3rd period notes

6:15pm: This one’s all over. Lohry adds his second of the game, an empty-netter, and Princeton wins 3-0 to advance to tomorrow’s ECAC championship game. Check CHN for feature stories within the hour or so. And we’ll be blogging for the Cornell/Harvard semifinal starting at 7pm.
6:10pm: Colgate coach Don Vaughan calls a timeout with just over a minute remaining. Let’s see what he draws up…
6:02pm: Princeton scores again after some great end-to-end action, this time at 14:44. Another freshman, Kevin Lohry, scored on a great individual effort, lifting the puck over a sprawling Dekanich. The goal came moments after an outstanding Kalemba save at the other end.
5:51pm: Goal! Princeton takes the 1-0 lead at 8:04 of the third period. Freshman Matt Arhontas scored unassisted after breaking in on goal and sliding the puck between Dekanich’s pads. Now we’ll see if Colgate’s senior class — which includes Dekanich, as well as Burton and Winchester — can respond. They have been in this situation before.
5:44pm: Wow — great chance for the Raiders. A clean 2-on-1 results in Jason Williams sliding the puck over Ethan Cox, who was denied by Kalemba on a one-timer. 16 minutes remaining in regulation.
2nd period notes

5:22pm: Second period ends, and with Colgate still leading in shots (18-12), the Raiders and Tigers are still tied 0-0. Lee Jubinville’s line had a nice chance with about a minute remaining in the period, but Dekanich made a nice stick save. Speaking of nice saves, the picture on the left is of Kalemba robbing Burton earlier in the game. Should be an exciting third period.

5:16pm: Colgate goaltender Mark Dekanich snatches a rising shot from Princeton’s Kevin Kaiser. Less than 5 minutes remaining in the second period, and we are still deadlocked at 0-0.

5:02pm: Not much action in the early stages of the second, as Princeton just squandered a power play opportunity (another penalty on Poplawski, this time for holding). Looking at this Princeton lineup, the Jubinville (ECAC Player of the Year) line seems dangerous, but a lot of the Tigers’ offense is concentrated on that line, which includes junior Brett Wilson. Colgate has at least one player on each of its top three lines that you just have to pay attention to at all times — Burton on one, David MacIntyre on the second, and captain Jesse Winchester on the third.

And the Princeton lacrosse team has arrived!

1st period notes

The Tigers and Raiders are underway here in Albany. Most of the noise early on is coming from both pep bands. Good thing they’re here, too, as the fan attendance so far is pretty poor.

Princeton leads in SOG 2-1 in the early going. Neither team is having much success getting the puck on net.

Colgate had two great chances within the last minute. In one, forward Brian Day slipped through two Princeton defenders, only to be denied by Tiger goaltender Zane Kalemba. Then, Colgate senior star Tyler Burton came in on a partial breakaway. He, too, was stopped by the sophomore goaltender.

5 minutes remaining in the first period now. Colgate has the edge in shots, 9-5. And they had another glorious chance with 6:50 remaining. After a scramble to Kalemba’s right, the puck was left in the crease, in front of an empty net as Burton skated in. As Burton slid the puck for what looked to be a sure goal, Kalemba reached back with his glove just before the puck slid over the line. Burton stared up at the ceiling in disbelief.

The first penalty of the game is called with 1:24 remaining in the first. The call goes against Colgate, a tripping penalty on Wade Poplawski… But with 22.9 seconds remaining, Princeton’s Brett Wilson gets called for interference. Period ends in a scoreless draw. And one thing is for sure: Colgate does not look like a team that only won 36% of its regular season league games. They lead in the shots department 13-5.

Friday, March 21st, 2008 - 4:15 pm | ECAC Live Blogging