On Saturday night, the Princeton Tigers (7-10-1) faced off in a heated matchup with the Bentley Falcons (13-11-2) at Hobey Baker Arena. The Tigers came into Saturday’s matchup looking to bounce back from their six straight losses.
Both ends of the ice were loud and made their mission clear from puck drop. Jake Manfre was able to get one on the board for Princeton 11:45 into the first period, assisted by Alex Konovalov. The period ended in favor of the Tigers, though shots taken by both teams were relatively close. The Tigers had ten faceoff wins in the first period compared to the four won by Bentley.
Despite Bentley’s strong offensive strengths it took them a while to get the puck past Ethan Pearson. Bentley finally found the back of the net with a goal from Arlo Merritt to tie the game up 1-1, 11:39 into the second period.
Princeton unsuccessfully challenged a no penalty call about halfway into the third period. This gave the Tigers the push they needed as they went on to take a 2-1 lead with a goal from Jaxon Ezman, assisted by David Jacobs and Nick Marciano, 9:20 into the third period.
David Jacobs is one name from the Tigers that has stood out in their challenging last six matchups. Jacobs had three goals and two assists in those last six coming into Saturday’s matchup, including two goals in their previous 4-6 loss to Colgate University. He was able to find his momentum last night and got his ninth assist on the season.
With just 5:35 left in the third period, Jaxon Ezman found the back of the net yet again, this time assisted by Brendan Gorman and Noah De La Durantaye, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Ethan Pearson, in his seventh start this season, had himself quite a night in net, facing 25 shots on goal and only allowing one goal in the second period.
The Tigers face off against the Falcons once again this afternoon at 4:00 at Hobey Baker Arena to close out the weekend series.