By Bill Alden

As the Princeton University men’s hockey team played at Brown last Friday in an ECAC Hockey playoff single-elimination first round contest, the Tigers kept firing away to the final seconds literally.

Trailing eighth-seeded Brown 3-1 in the waning moments of the contest, ninth-seeded Princeton got a goal from Kevin Anderson with 4.1 seconds left in regulation to make it a 3-2 game. Time ran out on the Tigers as they couldn’t get off another shot and their season came to an end.

“The guys just never quit,” said Princeton head coach Ben Syer, whose team ended the winter with a 12-15-3 record. “I think that is a trademark of this group. You had guys step up in different ways. David Jacobs was playing on one leg this weekend. There was no quit and that is something our entire staff is extremely proud of about this particular group.”

Syer was proud of how his squad started against Brown as the Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jayden Sison.

“I thought we had some good looks,” said Syer. “I thought our shot volume was better against them that it had been. We were physical. One of the keys for us was to be able to do that and I thought we did. That was something we had talked about in all aspects.”

Princeton yielded a goal in the first minute of the second period and the game turned into a back-and-forth struggle from there.

“I thought we had control,” said Syer. “It as a tough start to the second period there but we had time to regroup.”

In reflecting on his first season at the helm of the Princeton program, Syer focused on tightening things up at the defensive end.

“It is a good group,” said Syer. “Having the buy-in to know that defense can control and help in the outcome of games, I think that showed.”

While Princeton struggled to score as it averaged 2.4 goals a game, Syer saw progress at that end of the ice.

“We lost a bulk of scoring to graduation and we lost a bulk of scoring with Jack Cronin not being able to play and Kai Daniells was playing just 18 games with his injuries,” said Syer. “If I am not mistaken, that is close to 20 goals taken out of your lineup. It was great to see some other guys really step in. Kevin did well. Luc Pelletier really started to produce a little bit as well.You had Jake Manfre come in here and being able to produce as well.”

In Syer’s view, the Tigers have a good foundation in place.

“These guys are great kids,” said Syer. “They competed, they want to win. To be able to have those guys coming back certainly helps. It is a situation here where some guys really stepped up, guys who were earning their opportunity.”

Princeton stepped up in a big way in late November when it posted a pair of 3-1 wins over then-No. 12 Ohio State.

“I think when I really felt it was the weekend we went up and lost to Colgate and Cornell at the beginning of the year,” said Syer. “It is a tough weekend when you don’t get points and we didn’t score a lot. We come back the next weekend and the guys play their hearts out against Ohio State. I think it is the way that they played and the way that they responded. They had the energy. It was less maybe the result and more of how they respond for me. It was a change, there was a focus, there was a belief.”

Syer enjoyed the response he got from his players this winter.

“It was fun,” said Syer, whose 12-win total was tied for the third most victories in program history for coach in his debut season at Princeton. “It was gratifying to see when guys as individuals or as lines followed the process and did it together. You want to give them a chance and when you saw that, that was the most satisfying.”

Going through the process taught Syer some important lessons.

“In terms of challenge, you are always going to have to fight and overcome injuries and different forms of adversity,” said Syer. “There is always going to be challenges when it comes to that and it is how as a coach can you better handle that for your group. I learned even more than I knew I would.”

One of the better aspects of Syer’s experience was the excitement the Tigers generated at Hobey Baker Rink.

“As a staff and a program, we really appreciated all of the support we had from the fans throughout the year,” said Syer. “It is our goal to protect home ice. It is an area we will continue to talk about and enhance as we go into next year. We hope that can continue and grow as a place for family entertainment to come and enjoy some games.”

Building on the positive culture developed this winter, Syer believes that the Tigers will be even more entertaining going forward.

“They always wanted to win, that is something we have to continue to improve on,” said Syer. “We really felt it as a staff throughout the year. There is still another level to go for us.”