ON POINT: Princeton University men’s hockey goalie Colton Phinney makes a save in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, junior goalie Phinney earned his first career shutout as Princeton defeated No. 20 Clarkson 3-0. Phinney made 31 saves to help the Tigers improve to 2-6 overall and 1-5 ECAC Hockey. Princeton plays a two-game set at Maine on November 27 and 28. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Max Becker and his teammates on the Princeton University men’s hockey team were primed to come out buzzing as they hosted St. Lawrence last Friday.

“We didn’t have such a great start last week so we preached that in practice,” said Princeton sophomore forward Becker.

“We were just taking the warmup as the first period. We tried to come out hot I think that we did that, we had a great first 10 minutes.”

Despite outshooting No. 14 St. Lawrence 9-2 in the early stages of the contest, the Tigers couldn’t find the back of the net. The Saints, though, were able to cash in, scoring on an odd-man rush to go ahead 1-0. In the second period, St. Lawrence increased its advantage to 3-0.

Becker got the Tigers back into the game, scoring his first career goal with 7:29 remaining in the second period.

“Ryan Kuffner just gave me the puck in the slot and I just fired it on Kyle Hayton, who was my goalie at Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.),” recalled Becker.

“It was a great play by Spence (Spencer Kryczka) and Kuff and I was just the beneficiary of some great play by those guys. My mom and sister are here so that was pretty nice.”

That turned out to be the nicest moment of the night for Princeton as the Saints pulled away to a 5-1 victory.

While disappointed by the result, Becker is happy to be contributing in his sophomore campaign.

“I would say that playing and trying to stay healthy have helped me,” said Becker, a 5’10, 175-pound native of Orange, Calif. reflecting on the progress he has made from freshman year.

“Last year I was hurt quite a bit so this year it is trying to stay on the ice and playing my game and now I know I can play.”

With the Tigers outshooting the Saints 42-40 in defeat, Becker feels that Princeton is playing better as it looks to continue the rebuilding process after going 4-23-3 last winter.

“It is a totally different feel this year coming to the rink,” said Becker. “We are ready to go, we are ready to work. We are on the verge of being special here, it might not show in our record but we are really working and we are a much better team than last year. I think that is going to show hopefully soon here. The coaches have been doing a great job and all the boys are buying in.”

A night later, Princeton got a better result as it snapped a five-game losing streak by topping No. 20 Clarkson 3-0 with sophomore Eric Robinson, senior Kyle Rankin, and freshman Max Veronneau scoring goals; and junior goalie Colton Phinney earning his first career shutout with 31 saves.

Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty had the sense that his team was primed for a breakthrough as it headed into Saturday’s contest.

“It is going to come,” said Fogarty after the St. Lawrence game.

“If something goes off a skate or a knob and we get a great bounce. We haven’t had a great bounce. We have put ourselves in spots for great bounces. Patience is a lost virtue for everybody, it is just being patient and keeping going.”

In Fogarty’s view, Becker’s effort on Friday was an example of going hard.

“Becker had a great game, he put himself in some great areas to score,” said Fogarty.

“His goal was a result of Spencer (Kryczka) being strong on the puck in the forecheck and (Ryan) Kuffner being right there to help him. Becker is stronger on the puck this year. He got banged up in one of the last games and now he is healthy again so he took advantage of an opportunity and a chance and cashed in.”

Fogarty liked the way his team created opportunities at the outset against St. Lawrence.

“You execute the game plan set forth from Monday,” said Fogarty, noting the Tigers outshot the Saints 17-9 in the first period.

“On the first four shifts, you can’t hope for anything more besides a goal. We were on top of them, we got the puck in deep. Even the first eight shifts, if you clipped them, it is exactly what you want the next game.”

Although Princeton is currently 2-6 overall and 1-5 ECAC Hockey, Fogarty believes things are headed in the right direction.

“You have got to stay the course, we knew coming in that it is going to be a three or four year process,” said Fogarty, whose team plays a two-game set at Maine on November 27 and 28.

“You believe and people believe while they are getting close but you are still losing. You have to look at the finer details with it in the games to see if you are progressing and we are. It is human nature for the quick fix, you have got to keep building the foundation. Our staff has been doing this for 20 years with different college teams and it is waves. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. If you keep doing things well, it will come.”

Becker, for his part, sees wins coming in bunches for the Tigers. “I think learning how to win is a big thing for us; we are out here working really hard and we are applying the systems really well,” said Becker.

“Once we figure out how to get our offensive game going and start burying our chances, I think we are going to start wrapping up the wins.”