Princeton ends UM hockey unbeaten streak

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ORONO – Princeton University coach Don Cahoon decided that the logical way to beat the University of Maine hockey team is to play like Maine.

Thus, the Tigers formulated a suffocating defensive game plan that took on a decidedly Black Bear flavor. Princeton limited Maine to 19 shots on goal, ending the Black Bears’ 20-game unbeaten streak with a 3-2 victory Friday night in the championship game of the Dexter Hockey Classic at Alfond Arena.

Princeton, which has not lost in its last eight games, improved to 9-5-1. It was the Tigers’ first tournament victory since 1968, the last season a Princeton team finished better than .500.

In Friday’s consolation contest, Tim Loftsgard scored 1:55 into overtime to lift Colgate to a 7-6 victory over Acadia University of Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Coach Shawn Walsh seemed to take the loss in stride. After all, the Bears are still 15-1-5 heading into a brief Christmas break.

“Rather than be so disappointed with the loss, I’d rather give credit to Princeton,” Walsh said. “They really worked hard and played a Maine kind of game. I also give credit to our players for taking college hockey 21 games to beat us.”

Princeton defenseman Brent Flahr was selected the tournament Most Valuable Player, notching a pair of assists in the title contest, which was played in front of 5,027 fans.

Maine defensemen Jeff Tory and Chris Imes received All-Tournament recognition, as did forward Dan Shermerhorn. Also chosen were forward J.P. O’Connor of Princeton, Colgate’s Loftsgard, and Tigers goalie James Konte.

Princeton developed its game plan after watching Maine play at the Great Western Freeze-Out a month ago and seeing the Bears again Thursday against Acadia.

“I can’t begin to tell you how happy this club is right now,” O’Connor said. “Coach came into the room with a plan that tried to clog everything up and lock on to a few of their wingers who were blowing out of their zone. It appeared to work well.”

The Bears sliced the deficit to 3-2 at 4:42 of the third period during a brief 5-on-3 advantage. Dave MacIsaac muscled his way off a Princeton defenseman in front of the net in time to collect the rebound of a Tory shot and punch it into the net with Konte still down.

And Maine had a handful of other quality scoring chances in the last 10 minutes, but could not get the equalizer.

“They work hard,” Imes said. “They just play steady and don’t break down. They clogged things up and they’re well-coached. They just play smart. I don’t think we played that poorly, they just beat us.”

Princeton went ahead 2-1 early in the second period, moments after the Bears had buzzed the Tigers’ net repeatedly only to get no shots on goal. Flahr alertly made a pass from the right-wing boards into the high slot, where Matt Brush snapped a shot through Blair Allison’s pads with only 2:59 gone.

Maine responded by dominating most of the next 10 minutes of action. The Bears kept considerable pressure in the Princeton end, but the Tigers were stingy in the number of good shots they afforded the hosts.

“They reminded me a little bit of us,” Allison said. “They had a great work ethic and never cracked. I think they deserved to win. We’re just gonna have to regroup. We know we’re not a great team yet. We’re a very good team, and we can’t let this get us down.”

Princeton managed to survive Maine’s relentless attacking, and began to get more whistles to slow down the pace and help themselves regain their edge. The Tigers extended their lead to two goals late in the period as the Bears began to have trouble getting out of their own end.

The backchecking of Flahr and Tony Ranaldi helped generate the scoring chance, which featured a quick pass from the red line at Allison’s right to Corey Rhodes in front, who had been knocked to his knees but still flicked a shot past Allison with 1:21 left in the period.

The first period was a standoff, as the Tigers played a style not unlike that of the Bears. Princeton bottled up the neutral zone, which kept Maine from firing any long passes to set up rushes.

The visitors also clogged up their defensive zone, affording the Bears only four shots on goal in the period. Maine broke a 0-0 tie after receiving a 5-on-3 advantage at the 15:38 mark.

Jeff Tory passed from the left point to Barry Clukey in the lefthand corner. Clukey quickly snapped a cross-ice pass to Dan Shermerhorn, who was alone near the opposite post and one-timed a high shot that beat James Konte to his left.

Princeton came back to tie it less than three minutes later. Mervin Kopeck blew past Bears defenseman Jason Mansoff at the left point and moved in for a shot that was saved by Allison.

Kopeck regained his balance and pounced on the rebound, firing the puck over the sprawled Allison to make it 1-1 at 18:23 of the first period.

Tigers 3, Black Bears 2 (Championship Game) Princeton 1 2 0 – 3 Maine 1 0 1 – 2

First Period – 1. Maine, Shermerhorn 13 (Clukey, Tory), 15:37; 2. Princeton, Kopeck 5 (Brown), 18:23; Penalties: Maine, bench minor, too many players participating in warmups (served by Roenick), 0:00; Maine, Cardinal, holding, 3:30; Princeton, Colquohoun, holding and roughing (served by Ranaldi), 3:30; Maine, Parmentier, hooking, 5:31; Princeton, Sharp, tripping, 9:18; Princeton, Ranaldi, interference, 14:51; Princeton, Early, tripping, 15:38

Second Period – 3. Princeton, Brush 8 (Masters, Flahr), 2:59; 4. Princeton, Rhodes 2 (Ranaldi, Flahr), 18:39; Penalties: Princeton, O’Brien, interference, 6:08

Third Period – 5. Maine, MacIsaac 4 (Tory, Rodrigue), 4:42; Penalties: Princeton, Kelley, slashing, 3:19; Maine, Lovell, high-sticking, 3:31; Princeton, Bois, holding, 4:03; Maine, Shermerhorn, interference, 12:09; Maine, Cardinal, hooking, 18:57

Shots on goal: Princeton 7-11-8-26; Maine 4-7-7-18

Goaltenders: Princeton, James Konte; Maine, Blair Allison

Red Raiders 7, Axemen 6 (Consolation Game, Overtime) Acadia 1 3 2 0 – 6 Colgate 2 0 4 1 – 7

First Period – 1. Acadia, Powell 2 (Skoryna), 1:22; 2. Colgate, Harder 1 (Cronan, Murphy), 1:44; 3. Colgate, Cronan 6 (Harder, Loftsgard), 8;29; Penalties: Acadia, Dawson, interference, 10:22; Acadia, Dawson, crosschecking, 12:29; Acadia, Dawson, slashing, 17:42; Colgate, Cronan, interference, 17:42

Second Period – 4. Acadia, Fraser 6 (Billard), 1:19; 5. Acadia, Skoryna 13 (O’Reilly, Clancy), 11:03; 6. Acadia, MacLeod 7 (Billard), 16:10; Penalties: Colgate, Mara, slashing, 1:57; Acadia, MacLeod, slashing, 1:57; Acadia, Knopp, interference, 4:09; Acadia, McFarlane, roughing, 10:00; Acadia, Fraser, game misconduct, 10:00; Colgate, McIntosh, interference, 10:00; Colgate, Dance, game misconduct, 10:00; Acadia, Dawson, interference, 15:16; Acadia, Reynolds, hooking, 18:54

Third Period – 7. Colgate, Fogarty 7 (Baaki, Parmenter), 1:42; 8. Acadia, Whitten 9 (Burns), 6:42; 9. Colgate, Parmenter 2 (Harder, McIntosh), 7:24; 10. Colgate, Mara 3 (Dexter, Harder), 9:25; 11. Acadia, Dawson 8 (Skoryna), 9:36; 12. Colgate, Mara 4 (Garzone, Cronan), 13:05; Penalties: Colgate, Cronan, slashing, 2:20; Acadia, McFarlane, interference, 2:20; Acadia, Skoryna, slashing, 6:54; Colgate, Cronan, slashing, 6:54; Acadia, O’Reilly, holding, 9:08; Acadia, Doherty, roughing, 12:15; Colgate, Garzone, holding, 17:18

Overtime: 13. Colgate, Loftsgard 8 (Harder), 1:55; Penalties: Acadia, Knopp, slashing, 1:30; Colgate, Cronan, slashing, 1:30

Shots on goal: Acadia 11-10-11-1 – 33; Colgate 14-8-12-2 – 36

Goaltenders: Acadia, Caplan; Colgate, Brenzavich