Junior Kevin Westgarth had a goal and two assists and junior Grant Goeckner-Zoeller scored twice as Princeton defeated No. 16 Colgate, 5-3, on Friday night at Baker Rink. Tied at 2-2 late in the second period, the Tigers scored twice in a span of 16 seconds to take control of the game and post the win.
The Tigers improved to 6-12-1 overall with the win and 3-9-1 in the ECACHL, while Colgate is now 10-6-5 overall and 6-2-1 in league play.
Princeton opened the scoring for the third-straight game with its first of three power-play goals on the night. Senior Brian Carthas started the play in his own end and fed the puck to senior Seamus Young at the red line. Young chipped the puck into the middle where Goeckner-Zoeller picked it up. He cut through two defenders, went in alone on net and beat Colgate goaltender Mark Dekanich on the stick side for his eighth if the year. The goal came at 8:14.
Colgate evened the score at 14:51 of the period when Tyler Burton scored from the left face-off dot. Matt Torti and Jon Smyth assisted on the goal.
Princeton took control in the second period in which it outshot Colgate 15-6. The Tigers went ahead 2-1 at 9:20 when Kevin Westgarth scored his fourth of the year on the power play. Junior Brett Westgarth had the puck at the point and gave it to junior Daryl Marcoux at the other point. Marcoux then found Westgarth who shot high in the far side for the goal.
Once again Colgate answered to even the score at 2-2. The goal came at 15:17 when David Sloane intercepted a clearing pass and took a slapshot from the blueline that trickled by Princeton junior netminder B.J. Sklapsky for the goal.
But this time Princeton answered right away, scoring the go-ahead goal at 18:44 of the second. Kevin Westgarth drove to the net to start the Tigers scoring rush. After he and the defenders overskated it, the puck layed loose for Goeckner-Zoeller, who shoved it in for his second goal of the night. Carthas also assisted on the goal, his second of the night.
Princeton scored the eventual game winner 16 seconds later on a shot form junior Darroll Powe. Right off the face off, Princeton dumped it into the Colgate zone. As the Raiders tried to clear the puck, senior Patrick Neundorfer delivered a big hit along the boards that caused a turnover. Powe picked up the puck and shot through a screen to beat Dekanich for his second goal of the season.
Colgate’s Peter Bogdanich got the Raiders back within a goal at 13:04 of the third, but Colgate could get no closer as sophomore Kyle Hagel scored on a 2-on-1 with 1:03 remaining to cap the scoring. The goal was created by a pass from Kevin Westgarth, who recorded his third point of the night. Brother Brett Westgarth got the second assist.
Sklapsky made 21 saves for Princeton to improve to 3-2-1 on the year, while Dekanich slipped to 9-4-5 with his 26-save performance.
