Armando Bengochea writes I disagree with those who have written in to deny than Princeton's clear strategy in game 3 was to clutch and grab and take Brown's considerable skating advantage away as well as to brutalize Trach and Mulhern each time they touched the puck.I haven't missed a home game at Meehan Auditorium in four years and this strategy is well known to Brown fans as well as to Gaudet. ... I was stunned in the 5th period on Sunday (as was the loyal contingent of Brown faculty and administrators I was with) when Matt Brush (N#12) of Princeton scored the winning goal. Although he needed only five or so strides to reach Audette after picking the puck away from Brown defenders, he bolted like lightning toward the goal. Did this guy have fresh legs at this point? Can any Princeton people tell me more about what line he plays on and how much time he played in that third game? I'm interested from a coach's perspective whether this kid was deliberately put in in that period because he was otherwise rested. 1) Brush: One of two freshman forwards who has played varsity for Princeton this year (the other is Casson Masters, who played defense in Game 1 &2), part of Don Cahoon's continuing strategy to bring in quicker, more skilled players to compliment a bigger, more fundamentally sound defense ... sound familiar? It's the same strategy that Bog (that's Bob, sorry) Gaudet used to lift Brown out of the cellar. Brush skated a regular shift in the first OT, so it was not any plan of Cahoon's to throw fresh legs out there. Like Masters, Ethan Early, etc., Brush is in great shape - another Cahoon plan. He brought Mike Boyle's strength and conditioning program from BU to Princeton. Anyone in college hockey will tell you that Boyle is the best strength and fitness coach in the game. Brush played on the same line as Masters and J.P. O'Connor and made the pass to send O'Connnor in for Princeton's second goal. 2) Clutching and grabbing Trach and Mulhern I noticed that Brown paid closer attention to Jonathan Kelley after he scored a pair of goals in game 1. I've seen Steve Martins play against Brown, and he gets held and bumped every time he touches the puck. What happens to Perrin and St. Louis? Does Brown let them run around the rink all day? Being clutched and grabbed is part of the game - you learn to draw penalties, you learn to move to open space, you draw your defender out of the play to create room for a teammate, you initiate the contact to offset the defender's intent. I seem to remember Brown employing similar strategies to slow down Andre Faust a few years back. If you like hockey where there isn't any holding or interference, I suggest you attend a few intramural games. 3) It seems logically inconsistent to note in one sentance that Brush 'bolted like lightning,' yet, in another, claim that Brown has a 'considerable skating advantage.' For the 45693479th time, Princeton and Brown were evenly matched. The Tigers prevailed in part because Konte was unbelievable in goal, in part because they may have been better conditioned and thus able to prevail in the 82nd minute of their fourth game in a week, and in part because, for the first time in team history, they believed that they deserved to win. Princeton and Brown played five games this year, Princeton won three (out of four at Meehan). I realize I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but the utter denial of some of the Brown posters is making me regret that I've ever said anything nice about a deserving hockey team. Geoff Howell The Trenton Times Drop the Puck