SUPER SAVER: Princeton University men’s hockey goalie Colton Phinney gloves a save in recent action. Sophomore goalie Phinney has been a bright spot for the Tigers this season, posting a 3.48 goals against average and making 422 saves in 12 appearances. The Tigers, who moved to 2-10-1with a 5-0 loss at No. 3 Minnesota State last Friday, are on holiday break and return to action when they play at No. 14 Quinnipiac on December 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Playing at third-ranked Minnesota State last Friday night in Mankato, the Princeton University men’s hockey team came out flying.

“The first period against Mankato was everything we have asked them to do,” said Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty.

“We were controlling the puck, we were up 8-1 in shots. I don’t think we have had that all year. That was by far our best period. We executed well with the puck.”

“There is a psychological point; you play so well and you are still down 2-0, that is deflating,” said Fogarty, whose team dropped to 2-10-1 overall with the defeat.

“We had three power plays in the second period and we didn’t cash them in, if we could have gotten to within a goal, that would have helped.”

The Tigers didn’t get a second chance at the Mavericks in the two-game set as the hosts were laid low by flu spreading through the team and Saturday’s game was cancelled.

“I have never been involved in anything like that, it was frustrating,” said Fogarty.

“They told us what was going on, that they had a whole bunch of guys with the flu. The well being of the student athlete is the most important thing. I didn’t want any of our guys to get it and have it spread through our team.”

Although Fogarty would have liked to see the Tigers bring a better record into the holiday break, he believes the team is making progress in his debut season at the helm.

“We have made some great strides from the beginning of the season to now,” said Fogarty.

“The big thing going forward is consistency. We can’t have just one good period. We have to get better on execution of plays and getting to spots quicker.”

In order to start getting more wins, the Tigers need to execute better when they are a man up.

“The biggest thing is the power play,” said Fogarty, whose team is 7-for-56 in power play situations for an anemic .125 percentage and has been outscored 48-18 overall through 13 games. “When you are not scoring a lot and you get those odd-man situations, you have to cash them in.”

Sophomore goalie Colton Phinney has excelled for the Tigers in just about every situation this season.

“Colton has been great, he has been working hard every period,” said Fogarty of the 6’1, 175-pound native of Chatham, N.J. who has posted a 3.48 goals against average and made 422 saves in 12 appearances.

“He has been carrying a heavy load. We need to take better care of the puck in front of him and not make turnovers.”

A trio of freshmen, defenseman Joe Grabowski and forwards David Hallisey and Eric Robinson, have given Princeton some good work.

“Grabowski and Hallisey have done a good job of transitioning from juniors to D-1, Eric Robinson has done some good things, we need him to be more consistent.”

Junior Kyle Rankin has been a consistently good player for the Tigers this season, tallying a goal and four assists in nine games.

“Rankin has done a great job, he played a lot of defense last year and he is back on offense,” added Fogarty.

“He had an injury that knocked him out for four games but he is a leading scorer.”

Looking ahead to the second half of the campaign, Fogarty is confident that the Tigers will do a better job at both ends of the ice.

“Over the first part of the season, it has been making sure they know the systems and what is expected of the entire team,” said Fogarty, whose team is next in action when it plays at 14th-ranked Quinnipiac on December 27.

“We have tweaked the systems a bit and now we can focus more on where the individual skills fit in. We need to have better control of home ice. We need to be getting as many points as possible at home and splitting on the road.”