Princeton Begins New Season with Win and Tie at SCSU

Princeton University opened its 2019-20 men's hockey campaign by continuing its recent success against St. Cloud State University.

The Tigers skated to a 5-3 win and a 5-5 tie with the host Huskies in Minnesota over the weekend of Nov. 1-2. The two schools had played to pair of ties in central New Jersey in Dec. 2017, when St. Cloud was ranked as the top Division I team in the country.

Junior goaltender Ryan Ferland backstopped the Tigers to a season-opening victory on Friday, making 31 saves, while sophomore forward Corey Andonovski scored Princeton's first goal of the season and added an assist. Senior forward Jackson Cressey also had a goal and an assist for the visitors.

On Saturday, Andonovski tallied his first career collegiate hat trick, including the game-tying goal in the third period, while freshman netminder Aidan Porter made 25 saves for the Tigers in his NCAA debut. Cressey scored one goal, and set up three others, to finish with six points in two outings. Sophomore forward Sam Hentges led 16th-ranked St. Cloud (1-2-3 overall) with two goals and three assists on the weekend, while junior goalie Dávid Hrenák finished with a total of 37 saves over the two contests for the Huskies.

Princeton (1-0-1) opens ECAC Hockey play at Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 8-9, while SCSU will play a non-conference series at Northern Michigan.

Princeton Downs St. Lawrence, 5-3, in Home Finale

Princeton University closed out the home portion of its 2018-19 schedule on Saturday night with a 5-3 victory over ECAC Hockey rival St. Lawrence.

Ryan Kuffner led the host Tigers with two goal and an assist, including his team-leading 20th goal of the season, after setting a new single-season school record with 29 tallies a year ago. Jackson Cressey tallied one goal and set up two others, while Alex Riche and Max Veronneau scored Princeton's other goals. Ryan Ferland picked up the win with 21 saves over 59 minutes before giving way to backup Austin Shaw, who played in his final home game at Hobey Baker Rink, as did senior classmates Riche, Kuffner, Verroneau, Spencer Kryczka and Josh Teves.

Keenan Suthers, Zach Risteau and Bo Hanson scored for the visiting Saints, who went 2-for-5 on the power play. Emil Zetterquist finished with 25 saves for St. Lawrence, which was outshot, 30-24, overall.

Princeton (8-16-3 overall, 6-12-2 ECAC), in 11th place in ECAC Hockey, will skate next weekend at Brown and Yale, while 12th place St. Lawrence (4-26-2, 2-16-2) will host Cornell and Colgate as the league closes out its regular-season slate.

Princeton, Clarkson Skate to ECAC Tie

Clarkson University skated to its first tie of the 2018-19 season on Friday night with a 1-1 deadlock at ECAC Hockey rival Princeton University.

Aaron Thow scored from the blueline on a first-period power play for No. 12 Clarkson (20-10-1 overall, 11-7-1 ECAC), after Nico Sturm won a faceoff in Princeton's end.  The score remained unchanged until 6:23 into the third period, when Jackson Cressey connected for Princeton (7-16-3, 5-12-2) in front of the Clarkson net on a power play, off a feed from the right side by Max Véronneau.

Princeton outshot Clarkson, 36-25, on the night. Jake Kielly finished with 35 saves for the visiting Golden Knights, while freshman Jeremie Forget finished with 18 saves for the host Tigers in his first career start. Forget left the game with 9:20 remaining in regulation due to an undisclosed injury, and was replaced by sophomore Ryan Ferland, who made six stops, including three in overtime.

Clarkson will visit fifth-ranked Quinnipiac on Saturday, while Princeton will close out its home schedule versus St. Lawrence.

Quinnipiac Finishes Sweep of Princeton

Ninth-ranked Quinnipiac stretched its winning streak to six games by completing a two-step sweep of No. 19 Princeton on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink in New Jersey.

The Bobcats rebounded from two one-goal deficits by tallying four goals in the second period and two more in the third to top the Tigers, 6-3. Quinnipiac improves to 13-2-0 overall (6-2-0 ECAC Hockey), while Princeton falls to 3-6-1 (2-4-1 ECAC) after suffering its fifth consecutive defeat.

Chase Priskie scored two goals for the Bobcats, the first one on the power play and the second the game-winner, and now has 11 total goals on the season. Craig Martin also notched two goals, and Odeen Tufto posted three assists for Quinnipiac, which finished 2-for-5 on the power play and got 27 saves in all from Keith Petruzzelli.

Jackson Cressey scored twice for Princeton, which got 28 stops from Ryan Ferland and also went 1-for-6 with a man advantage. The Tigers host NCAA independent Arizona State for a pair of games next weekend, while the Bobcats will play a home-and-home series with third-ranked Massachusetts.

Princeton Tops Quinnipiac, 5-3

Princeton made it four wins in its last five outings overall as the Tigers defeated No. 7 Quinnipiac, 5-3, on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink.

Princeton, which took three one-goal leads on the night, went ahead for good with just over four minutes remaining in regulation when an unassisted shot from the blueline by defenseman Matt Nelson found the back of the Quinnipiac net. Eric Robinson then fired an insurance goal into an empty net with 15 seconds left, after Bobcats netminder Chris Truehl (24 saves) had been pulled for an extra attacker. Princeton last won four of five games from Jan. 4-27, 2013.

Max Veronneau set up three of Princeton goals and now has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in his last three games, after starting the season with four points over his first nine contests. Ryan Kuffner, Jackson Cressey (power-play goal) and Alex Riche also scored for the Tigers (4-7-1 overall, 2-6-1 ECAC), who got 33 stops on the evening from Colton Phinney, including a pad save on a shot late in regulation with Quinnipiac threatening to tie the game on a power play.

The Bobcats’ goals came from Kevin Duane (PPG), Landon Smith and Thomas Aldworth, in the first second and third periods, respectively, with each one forging a tie. Quinnipiac (10-6-2, 6-3-1) finished 1-for-5 on the power play while outshooting Princeton, 36-29, overall. The Tigers, who were 1-for-3 with the man advantage, defeated Quinnipiac for the first time since Nov. 23, 2013, a span of four games, and for the first time at home since Jan. 4, 2010.

An altercation after the final whistle resulted in 10-minute misconduct penalties being issued to both teams, and no traditional postgame handshake was held. The two ECAC travel partners will conclude their home-and home series tomorrow at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.