Rust Never Sleeps: Niagara 3, Princeton 1

Denna Laing

As long as I've been watching Princeton play hockey, there's always been a problem with them staying consistent for two games in a weekend series. I don't know if it's a conditioning thing or more emotional, but it struck again yesterday. As good as the Tigers looked against Northeastern, they were lousy against the Niagara Purple Eagles, falling 3-1.

A lot of credit should be given to Niagara, but after the first period I thought that Princeton was the better team. The only goal of that frame belonged to Denna Laing, who tipped in a nifty pass by Ali Pankowski. The Tigers controlled the action and kept the puck in the offensive zone much of the time.

But, starting in the second period, the Tigers seemed to be out of gas. Though they would outshoot the Purple Eagles 28-19 on the day, and 12-2 in the third period, they just didn't click. Niagara controlled the action, bottling the puck in their offensive zone. Whenever Princeton could break free it was momentary.

The Tigers also need work on the power play. Whenever a Niagara skater would head to the box my friend and I groaned a bit, wondering if it was possible to decline a penalty, as one does in football. The Tigers were pathetic, not being able to get set in the standard four-corner positioning. Instead it was a series of dump-in passes, and the inevitable clearing pass by Niagara. In contrast, when Niagara was up the extra attacker, their positioning was perfect, their passes crisp.

Niagara ended up scoring three unanswered goals (involved in all the goals, as well as a few penalties was Kaleigh Chippy, which allowed for punny statements like "That was a Chippy penalty). The entire Princeton team was to blame, as the defense looked shaky, the offense was ineffective, and Rachel Weber in goal was not sharp. Perhaps the rust that could be expected in game one merely was dormant until game two.