Princeton Wins League Championship
_Photos/Princeton/Princeton_Team_Champ.jpg?max_width=360)
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Senior Mike
Moore had a goal and an assist and sophomore goaltender Zane
Kalemba made 35 saves as the 15th-ranked Princeton men's hockey
team defeated Harvard 4-1 to win the 2008 ECAC Hockey Tournament
and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Princeton was able to settle into its game early and got on the
scoreboard 5:04 into the game when senior captain Mike
Moore scored his seventh goal of the season. The line of senior Kyle
Hagel, junior Brandan
Kushniruk and sophomore Kevin
Kaiser worked the puck into the Harvard zone and took it to the
net.
Hagel had a shot blocked that rebounded to the blueline where Moore
picked it up and faked a shot to draw the Harvard forward, then
shot through a screen, through the legs of Harvard netminder Kyle
Richter for the first goal of the contest.
The Crimson were able to gain some momentum with strong play early
in the second period but could not crack Princeton netminder Zane
Kalemba. The Tigers then took advantage of a break just past midway
through the period as senior Landis
Stankievech scored his seventh goal of the season on a blast from
the point that squeezed through Richter. Moore notched his second
point of the night with an assist in the goal as he did a nice job
keeping the puck in the zone, before the pass to Stankievech.
Princeton led 2-0 entering the third period, but Harvard got back
within a goal less than a minute into the third period while
skating on the power play. The goal came from Jon Pelle who
one-timed a Mike Taylor pass from the left circle. Alex Biega also
had an assist on the tally.
Harvard continued to pressure but Kalemba was equal to the task and
Princeton added insurance when junior Brett
Wilson scored on the power play at 16:54 from sophomore Cam
MacIntyre. Sophomore Mark
Magnowski capped the scoring with an empty-net goal.
Kalemba made 35 saves for the win and was named the tournament's
Most Outstanding Player. He, Moore and freshman Kevin
Lohry were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Princeton will now play in the NCAA Tournament next weekend. The
site and opponent will be announced tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. The
selection show will air on ESPN2.
2008 Bank of America ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team:
F - Jon Pelle, Havard
F - Kevin Lohry, Princeton
F - Michael Kennedy, Corenell
D - Alex Biega, Harvard
D - Michael Moore, Princeton
G - Zane Kalemba, Princeton
Most Outstanding Player - Zane Kalemba, Princeton
