February 4, 2015

Showing Progress After Lengthy Exam Break, PU Men’s Hockey Ends January on High Note

After limping into the exam break with 5-2 losses to Union and Rensselaer in early January, the Princeton University men’s hockey team wanted to end the month on a high note.

Returning to action against visiting Army last Wednesday for its first game in 18 days, Princeton produced one of its better performances of the season, pulling away to a 4-1 win over the Black Knights.

“The game was a little sloppy in the first period, we had solid defensive zone structure in the second half of the game,” said Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty, who got goals from senior Tucker Brockett, senior Mike Ambrosia, sophomore Ben Foster, and sophomore Tommy Davis in the victory with junior Jonathan Liau picking up three assists.

“It was nice to score a bunch of goals. I hope that sets us up for games to come. One good thing was the power play, we were 2-for-4. We have been working on that a lot and that was good for our confidence.”

Last weekend, the Tigers gained some more confidence as they rebounded from a 4-0 loss at Yale on Friday to pull out a 2-2 tie at Brown a day later.

The Tigers played a solid first period against Yale as the teams were knotted at 0-0 heading into the first intermission. But a five-minute major penalty incurred by Princeton late in the period came back to haunt the Tigers.

“The 5-minute major was the turning point of the game, they scored twice on it,” said Fogarty, whose team ended up yielding four goals in the second period.

“Losing (Mike) Ambrosia and Tucker (Brockett) early on was tough, we were down to three lines.”

A day later, Princeton showed some toughness at Brown, fighting back from a 2-1 second period deficit to pull out the 2-2 tie.

“We got back to more puck possession on Saturday, we were forcing Brown to chase us,” said Fogarty, who got goals from freshman Eric Robinson and Liau in the win.

“It was good to get points on the road. It is good to get any points at this time of the season.”

The play of Liau and Robinson since the break has impressed Fogarty.

“That three-game stretch was the best hockey Liau has played,” said Fogarty of Liau, who was later named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week.

“He understands the system. He is not thinking out there, he is just playing. We took Eric off the power play and put him back on 5-on-5. He is getting back to the basics. He had that goal and had a great chance late.”

In Fogarty’s view, Princeton is getting better collectively at the basics. “Overall, we were looking at things before and after Christmas,” said Fogarty, whose team moved to 3-15-2 overall and 1-12-1 ECACH with the tie at Brown.

“Before there was a shot differential of -15 with opponents outshooting us by 15 shots a game. The differential has been below two since Christmas. We are playing better defense, we are controlling the puck, we are passing better. We are getting some opportunities.”

Princeton will be looking to generate more opportunities as it hits the road again this weekend, playing at Colgate (14-9-3 overall, 6-5-3 ECACH) on February 6 and at Cornell (9-9-3 overall, 7-6-1 ECACH) a day later.

“Every road trip is tough, there is so much parity in the league,” said Fogarty, noting that the Colgate game has special significance for assistant coach Brad Dexter, who spent the last nine seasons coaching for the Raiders.

“I am excited for Brad to get back to Colgate, that is the team he helped assemble. We would like to get a win for him and then go for a sweep of Cornell, they are our one league win. I get excited for every road trip. It is fun to coach a team like this Princeton group. They have all bought in and they are trying to get better everyday.”