It was a tale of penalties, a power-play goal, and two tallies by Eric Robinson at Hobey Baker Rink in New Jersey on Saturday night. The junior left wing scored twice for the home team as Princeton University skated to a 2-2 tie in ECAC play with visiting Dartmouth College.
Things got interesting in the second stanza with the Big Green ahead, 1-0. The two teams traded coincidental minor penalties before Dartmouth defenseman Josh Hartley was tabbed with a major penalty and a game misconduct for contact to the head of a Princeton player at 5:31. Just 18 seconds later, New Jersey native Robinson tallied for the host Tigers off a feed from Derek Topatigh to tie the game with a shot from the right circle.
“It was a big four-on-three for us, and in that situation you have to take advantage,” said Robinson afterward. “It was a big point in the game, and a nice pass from the D-man. It was easy to one-time it, and I got a hold of it good.”
After Dartmouth (2-1-2 overall, 1-1-2 ECAC) went back up on top, 2-1, late in the middle period, Robinson rapped home a loose puck on the doorstep less than six minutes into the third frame to make it a 2-2 contest, assisted by David Hallisey and Jeremy Germain.
“It was great work down low by my linemates,” admitted Robinson. “I was just fortunate enough to have it pop out in front, and I took advantage.”
“He’s been working on a quicker shot,” said Princeton coach Ron Fogarty of Robinson. “His speed is great, and he just has to keep working on offensive tactics and putting himself in scoring spots.”
Robinson also set up Germain for a chance at a partially open Dartmouth net with less than two minutes left in overtime, but the freshman couldn’t collect enough of the puck to pull the trigger for Princeton (0-4-1, 0-3-1), which still snapped a seven-game losing string against Dartmouth.
Cam Strong and John Ernsting scored for Dartmouth, with Strong notching his third goal in four outings. Devin Buffalo had 22 saves for the Big Green, which went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Colton Phinney made 33 stops for Princeton, which was outshot, 35-24, overall.
ECAC roundup
No. 7 Quinnipiac 4, No. 10 Harvard 2
The Bobcats came out on top in a battle of ranked ECAC teams in Hamden, Conn., thanks to Chris Truehl’s 30 saves. Luke Shiplo scored the game-winner late in the second period on a power play, less than five minutes after Craig Martin had tied the contest for Quinnipiac.
St. Lawrence 3, at Rensselaer 1
The visiting Saints skated out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back in besting the Engineers at Houston Field House. Mike Marnell set up two goals for St. Lawrence, while Kyle Hayton made 27 saves as the Saints stretched their unbeaten streak to five games.
Clarkson 3, at No. 16 Union 1
The Golden Knights upset the Dutchmen in Schenectady as Sheldon Rempal assisted on all three of Clarkson’s goals and Jake Kielly finished with 36 stops. Union went just 1-for-10 with the man advantage, despite outshooting Clarkson overall on the night, 37-29.
Cornell 6, at No. 19 Yale 3
Mitch Vanderlaan tallied a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, and Anthony Angello collected a goal and an assist as the Big Red pounded the Bulldogs. Mitch Gillam stopped 39 shots in the win, while John Hayden scored two of Yale’s three goals, including the game’s only power-play score in a combined 14 attempts.
Brown 4, Colgate 2
Brown picked up its first win of the 2016-17 campaign with a matinee victory over visiting Colgate. The Bears got goals from four different skaters, three power-play goals in all, two assists from Max Gottlieb, and 22 saves from Tim Ernst.
