December 4, 2024

Goalie Smith Comes Up Big with 2 Stellar Efforts, Helping PU Men’s Hockey Sweep No. 12 Ohio State

BUCKING UP: Princeton University men’s hockey goalie Arthur Smith makes a save against Ohio State last weekend. Sophomore Smith starred as Princeton swept the Buckeyes in a two-game set, recording 29 saves as the Tigers posted a 3-1 win on Friday before making a career-high 37 stops in a 3-1 win on Saturday. Smith’s heroics got him named as the ECAC Goaltender of the Week. Princeton, now 3-4-1 overall, hosts Union on December 6 and RPI on December 7. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

Arthur Smith could have been rusty as he started at goalie for the Princeton University men’s hockey team last Friday night as it hosted No. 12 Ohio State.

But sophomore Smith, who hadn’t played since November 9 when he took the loss as the Tigers fell 5-1 to Dartmouth, was primed to make the most of his opportunity.

“The coaches had been on me about just staying ready,” said sophomore Smith. “Ethan [Pearson] had been playing well. It was just staying ready whenever my number was called.”

Smith proved to be more than ready, making 29 saves to help the Tigers post a 3-1 win over the Buckeyes.

“We had a lot of games that we feel we were in until the very end and just kind of dropped at the end,” said Smith. “To play it through and play focused for 60 minutes, we were happy about that.”

On Saturday, Smith picked up where he left on Friday, recording a career-high 37 saves as Princeton prevailed 3-1 before a fired-up crowd of 1,917 packing Hobey Baker Rink.

“We knew they would come with a push today but we were ready to match their push too,” said Smith, who was later named the ECAC Goaltender of the Week. “It was good.”

Smith credited the defensive effort in front of him with making his job easier.

“It was amazing, they blocked a lot of shots both last night and tonight,” said Smith. “Our defense did a good job of boxing out down low so there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic on a lot of the shots. The shot blocking cuts down my workload by however many they do. It really helps me out.”

The Tiger defense has thrived on the systems employed by new head coach Ben Syer.

“Coach Syer has changed the structure up a little bit, it is a lot more black and white on our end,” said Smith. “We know what our expectations are so that has helped everybody. We have really emphasized communication a lot. Guys are talking a lot more and pointing coverages out. That has helped us out a lot defensively and the offense is just coming.”

Working with senior Pearson has helped Smith get the most out of his potential.

“Ethan and I are great — in practice we are always supporting each other,” said Smith. “We do a lot of goalie skates. I know last weekend when he was playing, I watched his film to learn from him. I am sure he will watch some of the game film from me this weekend. We are pushing each other. Obviously if two goalies could play, we would both want to play but only one of us can play at a time. We are just there to support whoever is going, just for the team.”

Princeton head coach Syer liked the way his team took care of business last Saturday as the Tigers held off Ohio State and improved to 3-4-1 overall.

“I thought our guys stayed with things here,” said Syer. “We battled, they had some good looks early on and we just grinded away. A lot of credit to the guys, they stayed patient with things. It was really nice to see.”

The Tigers did a lot of good things at the defensive end. “I thought our guys did a really nice job, we blocked a lot of shots,” said Syer. “Our guys back-checked real hard, they were alert. They competed, they were determined. From start to finish, even when things got a little bit hairy, the guys did a really great job, just showing a real commitment to wanting to win.”

Smith showed a composure to go with his will to win. “Arty did an outstanding job, he gave some calmness to our game last night and settled guys down,” said Syer. “I thought he did it tonight, especially when we were killing penalties. He was really dialed in, it was great to see.”

With Princeton knotted in a scoreless tie with the Buckeyes heading into the third period on Saturday, the Tigers dialed in as they got goals from David Ma, Alex Konovalov, and Brendan Gorman to break the game open.

“It was outstanding to see Kovy get his first goal and it was a game winner,” said Syer, who also got an assist from Jake Manfre in the period after he contributed two goals and an assist in the win on Friday and later got named the ECAC Rookie of the Week. “He has been working real hard here and done a real nice job and got rewarded for it. It was a real nice finish by Gorms. I think more importantly, you start with the beginning of the third period and Ma gets rewarded. It was a nice forecheck to get things rolling.”

In assessing the sweep of Ohio State, Syer believed that playing as a unit was a key to success for the Tigers.

“That is a tough team we played,” said Syer. “They are big, they are strong. It was great for the guys to get some confidence. The idea of the guys just really coming together as a group. It is having the identity that they can do things together and together they are able to achieve more.”

With Syer getting his first two wins at Hobey Baker Rink in his first season guiding the Princeton program, he is looking forward to another big home weekend as the Tigers host Union on December 6 and RPI on December 7.

“It was a lot of fun to be able to share that with the staff and the guys here,” said Syer. “We have got two really tough teams, two league opponents coming in. We need to battle, they are two well-coached teams that we are playing. We haven’t done a lot of work on them, but we will get after that tomorrow.”

Smith, for his part, believes that Princeton can build on the way it played against the Buckeyes.

“I definitely like the effort and the details we had today,” said Smith. “I think if we keep playing like that we will continue to win games.”