Icemen Skid in Cold Spell
Wrestling Returns; Bradley Moves On; Golf Gets Coach
Tiger Fencers Fall in Duel with Lions
Scoreboard

Icemen Skid in Cold Spell
Identity crisis, inexperience, and injuries send hockey to bottom of league

The men's hockey team must wonder what it has to do to get a victory. The team didn't play badly in its January 12 loss to Vermont, 5-3, nor in its January 13 loss to Dartmouth, 3-2. But the Tigers (3-14-3 overall, 1-10-2 ECAC) don't seem to be able to win close games, and their 10-game winless streak puts Princeton at the bottom of league standings. If the team stays there, it will be one of just two squads in the 12-team league to miss the postseason tournament. The last time that happened to a Princeton team was in 1989.
Though poor play has characterized some of Princeton's failures, Coach Don Cahoon also blames his team's problems on a lack of a team identity and a style of play his squad can rely on when the game is on the line. "We need to come up with an approach," says Cahoon, "a scheme where everyone understands how the team will function." Inexperience and injuries have also contributed to Princeton's difficulties.
What makes the season especially frustrating is that the Tigers have the talent to be competitive in the league. Four starting defenders return from last year's team, and Cahoon has perhaps his best recruiting class ever-eight freshmen play regularly. Several, like forward Jason Given (who chose Princeton over Maine and Michigan State) and defenseman Michael Acosta, have assumed key roles. It's likely they will form the nucleus of a strong Tiger team three years from now. But for the time being, the freshmen have played as one might expect freshmen to play: inconsistently. At times, they are brilliant, but more often, they make mistakes. Most have not mastered Cahoon's complicated, man-to-man marking strategy, so the Tigers have given up numerous goals this season because of mistakes in the defensive zone. Cahoon calls the freshmen "a talented group of players," but adds, "we're asking them to take on the responsibilities of juniors and seniors. Deficiencies start coming up."
Injuries have also contributed to Princeton's inconsistent play. Right wing and leading scorer Jonathan Kelley '96 has missed significant ice time, as have senior defenseman Barrington Miller and sophomore wing Matt Brush (who is gone for the season with broken vertebrae). The missing players have made it hard for Cahoon to set lines and give players a chance to get used to skating together.
As a result, Princeton's play can fluctuate from decent to awful over the course of a weekend, or even in the course of a game. Home games against Rensselaer January 5 and against Union January 6 are a case in point. After allowing Rensselaer to score a goal early in the game, the Tigers shut out the Engineers the rest of the game and scored a third-period goal to get a 1-1 tie. Princeton goalkeeper James Konte '96 made 31 saves, among them several acrobatic ones that thwarted legitimate scoring opportunities. Against Union the next night, Princeton continued playing tenacious defense, and it controlled the game throughout the first period and for most of the second. But with the score tied at 1-1, two successive defensive mistakes left Union players unchallenged in front of the goal. The resulting pair of goals broke the game open; another blunder just before the second period ended gave Union a 4-1 lead. The Tigers put in only a half-hearted effort in the third period and lost 6-1 to the Skating Dutchmen, perhaps the least-talented team in the league. "It was like we deflated," Cahoon said. "We're not as resilient as we need to be."
Road losses to Vermont and Dartmouth a week later were also emblematic of Princeton's season. The Tigers held a 2-1 lead going into the final period against Vermont, the only unbeaten team left in the league, but let Vermont score three unanswered goals and win the game. Princeton's solid performance in a hostile rink was the third time this season the Tigers had given one of the ECAC leaders all it could handle on its home ice. (A one-goal loss at Colgate December 1 and a tie at Cornell December 2 were the other two.) On the road against Dartmouth, Princeton dominated physically, but couldn't turn a 33-22 advantage in shots into a win. The Tigers held an early lead, 1-0, but some unlucky bounces helped the Big Green to two of its three goals and led to the loss. "We aren't getting any breaks at all," said Robbie Sinclair '98, who had scored two goals against Vermont the night before. "We aren't getting any bounces."
A couple of proven goal-scorers would probably help Princeton as much as some luck. It hasn't scored more than three goals in any of its last 10 games. And other than Kelley, who had 45 career goals after the Dartmouth game, the team has only one player with more than 15 career goals, forward Mike Bois '97. Some of Princeton's freshmen were goal-scorers in their junior leagues, but haven't yet produced goals in ECAC matches, which are more physical.
"This is a really hard league to score in," says Sinclair. "It has to do with confidence, and Kelley has a lot of that. I just wish we could get the younger guys involved more."
The Tigers might find more confidence and goals if they could emulate last year's team by developing a style of play in which they have confidence. A year ago, Princeton was not particularly talented, but the team had an approach based on physical play and hard work. It used that approach to defeat top-ranked Maine, reach the finals of the ECAC playoffs, and win more games, 18, than any team in Princeton history.
Cahoon is convinced that this year's group of players will eventually mature into a unit capable of reaching the standard set by last year's team. "Maybe this group comes together before this year is over," said the fifth-year coach. "Maybe it comes together at the beginning of next year." Whenever it happens, Cahoon is probably right to predict success for his squad. Once the Tigers learn their coach's system, they have the talent. But until then, Tiger fans will have to endure Princeton's mistakes-and its losses-while looking for signs that the team is finally starting to gel.
-Dmitri Pappas '97
Dmitri Pappas is a sportswriter for The Daily Princetonian.

Wrestling Returns; Bradley Moves On; Golf Gets Coach
The university will upgrade wrestling from club status to club-varsity status next year; it will also add women's water polo as a club-varsity or varsity sport and will establish a women's lightweight crew. The new category of "club-varsity" teams will compete at a varsity level and athletes will be eligible for varsity letters, but the teams will receive neither university funding nor admissions support. Adding the new category is intended to "expand athletic opportunities at a time of constrained budgets and to strengthen gender equity," according to the Office of Athletic Communications. The new status means Princeton wrestlers will continue to compete in NCAA and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association events. Clay McEldowney '69, chairman of the Friends of Princeton Wrestling, said the Friends "believe strongly that it is important to continue to provide Princeton wrestlers with the opportunity to participate in varsity-level competition," and added he was "pleased that the university has agreed to support the program." The organization of alumni and undergraduates had campaigned for the restoration of varsity wrestling since the university announced in 1993 that it would be downgraded to club status.
Men's Soccer coach Bob Bradley '80 resigned in January to become an assistant coach with D.C. United, in Washington, D.C., a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. Bradley has also been named an assistant coach of the men's Olympic team, which will compete in Atlanta this year. Major League Soccer is the latest incarnation of professional soccer in America. Bradley will rejoin former boss Bruce Arena, the head coach of D.C. United and the U.S. Olympic squad, for whom he worked in 1982 and 1983 at the University of Virginia. Bradley's players will miss the commitment he showed to players, and the Princeton community will miss his dedication to developing local youth-soccer leagues. "The commitment of Princeton's athletes, administration, and community to soccer has been tremendous," says Bradley. "Leaving my alma mater is difficult, but the opportunity to be involved with Olympic soccer and the MLS is very exciting." Bradley starred in soccer as an undergraduate, and as coach he won two Ivy titles and was named Division I Coach of the Year in 1993, after taking Princeton to the Final Four.
Men's golf will also have a new coach, J. Richard Hunt, who was hired last month. He had volunteered as an assistant coach for two years and takes over from Eric Stein, who will remain as coach of the women's squad.

Tiger Fencers Fall in Duel with Lions
The fencing team began its season in Cambridge on December 2 and fought well-both men and women got tough wins over Harvard-but neither squad could best annual rival Columbia that day. As a result, it's unlikely either will win the Ivy League. (With only five men's and six women's teams vying for the championship, even a single loss can put a title out of reach.)
The men (2-1 overall, 1-1 Ivy), who had hoped to win an outright Ivy title and go undefeated for a third straight year, were especially disappointed with the loss to the Lions. Foil Chris Carballo '97 said losing the match was "upsetting," but added "it was not any one person's fault."
Though Princeton led late in the meet, Columbia scored the last four points and won by a point, 14-13. The Tigers may have been especially vulnerable early in the season because several of their starters were backups last year. Princeton won its next match handily, spearing Hunter, 16-2, on January 17. The squad faced Haverford, Vassar, and Massachusetts on February 3 in Princeton. Its remaining Ivy bouts are at Yale on February 10 and at home against Penn on February 24. To get the title, the Tigers will have to win their remaining matches and hope Columbia falters.
The women's team (3-1 overall, 2-1 Ivy), which had also expected to contend for an Ivy title, lost 20-12 to the Lions. Senior foil and cocaptain Adrienne Toy said, "We just didn't win the close bouts . . . and that made the difference."
Later that day, the women bounced back to defeat Cornell, 17-15. In non-league action January 17, the Tigers trounced the University of New Hampshire, 29-3. The Tigers also hosted New York University, Saint John's, and Duke on February 4. The heart of the women's Ivy schedule occurs later this month: Princeton will face Yale in New Haven on February 10 and the Tigers will host Penn on February 24. As with the men, the Tigers will need to win and see Columbia lose to get the Ivy title.

Scoreboard
Men's Basketball
(9-5 overall; 2-1 Ivy)
LaSalle 52, Princeton 49
Penn 57, Princeton 55
Princeton 56, Yale 55
Princeton 64, Brown 36

Men's Fencing
(2-1 overall; 1-1 Ivy)
Princeton 18, Harvard 9
Columbia 14, Princeton 13
Princeton 16, Hunter 2

Women's Fencing
(3-1 overall; 2-1 Ivy)
Princeton 17, Harvard 15
Columbia 20, Princeton 12
Princeton 17, Cornell 15
Princeton 29, New Hampshire 3

Men's Ice Hockey
(3-14-3 overall;
1-10-2 ECAC)
RPI 1, Princeton 1
Union 6, Princeton 1
Vermont 5, Princeton 3
Dartmouth 3, Princeton 2

Women's Swimming
(3-2 overall; 3-1 Ivy)
Princeton 155.5, Cornell 138.5

Men's Squash
(5-0 overall; 2-0 Ivy)
Princeton 9, Navy 0

Women's Basketball
(11-5 overall; 2-1 Ivy)
Wake Forest 81, Princeton 62
Princeton 71, Penn 53
Yale 62, Princeton 55
Princeton 73, Brown 54

Women's Ice Hockey
(6-11 overall; 4-3 ECAC,
2-4 Ivy)
Harvard 5, Princeton 2
Brown 4, Princeton 3 (OT)
Princeton 5, Providence 4
Cornell 5, Princeton 1