Team Notes: Princeton Hosts Union and RPI at Baker
PRINCETON - Hobey Baker Rink plays host to the teams second, third and fourth in ECAC Hockey this weekend as the third-place Princeton men's hockey team plays host to second-place Union and fourth-place Rensselaer in a league series. Princeton will play the two teams twice over the final four weekends of the regular season.
All three teams enter the series off league sweeps last weekend. Princeton took two games in the North Country from St. Lawrence and Clarkson, while travel-partners Union and RPI both took care of then top-ranked Yale and Brown at home. Those wins leave the three teams separated by three points in the standings. Yale still tops the standings with 22 points. The Bulldogs hold a one-point edge on Union and the Dutchmen in turn have two points on third-place Princeton. Rensselaer sits fourth, tied with Dartmouth, a single point behind the Tigers.
Princeton's two wins last weekend on the road ran the Princeton win streak to four games and the Tigers are now 9-1-1 in the last 11 games. Princeton has gone 14-3-1 in its last 18 games after starting the season with three consecutive losses. In Princeton's current four-game run, the Tigers have averaged more than five goals per game in wins over Colgate, Sacred Heart, St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
Last weekend the Tigers won their eighth and ninth league contests by sweeping in the North Country for just the third time since the travel partner schedules began. Princeton also swept in Canton and Potsdam in the 1998-99 and 2008-09 seasons. On Friday at St. Lawrence, Taylor Fedun scored Princeton's first two goals and the Tigers never trailed in the 5-3 win. Fedun also assisted on Mike Kramer's game winner as Princeton completed a season sweep of the Saints. Andrew Ammon and Andrew Calof also scored in the win.
A day later the Tigers stunned Clarkson nine seconds into overtime as Kevin Lohry lifted Princeton to a 4-3 win. The line Lohry, Ammon and Brodie Zuk was on the ice for all four Princeton goals and combined for eight points in the win. Ammon scored Princeton's second and third goals and defenseman Matt Godlewski netted his first of the season as Princeton split the season series with Clarkson.
Ammon was named the league's Rookie of the Week on Tuesday for the second time this season. The freshman led all league players with six points last weekend. He had an assist last Tuesday against Sacred Heart, a goal and an assist at St. Lawrence and two goals and an assist at Clarkson. He also was the league's top rookie after netting a hat trick during Princeton's sweep of UMass Lowell in mid-December. Ammon and Lohry both carry four-game scoring streaks into the weekend and each have seven points in the four-game span. Over the last three games, 15 Tigers have recorded at least a point and nine have points in at least two of the three games played.
Princeton opens the upcoming weekend on Friday night when 11th-ranked Union and second-place Union visits Baker Rink. Union is currently 18-7-3 overall and 10-3-1 in the ECAC. The Dutchmen have won seven of eight games including last weekend's sweep of Yale and Brown. Union boasts two of the league's top four scorers in Jeremy Welsh (13-17-30) and Daniel Carr (15-13-28) and has the nation's best power play, which is clicking at a 30.6 percent rate.
The Tigers lead the all-time series with Union 22-20-4 overall and hold a 15-9-1 edge in games played at Hobey Baker Rink. Union swept both meetings from Princeton last season, winning 7-3 at Baker Rink and 4-1 at home. Michael Sdao gave Princeton a 1-0 lead in the home game and Fedun and Dan Bartlett later trimmed the lead to a goal before Union pulled away over the final 10 minutes. Lohry scored in the loss at Union. A season earlier Princeton took three of five meetings from Union, splitting in the regular season and winning a three-game playoff series.
Princeton completes the weekend on Saturday afternoon against eight/ninth-ranked and fourth-place Rensselaer. The Engineers are currently 17-6-3 overall and 9-5-0 in the ECAC. RPI enters the weekend having won its last five games, topping Colgate, Harvard and Dartmouth prior to last weekend's sweep of Brown and Yale. The Engineers are led by the league's leading scorer Chase Polacek, who has 39 points in 26 games this season, and goaltender Allen York's 1.86 goals-against average and .932 save percentage.
The Engineers lead the all-time series with Princeton 62-28-9 overall and 24-13-4 in games played in Princeton. The teams have split in each of the last three seasons. Last year each won on the other's home ice with RPI winning 4-1 in Princeton thanks to four power-play goals and the Tigers shutting out RPI on the road 7-0. Kramer had the lone goal in the loss, while Will MacDonald's two goals and an assist led Princeton in the win.
Princeton takes to the road next weekend to visit Harvard and 17th-ranked Dartmouth. Including this weekend's games with Union and RPI, Princeton plays six of its final eight games against teams ranked first through fifth in the ECAC standings.
