GETTING IT DONE: Princeton University men’s hockey goalie Jeremie Forget tracks the puck last Saturday against Quinnipiac. Sophomore Forget made 33 saves in a losing cause as Princeton fell 3-1 to the Bobcats. The Tigers, who lost 4-3 to Quinnipiac on Sunday as they fell to 2-10-3 overall and 0-6-2 ECAC Hockey, host Dartmouth on January 3 and Harvard on January 4. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Even though Jeremie Forget had only seen 31 minutes of action at goalie in the first 11 games this season for the Princeton University men’s hockey team, he maintained an upbeat attitude.

“I have always tried to stay positive in practice,” said sophomore Forget. “I knew eventually I would get my chance and once I got it, I wanted to make sure I would seize it to make sure I would give myself more playing time.”

Forget started game 12 as Princeton hosted Colorado College on December 7 and seized opportunity, making 25 saves as the Tigers fell 2-1 in overtime. Three days later, Forget had 26 stops as Princeton edged AIC 2-1 to snap a 10-game winless streak.

Last Saturday evening, Forget was fired up to be between the pipes again as Princeton hosted Quinnipiac before a throng of 2,195 packing Hobey Baker Rink.

“We were very excited, especially finishing off the first half on a win,” said Forget, a 6’1, 185-pound native of Mascouche, Que. “We had energy coming back.”

In the first period on Saturday, it was Qunnipiac which showed the most energy as it jumped off to a 2-0 lead.

“We know we are a good team and that was going to be our worst period of the game,” said Forget.  “We knew it was only going to get better. We trust ourselves and we know we are going to win games. It is going to come.”

The Tigers did come back, narrowing the gap to 2-1 as Jeremy Germain scored with 5:33 left in the second period but the Bobcats tacked on a power play goal with 1:23 left in regulation to earn a 3-1 win.

“I have a lot of stuff I have to clean up still,” said Forget, who made 33 saves in the defeat and now has a 2.28 goals against average and a .926 save percentage on the season. “I have a lot of stuff to work on. As the game went on, the more shots I got, I settled down a bit more.”

Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty likes the good work he is getting from Forget.

“Jeremie has done a really good job for us stepping up,” said Fogarty. “His numbers are great right now; I am really happy with how he is doing. He is a patient goaltender, you can see him really battling. He is playing really well.”

Fogarty acknowledged that Princeton didn’t play well in the early stages on Saturday as it fell behind 2-0.

“It was a little bit of a sloppy first period for us,” said Fogarty. “We were trying to jam pucks up out of our own end and it cost us two goals.”

The Tigers outshot the Bobcats 24-17 over the last 40 minutes of the contest as they bounced back from the shaky start.

“I thought we settled in the second period and did a really good job breaking out,” said Fogarty. “That was a really good game from the second period on.”

In Fogarty’s view, Princeton can get some good results going forward by building how it performed down the stretch against Quinnipiac.

“I liked the way we played in the second and the third period, we gave ourselves a chance to win,” said Fogarty, whose  team took a 3-2 lead in the third period on Sunday in the home-and-home set at Quinnipiac only to lose 4-3 in dropping to 2-10-3 overall and 0-6-2 ECAC Hockey and will host Dartmouth on January 3 and Harvard on January 4.

“They are a skilled team and I thought we had some really good chances in the second and the beginning of the third period.”

Forget, for his part, is looking to make the most of his chances to start for the Tigers.

“I am starting to settle in a little more, I feel like the more games I get the better I will feel and the better I will play,” said Forget.

“I started to play hockey when I was 12 so I knew it was going to be a long process. It is always about making the most of practice, making the most of every opportunity I get and hopefully, it will go well.”