CREASE CONTROL: Princeton University men’s hockey goalie Ethan Pearson guards the crease in a game earlier this season. Sophomore goalie Pearson has emerged as a star for Princeton this season, going 7-5 and posting a goals against average of 2.28 and a save percentage of .914. Last Saturday, Pearson made 26 saves as the Tigers edged Colorado College 2-1 in overtime and improved to 7-8 overall. Pearson and Princeton are starting 2023 with a bang as the Tigers host Harvard on January 6 and Dartmouth on January 7 for the Hobey 100 Weekend celebrating the centennial of Hobey Baker Rink. (Photo by Shelley Szwast, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Justin Feil

Ethan Pearson has enjoyed early success this season for the Princeton University men’s ice hockey team after a challenging first year.

The sophomore goalie could not have started his second college season much better. He became the first Princeton goalie since Jeremie Forget in March 2019 to be named the ECAC Goalie of the Week when he earned the honor for the week ending November 13. Pearson received the accolade after he posted back-to-back shutout wins over Yale (3-0 on November 11) and Brown (1-0 on November 12) after allowing just two goals in an opening-season loss to Cornell (3-1 on November 4).

“It gave me a lot of confidence,” said Pearson, a 6’2, 190-pound native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. “I learned in the Cornell game, you have to want those moments and want to face those challenges. I felt like the Cornell game was one of the most important of my career. It set me up. It gave me high expectations for every game after that.”

After setting a season-high of 34 saves in the loss to Cornell, Pearson made 25 saves for his first career win, a 3-0 win at Yale. Then stopped 21 more shots — every one of them critical in a tight 1-0 win at Brown.

“I went into the weekend with Yale and Brown, not knowing if I’d play either game yet,” said Pearson. “But I was ready and I set myself a goal: Let’s let zero goals this weekend, whether I play one game or two games, after a game like Cornell. And then it just continued every weekend. The start like that definitely helped a lot with my mindset.”

Pearson already has four shutouts this season, the most Princeton has had since six in the 2007-2008 year when the Tigers won the ECAC Hockey championship. Princeton hasn’t had more than two shutouts in a season since then.

“Every shutout we’ve had this year has been because of the play in front of me and how good the guys have played all 60 minutes,” said Pearson. “It’s a reflection on the play in front of me. If we play like that, we could beat anybody in the country.”

Last Saturday, Pearson made 26 saves as Princeton edged Colorado College 2-1 in overtime to improve to 7-8 overall. Pearson, for his part, now has a 7-5 record with a goals against average of 2.28 and a save percentage of .914. The Tigers are starting 2023 with a bang as they host Harvard on January 6 and Dartmouth on January 7 for the Hobey 100 Weekend celebrating the centennial of Hobey Baker Rink.

Looking ahead to the homestretch of the season, Pearson believes that Princeton can be a force in ECAC Hockey play.

“I’m really excited how our team is going to be after Christmas,” said Pearson of the Tigers who are 5-6 in ECACH played, and tied for third in the league standings with Colgate and Cornell. “We’re definitely going to make a run for the title.”

Pearson is hoping to be a significant part of it after turning around his fortunes in a year. His collegiate debut was a mixed bag with the team losing 5-4 to RIT on November 26, 2021 but Pearson excelling as he made 35 saves. He allowed six goals in a 9-0 loss to Quinnipiac in his second start and then played sparingly in two other games.

“The growth mindset I had, I kind of needed that adversity, even from those games,” said Pearson. “Obviously those games weren’t the best. RIT, I didn’t think it was an awful game on my part, it was just a learning game. I had a lot of shots. It was my first game in college. It was my first game in like a year and a half. I went from U18 to college in a year and a half. It was a big adjustment.”

Pearson had played with Mount St. Charles Academy in 2020 and then went to Chilliwack in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). He had hoped to play, but games were delayed repeatedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ultimately Pearson left to prepare for Princeton before the BCHL ran a short pod season. A year of training was all Pearson had when he came to the Tigers and began the transition to college hockey.

“You can tell power plays and play is so much quicker,” said Pearson. “Guys move the puck so much faster. Especially against Quinnipiac. Our team was on break for a while because of Omicron, and we were missing guys and it wasn’t our best performance, myself included. It was just a very tough spot. I definitely needed that type of experience to grow and I think it’s helped out for where I’m at at the moment.”

Pearson didn’t know how hard that first year would be. It was filled with challenging moments, but everything that happened he looked at as an opportunity.

“It was very difficult,” said Pearson. “My whole life I’ve been a starter on pretty much every team I’ve been on. Then I go to college and I get pushed to third string. That was a big, big adjustment, but honestly it taught me a lot. I faced a lot of adversity. Everyone needs to go through things like that to grow. I kind of accepted the role last year and said, just work as hard as possible so that next year when I have the chance to start I’ll give myself the best chance possible.”

Pearson has grabbed that chance this year. The Tigers played RIT on November 26 again this year, but this time Pearson shut them out in a 5-0 win. He also shut out Union, 2-0, on December 9 and recorded 30 saves in a wild 6-5 win over Rensselaer on December 10.

“It’s insanely different,” said Pearson contrasting it to last year. “You feel, first of all, that the responsibility is huge. When you have more playing time, you embrace more of a leadership role. You have to perform night in and night out. Last year, I was very nervous all the time and anxious to get a shot to play. Now that this year I have a little bit of experience, when I go into a game, I’m more used to it so I don’t get as nervous or as anxious. That’s a big part of my mental development toward the game. It’s definitely a big jump.”

Pearson is part of a Princeton team on the rise. The Tigers have started to find their groove. They are young overall with eight freshmen on the roster, and even seniors and juniors have fewer games than usual upperclassmen, after the 2020-2021 season was canceled by the Ivy League. The Tigers have overcome some of their lack of experience and are focusing on finishing games better after seeing development in other areas already.

“The overall chemistry between players is huge,” said Pearson. “Plus our systems overall have been better. At the start of the year, our penalty kill wasn’t at the top. The percentage doesn’t reflect how good the PK has been. The RPI game, I think they had four power-play goals and a lot of them were at the end, like 6-on-3. Besides that, we easily have one of the best PKs in the league and that’s helped our success as of late. It gives me confidence a lot and I’m able to see the puck at all times. So the PK has been great, the power play has been good, and we’re just better in every aspect of the game than we were at the start of the season, which I think is huge.”

Pearson’s play in goal has given the team confidence as well. He continues to work at fine-tuning his play. He has been approaching games with a positive mindset after seeing early success. He has cleaned up some technical aspects of his game as well since last year. The combination has helped him play more effectively.

“Last year I felt when I went in the games, obviously I was nervous, but I also didn’t have as much poise as I do this year,” said Pearson. “Right now I’m reading plays and I’m able to stay in position and stay calm. Whereas last year I was more chasing the play. Sometimes I’d be behind because I was overplaying a shooter before he passes it which would get me late to pucks or late to one-timers. That’s the biggest difference so far which has led to a lot better rebound control, which is an important factor in my game. That’s the biggest difference.”

His first year with Princeton gave him a road map for what to work at in the offseason. He took time to become a better student of the game. He focused on developing his mind and body in the offseason. He watched video and he made sure that the skates that he went to were productive.

“I trained with Jake Allen, who’s an NHL goalie right now,” said Pearson. “I learned a lot from him, picked his brain. I went to goalie camp in Ontario and picked the brain of the coaches there. It was just strictly goalie development the whole summer. I watched a lot of video and when I came here I felt a lot more ready because I felt a lot more knowledgeable about the game than I did last year. That was a big part. I still worked out quite a lot. But the biggest part of my development was learning the game.”

Pearson has established himself as the main starter in the first half of the season with 12 starts. Senior Aidan Porter has started Princeton’s other three games with a 4.23 GAA and .839 save percentage. Pearson is looking to sustain his play as the Tigers resume play after exams.

“It’s a very important role,” said Pearson. “Aidan is also a very good goalie. You have to keep battling. He could have a couple good games and then, boom. I have to stay ready all the time. It’s very healthy competition we have at the moment. He’s pushed me and I’ve pushed him. I think it’s just going to lead to more wins for the team overall as we head into the second half of the season. I like where we’re at right now. We won four of the last five games before Christmas so that confidence within our team, we’re going to keep riding it along.”