GOALS SHOTS
Union 1 0 1 __ 2 Union 8 5 8 __ 21
Princeton 2 1 2 __ 5 Princeton 11 11 13 __ 35
1ST PERIOD
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P Sharp 12 (Kelley, Early) 1:28
U Monteith 12 (Will, Ford) 12:12
P Kopeck 10 (Early, Kelley) 16:01
2ND PERIOD
----------ad this game as a second life,
after essentially backing into the playoffs.
But Princeton came out charged up, before a predictably small (1,229) crowd.
Crowds for Tuesday games are historically small throughout the league for
various reasons, plus it's mid-term exam week at Princeton.
The Tigers buzzed around the net, and Ian Sharp joined the play off a partial
line change, picking up a loose puck in the circle and firing it past Trevor
Koenig just 1:28 into the game. Princeton then lapsed a little. They may have
thought it would be easy from there. But Union wasn't going to go down without
a fight. The Dutchmen were 2-0-2 vs. Princeton in the last four coming in and
had always done well. They started to take the play a little, finally getting
their first goal as Will and Ford took advantage of one of the few defensive
mikstake, and Monteith squirted a rebound past Konte, who didn't see it.
The Tigers sensed the urgency, however, and began to tighten things up in their
own zone. Except for against Dartmouth, the Tiger defense has been exceptional
the last two months. Kopeck then scrapped for a rebound in the slot less than
four minutes later, and roofed it past Koenig.
The second period was very slow. A nothing period until about midway through.
The Tigers made a rush into the zone, Kelley picked the puck up high on the
left wing, then weaved toward the middle, as two Princeton players drew two
defenders away from the puck. Kelley then fired a patented slap shot past
Koenig using Early as a screen. It was Kelley's 20th goal.
Princeton had a number of golden opportunities early in the third, right until
the time Union scored. But they just missed a number of times, mostly because
of bad timing, or a good backcheck, not because of Koenig. The refs also let
about 4 blatant hooks and cross-checks go. Then on the other end, the refs
made a call against Princeton and with the extra man on, Union was able to keep
it in the zone despite a couple of poke checks by the Tigers. The refs didn't
blow the whistle. Finally Buchanan floated a knuckleball past Konte, who
thought he was interfered with as his blocker was knocked off his hand.
The Tigers responded, though, 1:13 later. Jason Smith rushed the puck in,
fought off two defenders, J.P. O'Connor took the puck and put a short angle
backhand over the left arm of Koenig. A huge goal and one J.P. really needed.
Later, Sharp made a nice drop pass after drawing two player, and Sinclair fired
it past Koenig.
Some note of interest: Class move by Union coach Bruce Delventhal putting
Senior Mike Gallant in the game in the last 4 minutes. Gallant didn't win a
game his first two years, then led Union to 6th last year, before having his
job taken away by Koenig this year.
--- Tigers defender Jason Smith, having a great second half of the season,
was used up front on the PP for the first time since early last year. He had 4
goals there as a freshman, but last year had a tendency to take retaliation
penalties and nullify PPs. This year, Princeton was last in the league in PP,
lacking a strong crease presence. Princeton had some good chances with Smith
the first time, until he again took a penalty. Luckily it was coincidental. I
think they should stick with the experiment.
--- I had a lot of respect for Chris Albert until tonight. The Union
forward, playing in his last game, has given Princeton fits, but let his
emotions get the best of him tonight. One time, in the second period, he
speared the entire Tiger bench (SLAPSHOT Style), holding his stick up as he
skated by. The players went nuts, and Don Cahoon got mad at the way his
players reacted, but they had a right to be mad. Cahoon then told Delventahl
about it, and the two chatted. Delventhal seemed sympathetic. Albert then got
called for a silly penalty late, meaning his career was basically over. When
he came out of the box as the buzzer sounded, he yapped at the refs for a
while, then didn't shake hands afterwards.
--- Tiger defender Dan Brown suffered a possible broken leg. He is probably
their most expendable defenseman, but there isn't much depth. David Scowby has
been bad on defense this year, and used lately as a forward. Also, the depth
of front is a problem. Mike Bois got an infected chin and was in the
infirmary. He is questionable for the weekend. If those guys can't play,
Princeton would have 0 extras, except for two guys with 3 total career games.
Princeton can beat Brown. They have proven they can beat anyone if on top of
their game. They've beaten Maine, Colgate, Brown and Harvard on the road this
year. This is definitely no gimme for Brown. The talent here is not very
different. I give Brown about a 60-percent chance of winning.
AW
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