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.

Princeton Wins 2018 ECAC Men's Hockey Championship

Every year that ends in a number eight is a good one for the Princeton Tigers. At least it’s been that way the last 20 seasons.

Now 2018 has joined 1998 and 2008 as years in which Princeton won the Whitelaw Cup as ECAC Hockey champions. The Tigers outlasted Clarkson, 2-1, in overtime at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid on Saturday evening to win their seventh straight game, and their first league title in a decade.

Max Becker, who wears No. 8 for Princeton, scored just in front of the Clarkson net in the third minute of the extra session to send the Tigers to their fourth NCAA Tournament ever, and their first since 2009. Princeton had held a 1-0 lead since the first period on a goal by Josh Teves, and made it stand up until Josh Dickinson deflected home a screened shot with seven seconds remaining in regulation to tie it for the Golden Knights, who had pulled goaltender Jake Kielly (21 saves) for an extra attacker.

Ryan Ferland, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, finished with 31 stops for Princeton, which was outshot, 32-23. The two teams combined to go 0-for-3 on the power play, while Clarkson won 28 of the game's 51 faceoffs.

Princeton need the victory on Saturday to qualify for the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament, as its only road to the nationals was with the automatic NCAA bid awarded to the ECAC Tournament champion. Clarkson had already virtually locked up one of the 16 spots in the field due to its higher standing in the Pairwise Rankings (PWR), which mimics the NCAA selection process.

The 2018 NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday on ESPNU.