Adrian Edges Princeton in Exhibition

NCAA Division III Adrian (Mich.) topped NCAA Division I host Princeton in an exhibition men's ice hockey contest on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink. Individual statistics and team records from the contest will not count in either school’s official totals.

After Ryan Kuffner and Jake Paganelli staked the Tigers to a 2-0 second-period lead, Dino Balsamo got the visiting Bulldogs on the board. Adrian would then tie the contest late in regulation before Austin Bottrell put home a rebound on a power play with 6.2 seconds remaining in overtime for the win.

Kevin Entmaa went the distance in goal for Adrian, and finished with 23 saves. Ryan Ferland, Andrew Shaw and Jay Forget split netminding chores for Princeton in playing one period apiece,
with Forget also playing the overtime, and combined for 30 stops. Save totals were partially skewed by several 5-on-3 and 5-on-4 power play practice situations exchanged by the two teams prior to the start of the second stanza.

Adrian, which finished 24-6-0 overall last season and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament's quarterfinal round, will begin its 2018-19 regular season at Utica on Oct. 26-27.
Princeton, which claimed the 2018 ECAC Hockey Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009, went 19-13-4 overall last season and will open its new
campaign at Penn State on Oct. 26.

Princeton and St. Cloud Skate to Second Straight Tie

One night after skating to a 3-3 tie in non-conference NCAA Division I men's hockey action, Princeton and No. 1 St. Cloud State did it again. The host Tigers and visiting Huskies played to a 2-2 affair at Hobey Baker Rink on Saturday, as SCSU scored the tying goal with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Ryan Ferland made 43 saves for Princeton, one night after he posted a 37-stop effort that included 14 saves in a five-minute overtime period. SCSU netminder Jeff Smith made 40 stops on Saturday as the Huskies, who now have three ties in their last four outings to date, outshot the Tigers overall, 45-42. The two teams combined to go 2-for-12 on the power play in the rematch.

Judd Peterson open the scoring for SCSU (12-2-3 overall) just under seven minutes into the second period, on a goal in front of the net. Princeton (6-7-3) responded with less than three minutes left in the period when Jake Paganelli whirled around at the left post and whipped a backhander between Smith’s pads.

The Tigers took their first lead of the night in the first minute of the third period, when Ryan Kuffner scored on the doorstep as the Huskies were trying to kill off the final 20 seconds of a penalty. SCSU came back with a power play goal of its own with 12:18 elapsed in the third when Jacob Benson put the puck home from behind the Princeton cage. The Tigers then had three power plays following Benson’s goal, including one on a too many men on the ice penalty against the Huskies, but couldn’t cash in

Saturday’s deadlock came 20 years to the day that Princeton defeated No. 1 Boston University at Baker Rink by a 3-2 count. The Tigers will visit ECAC opponents Cornell and Colgate next week, while SCSU will play a home-and-home series with in-state rival Minnesota.

Princeton Splits with Bemidji State

 

Princeton University gave up a goal just 17 seconds into Friday's game, but then didn't look back in scoring twice in each of the next two periods on to best Bemidji State, 4-1, at Hobey Baker Rink. The Tigers thus gained a split in the two-game series, which began on Wednesday with a 5-3 victory by the visiting Beavers.

After BSU's Jay Dickman one-timed home a puck from the slot in the first minute of play, the score remained unchanged until Ryan Kuffner connected on a Princeton power play with just over three minutes left in the second period. The Tigers then went ahead for good less than two minutes later,  when Alex Riche backhanded a puck from behind the goal line that glanced off the inside of BSU goaltender Jack Burgart's pad and slid into the net.

David Hallisey scored from the left side just under five minutes into the third stanza to make it 3-1 for Princeton, and the goal stood following an official review after BSU challenged that the play had been offside. Princeton freshman and New Jersey native Jake Paganelli closed out the scoring on a breakaway at 14:18 for his first career collegiate goal.

Ryan Ferland finished with 26 saves for the Tigers, while Burgart made 36 stops for the Beavers in his first starts of the 2017-18 season. Josh Teves recorded two assists for Princeton, while Kuffner had a goal and an assist. The all-time series between the two schools is now tied at three wins apiece.

Princeton (4-4-1 overall) will now host ECAC opponent Quinnipiac on Tuesday night and will then visit Arizona State for two games next weekend, while BSU (5-5-2) will visit WCHA opponent Bowling Green next Friday and Saturday.