scored shorthanded into an empty net less than two minutes later for the final margin, with Harvard's goaltender pulled for an extra attacker. Princeton outshot Harvard, 31-30, on the afternoon, while the Crimson won 32 of 61 faceoffs in all. The Tigers also went 2-for-3 on the power play, while killing off all four Harvard man-advantages, including a 5-on-3 in the first period.

Arthur Smith finished with 28 saves for the Tigers, while Derek Mullahy made 26 stops for the Crimson. Princeton will return to NCAA action on Jan. 5-6 at Hockey East opponent New Hampshire, while Harvard will visit Hockey East's UConn today to close out the calendar year.

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