# 2022–23 Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Princeton Tigers Men's ice hockey season was the 120th season of play for the program and the 61st in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Tigers represented the Princeton University, played their home games at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink and were coached by Ron Fogarty, in his 8th season.

## Season

After possessing little to no offense over the previous four seasons, Princeton finally began to see some improvement in 2023. While the team still averaged less than 3 goals per game over the course of the season, the Tigers managed to score 19 more goals than they had in 2022. Ian Murphy led the team's offense, but the addition of Brendan Gorman to the lineup appeared to finally help his older brother Liam begin to live up to his position as the program's only NHL draft pick. The defense, meanwhile, did an excellent job by limiting the chances of their opponents; Princeton allowed less than 28 shots against per game. The story of the season, however, was in goal.
After a bit of a sluggish start, Ethan Pearson posted back-to-back shutouts to stake a claim on the starting role in net. Following a predictable pair of losses to Quinnipiac, he recorded his third zero of the year against a ranked RIT squad and took a stranglehold on the Tiger crease. Princeton saw its best stretch of hockey in years as the Tigers went 8–3 over a 9-week period. The team managed to get above .500 and were in position to potentially get a bye into the ECAC quarterfinals, something they hadn't done since 2009.
In early February, after a slight decline in their performance, Princeton's season was dealt a mortal blow. In a game against St. Lawrence, Pearson went down with an injury on the Larries' second goal and would miss the remainder of the season. Without a third goaltender on the roster, Benjamin Crewe was brought in to be the backup from the school's club team, though that was only for emergency purposes. Aidan Porter was put in goal for the remainder of the season and results were not good.
In the final six games, Princeton went 1–5 while allowing more than 4 goals against per game. They slid down the ECAC standings, not only losing out on the possibility of a bye but also having to travel for the first round series. The reeling Tigers headed up to Schenectady to take on Union. Though they again allowed 4 goals in the match, Murphy's 3-point night helped spark the team to a 6–4 victory. They advanced to face Harvard in the quarterfinals and were completely outmatched by the Crimson. The Tigers dropped a pair of 1–6 decisions to meekly bow out of the postseason.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Corey Andonovski | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Pittsburgh Penguins) |
| Finn Evans | Forward | Canada | Graduate transfer to Vermont |
| Jérémie Forget | Goaltender | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Luke Keenan | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Jacksonville Icemen) |
| Matthew Kellenberger | Defenseman | Canada | Graduate transfer to RIT |
| Christian O'Neill | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Boston College |
| Mark Paolini | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Matthew Thom | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Mike Ufberg | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Kevin Anderson | Forward | Canada | 19 | Regina, SK |
| Benjamin Crewe | Goaltender | United States | 22 | Arlington, VA; joined mid-season from club team |
| Jaxson Ezman | Forward | United States | 19 | Middleton, WI |
| Brendan Gorman | Forward | United States | 19 | Arlington, MA |
| David Jacobs | Forward | United States | 21 | Needham, MA |
| Nick Marciano | Defenseman | Canada | 20 | Greenwich, CT |
| Tyler Rubin | Defenseman | United States | 19 | Wayland, MA |
| Jayden Sison | Forward | United States | 19 | Paoli, PA |
| Brendan Wang | Defenseman | Canada | 20 | Burnaby, BC |

## Roster

As of September 8, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 ECAC Hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #1 Quinnipiac † | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 87 | 30 | 41 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 162 | 64 |
| #10 Harvard | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 86 | 48 | 34 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 125 | 81 |
| #9 Cornell | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 78 | 42 | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 112 | 66 |
| St. Lawrence | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 56 | 58 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 0 | 88 | 102 |
| #18 Colgate * | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 71 | 58 | 40 | 19 | 16 | 5 | 113 | 109 |
| Clarkson | 22 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 60 | 60 | 37 | 16 | 17 | 4 | 102 | 98 |
| Rensselaer | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 52 | 74 | 35 | 14 | 20 | 1 | 84 | 115 |
| Union | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 45 | 68 | 35 | 14 | 19 | 2 | 86 | 117 |
| Princeton | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 57 | 73 | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 89 | 112 |
| Yale | 22 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 35 | 62 | 32 | 8 | 20 | 4 | 57 | 94 |
| Brown | 22 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 41 | 69 | 30 | 9 | 18 | 3 | 65 | 91 |
| Dartmouth | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 44 | 70 | 30 | 5 | 24 | 1 | 64 | 106 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 29 | 7:00 PM | at #14 Harvard | Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts | NESN, ESPN+ | Porter | L 2–4 | 1,508 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 4 | 7:00 PM | Cornell | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 1–3 | 2,171 | 0–2–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 5 | 7:00 PM | Colgate | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Porter | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 1,102 | 0–3–0 (0–3–0) |
| November 11 | 7:00 PM | at Yale | Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 3–0 | 2,100 | 1–3–0 (1–3–0) |
| November 12 | 7:00 PM | at Brown | Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 1–0 | 877 | 2–3–0 (2–3–0) |
| November 18 | 7:00 PM | #5 Quinnipiac | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 1–4 | 2,103 | 2–4–0 (2–4–0) |
| November 19 | 7:00 PM | at #5 Quinnipiac | M&T Bank Arena • Hamden, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 1–4 | 2,633 | 2–5–0 (2–5–0) |
| November 25 | 7:00 PM | at #20 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Porter | L 3–5 | 1,626 | 2–6–0 |
| November 26 | 5:00 PM | at #20 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Pearson | W 5–0 | 1,571 | 3–6–0 |
| December 2 | 7:00 PM | Clarkson | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 6–2 | 1,180 | 4–6–0 (3–5–0) |
| December 3 | 7:00 PM | St. Lawrence | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 4–5 | 1,773 | 4–7–0 (3–6–0) |
| December 9 | 7:00 PM | Union | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 2–0 | 1,090 | 5–7–0 (4–6–0) |
| December 10 | 7:00 PM | Rensselaer | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 6–5 | 1,575 | 6–7–0 (5–6–0) |
| December 30 | 8:00 PM | at Colorado College* | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | ATTRM | Pearson | L 2–7 | 3,425 | 6–8–0 |
| December 31 | 6:00 PM | at Colorado College* | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Pearson | W 2–1 | 3,415 | 7–8–0 |
| January 6 | 7:00 PM | #10 Harvard | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 2,300 | 7–9–0 (5–7–0) |
| January 7 | 7:00 PM | Dartmouth | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 4–2 | 2,300 | 8–9–0 (6–7–0) |
| January 13 | 7:00 PM | Long Island* | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 5–2 | 1,300 | 9–9–0 |
| January 17 | 7:00 PM | #12 Providence* | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 1,553 | 10–9–0 |
| January 20 | 7:00 PM | at Colgate | Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 0–5 | 1,102 | 10–10–0 (6–8–0) |
| January 21 | 7:00 PM | at #16 Cornell | Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 2–3 | 4,267 | 10–11–0 (6–9–0) |
| January 28 | 7:00 PM | Long Island* | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Pearson | L 4–6 | 1,817 | 10–12–0 |
| February 3 | 7:00 PM | at Dartmouth | Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire | ESPN+ | Pearson | W 7–3 | 2,891 | 11–12–0 (7–9–0) |
| February 10 | 7:00 PM | at St. Lawrence | Appleton Arena • Canton, New York | ESPN+ | Porter | L 2–6 | 1,054 | 11–13–0 (7–10–0) |
| February 11 | 7:00 PM | at Clarkson | Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York | ESPN+ | Porter | L 1–4 | 2,648 | 11–14–0 (7–11–0) |
| February 17 | 7:00 PM | Brown | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Porter | W 2–3 | 1,599 | 12–14–0 (8–11–0) |
| February 18 | 7:00 PM | Yale | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Porter | L 0–4 | 2,218 | 12–15–0 (8–12–0) |
| February 24 | 7:00 PM | at Rensselaer | Houston Field House • Troy, New York | ESPN+ | Porter | L 4–6 | 2,155 | 12–16–0 (8–13–0) |
| February 25 | 7:00 PM | at Union | Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York | ESPN+ | Porter | L 1–3 | 2,155 | 12–17–0 (8–14–0) |
| ECAC Hockey Tournament ||||||||||
| March 4 | 4:00 PM | at Union* | Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York (First Round) | ESPN+ | Porter | W 6–4 | 2,119 | 13–17–0 |
| March 10 | 7:00 PM | at #6 Harvard* | Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 1) | ESPN+ | Porter | L 1–6 | 1,671 | 13–18–0 |
| March 11 | 7:00 PM | at #6 Harvard* | Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 2) | ESPN+ | Porter | L 1–6 | 1,640 | 13–19–0 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Ian Murphy | F | 31 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 14 |
| Liam Gorman | C | 32 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 33 |
| Pito Walton | D | 32 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 12 |
| Brendan Gorman | C | 31 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 6 |
| Jack Cronin | RW | 32 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 24 |
| Noah de la Durantaye | D | 31 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 22 |
| Nick Seitz | F | 28 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 17 |
| David Jacobs | RW | 32 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 22 |
| Adam Robbins | F | 32 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 38 |
| Nicholas Carabin | D | 32 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 28 |
| Spencer Kersten | RW | 31 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
| Jayden Sison | RW | 30 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Tyler Rubin | D | 26 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 |
| Mike Kennedy | D | 28 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Joe Berg | F | 30 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| David Ma | D | 17 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| Kevin Anderson | F | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Nick Marciano | D | 26 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Jaxson Ezman | F | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 41 |
| Matthew Hayami | C | 26 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ethan Pearson | G | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Konovalov | F | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Aidan Porter | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brendan Wang | D | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Mackenzie Merriman | F | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Total | | | 89 | 141 | 230 | 381 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Ethan Pearson | 21 | 1174:07 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 53 | 494 | 4 | .903 | 2.71 |
| Aidan Porter | 14 | 734:55 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 51 | 274 | 0 | .843 | 4.16 |
| Empty Net | - | 23:00 | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 32 | 1932:02 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 112 | 768 | 4 | .873 | 3.48 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.