ALBANY, N.Y. (3/21/08) – The second-seeded No. 15 Princeton men’s hockey team got two breakaway goals from freshmen and added an empty-netter to earn a 3-0 win over Colgate in the first semifinal of the Bank of America ECAC Hockey Championship on Friday, Mar. 21, at the Times Union Center. The Tigers (20-13-0) will face the winner of the second semifinal, between No. 16 Harvard and No. 20 Cornell, in Saturday’s championship game, while the Raiders (18-17-6) will face the losers in the third-place game.
Princeton sophomore goaltender Zane Kalemba earned his second shutout of the Raiders this season with 27 saves. Colgate senior Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced.
The Raiders had the better scoring chances in the first half as they outshot the Tigers, 13-5. However, the score remained 0-0 heading into the second frame. The second period was more of the same, but with fewer scoring chances, as Colgate earned a 7-6 edge on shots.
Less than four minutes into the third period, the Raiders had a prime scoring chance when sophomores Jason Williams (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and Ethan Cox (Richmond, B.C.) skated in on a 2-on-1. As they neared the net, Williams crossed the puck to Cox who tried to go over Kalemba’s blocker, but hit the crossbar instead.
The Tigers were the ones who finally got on the board, though, as a Raider turnover in their defensive end gave freshman Matt Arhontas a breakaway from between the circles. He skated in on Dekanich and shot between his legs to give Princeton a 1-0 lead 8:04 into the third period.
With less than six minutes left in regulation, Cox had another great scoring chance from close range, when he attempted a backhanded shot in the crease, but he couldn’t lift it over the glove of a sprawled Kalemba. On their very next rush down the ice, the Tigers used another breakaway to beat Dekanich. At the 14:44 mark, freshman Kevin Lohry skated down the middle and used a low shot to score and give Princeton a 2-0 advantage.
Colgate pulled Dekanich in favor of the extra skater with 1:13 left in regulation, but was still unable to penetrate the Princeton defense. Princeton's Keith Shattenkirk sent the puck out to the neutral zone, out of the reach of Raider senior Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.), and it landed on the stick of Lohry, who scored into the open net to finish the game.
Colgate will face No. 20 Cornell, which lost to No. 16 Harvard 3-1 in the other semifinal, in the third-place consolation game, which is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., on Saturday, Mar. 22.  The championship game between Princeton and Harvard will follow at 7:00.