MAX EFFORT: Princeton University men’s hockey player Max Veronneau races up the ice in action last season. Sophomore forward Veronneau had an assist in a losing cause as Princeton opened its 2016-17 campaign by falling 6-2 at Michigan State last Friday. A night later against the USA-Under-18 team, the Tigers showed progress, rebounding from a 3-0 deficit to pull out a 5-4 win in the overtime contest. Princeton opens ECAC Hockey play this weekend by playing at St. Lawrence on November 4 and at Clarkson on November 5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For Ron Fogarty, it was a homecoming when the Princeton University men’s hockey team opened its season by heading to Michigan last weekend.

Princeton head coach Fogarty, who coached at Adrian College in Michigan for seven seasons before taking the helm of the Tigers in 2014, enjoyed seeing his old stomping grounds as Princeton played at
Michigan State in the season opener on Friday and faced the USA Under-18 team in an exhibition the next day in Plymouth, Mich.

“It was a great trip for me personally, it was great for me to see some friendly faces at the rinks,” said Fogarty.

Michigan State wasn’t a friendly host to the Tigers, however, riding a 4-1 outburst in the second period to a 6-2 win.

“I think it was a combination of our first game versus their fifth game,” said Fogarty, who got two goals from sophomore Alex Riche in the loss.

“Once we got behind, our guys started taking the easier way out and not supporting the puck down deep. We addressed that going into Saturday’s game.”

Against the U.S. squad, Princeton fell behind 3-0 but came roaring back, pulling out a 5-4 win in overtime.

“Even though we were down, we were playing a lot better,” said Fogarty.

“They had a couple of good goals against us but our structures and systems were a lot better. It was like day and night from the Michigan State. We just stayed with it and the results were tangible in what we were doing throughout the game.”

Riche was a bright spot of the weekend, along with fellow sophomores and linemates Ryan Kuffner and Max Veronneau, who each totaled two assists.

“We knew last year how good he could be,” said Fogarty of Riche, who chipped in a goal on Saturday.

“He didn’t get his first one until the new year so to have him on the scoreboard early is good. That is a product of that line with Kuffner and Veronneau.”

Princeton got good production from its freshmen in the win over the U.S. as Liam Grande had three assists in the contest with Jackson Cresse scoring two goals and Derek Topatigh picking up two assists.

“They put their better line on Kuffner, Veronneau, and Riche so that gave space to the Grande, Cresse, and junior David Hallisey,” said Fogarty.

“Now we have some secondary scoring and even tertiary scoring. It opened up some players when they focused on the other line. Topatigh played well,
all the freshmen did well.”

As usual, senior star goalie Colton Phinney did well, making 30 saves against the U.S. squad.

“Colton played very strong, he bounced back from the Michigan State game,” said Fogarty.

“He made big stops to allow us to come back against the USA. It was a bounce back game for us after a bad systems, bad structure game on Friday.”

The Tigers will need to play some very good games to keep on the winning track as they start ECAC Hockey play with games at St. Lawrence on November 4 and at Clarkson on November 5.

“The focus is to play like we did in the second and third period in the U.S. game,” said Fogarty.

“We need to keep working on what we do well and not focusing on what teams do that forces us to change our system.”