Second Period Surge Powers Princeton Past Men's Hockey Friday Night

Friday, November 5

Providence, R.I.

7 p.m.

Brown University

1-1-0, 1-1-0

Princeton

1-1-0, 1-0-0

Princeton

Brown

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Second Period Surge Powers Princeton Past Men's Hockey Friday Night

11/5/2021 10:36:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Princeton Tigers (1-1-0, 1-0-0 ECAC) scored four goals in the second period and went on to take a 6-3 final over the Brown Bears (1-1-0, 1-1-0 ECAC) Friday night at Meehan Auditorium.

"We were okay in the first period," said head coach Brendan Whittet, "I did see some tendencies though that led me to believe that we needed to play a lot better in terms of effort and tenacity if we wanted it to go the right way and it just unraveled in the second."

Brown jumped to an early lead as Brett Bliss tallied his first career goal on the power play just 52 seconds after the opening faceoff. Michael Maloney found Bliss at the top of the right circle for a shot that snuck through traffic and beat Princeton goaltender Aidan Porter (13 saves). Samuli Niinisaari had the secondary assist on the goal for his second helper of the season.

Princeton's Mike Kennedy tied the game with 2:34 to play in the opening frame with assists from Alex Konovolov and Matt Kellenberger. Kennedy's shot from the top of the right circle beat Brown netminder Luke Kania (22 saves).

Ian Murphy put the Tigers ahead 20 seconds into the middle period with a shorthanded goal off an assist from Christian O'Neill.

Mackenzie Merriman doubled Princeton's lead 4:25 into the second period with assists from Pito Walton and O'Neill.

The Tigers added another pair of goals 1:22 apart late in the second period to make it 4-1. David Ma and Walton had the respective goals.

Luke Krys cut into Princeton's lead with Brown's second power play goal of the night 4:53 into the third period. Justin Jallen moved the puck to Tristan Crozier, who found the Ridgefield, Connecticut native at the top of the slot for the goal.

Corey Andonovski tallied the final Princeton goal on a breakaway with 7:45 remaining, collecting a long pass from Mark Paolini before beating Mathieu Caron (19 saves).

Brown's final goal of the night came with 35 seconds remaining as Nathan Plessis scored his second goal in as many games, firing a one-timer from the right dot off a feed from Jake Harris.

"I thought some of the guys had a little more jump in the third period," Whittet added. "I thought Caron came in and played very, very good hockey. I thought he looked calm in there and did a good job. Kania was not our problem, we weren't supporting him or Caron very well."

The Tigers held a 47-16 advantage in shots on goal. On special teams, Brown went 2-for-4 on power play chances while killing off all five Princeton man-up opportunities.

"We have to turn around quick and find a way to play Brown hockey, which to me has always been about grit, tenacity, work ethic, and desire," Whittet concluded.

Brown hosts sixth-ranked Quinnipiac tomorrow afternoon at Meehan Auditorium. Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+. Click here to purchase tickets.