Princeton men’s hockey (0-2 overall, 0-2 ECAC) lost both of its home openers this weekend – losing to Harvard (2-1 overall, 2-1 ECAC) in overtime by a score of 5-4 and falling to an undefeated Dartmouth 5-1 (4-0 overall, 3-0 ECAC).

Princeton is under new management this season with head coach Ben Syerwho previously worked as recruiting coordinator at Quinnipiac, helping grow the hockey program into a national championship contending team, and at Cornell as an assistant coach for 13 seasons, helping lead the Big Red to two ECAC titles.

“It’s been super exciting for us, I think it’s like a new generation of hockey at Princeton and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” senior captain Noah de la Durantaye told the Daily Princetonian. “With the arrival of Coach Syer and the whole staff, there are new philosophies and new systems, which is just great for us.”

After five straight losing seasons under former coach Ron Fogarty, the Tigers are off to a slow start in the Syer era. However, the first-time head coach didn’t have it easy in his first weekend, as Princeton, fielding more than half the freshmen and sophomores, faced a team of Now undefeated Dartmouth and a Harvard team that often finds itself in the top half of the ECAC.

“I always consider the team to be a family, so when you talk about a new group coming in, it’s always like, ‘How are they acclimating?’ What do we expect from them? But on the other hand, we also need to ask the older guys what they are responsible for so we can follow the process every time,” Syer told the “Prince.”

New era, same fight: Tigers fail in overtime thriller against Harvard

In the opening minutes, both teams worked to find their rhythm and synchronization. Princeton’s skaters seemed to occasionally collide or clip their skates with each other as they adjusted to Syer’s system, a natural challenge in early-season games.

Princeton’s defensive mishaps gave Harvard some chances, and as both teams adjusted, it became clear that the game would be a back-and-forth affair.

“Coach Syer has been great and everyone is very confident in the direction he wants to take the program,” junior forward Nick Marciano said. “We’ve made tremendous progress over the last few weeks…He expects a lot from us, but as a (Division I) athlete, that’s exactly what you want: to be pushed and supported to get better every day.”

Princeton drew first blood five minutes later, with junior forward David Jacobs and freshman forward Jack Manfre setting up Marciano, who took the puck home from the left circle on a low shot for an early lead. 1-0. It was Manfre’s first career point, demonstrating the Tigers’ reliance on youth this year.

“I mean, who doesn’t like scoring goals – it was great. We’ve had some tough weeks and a lot of mornings, so it was great to see a lot of that work come to fruition in the first half,” Marciano told ‘Prince’.

Despite continued back-and-forth attempts during the first period, both teams were unable to capitalize and the Tigers held their 1-0 lead to end the period.

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Harvard was aggressive in the second period with a goal from Joe Miller in just 36 seconds. But it didn’t take Princeton long to counter — less than a minute later, junior forward Brendan Gorman turned a defensive block into a coast-to-coast run that ended with a shot for find the back of the net and regain the lead 2–1.

The two teams continued to trade goals throughout the second and third periods. Harvard’s Salvatore Guzzo was able to tie the score again midway through the second, while a penalty shot saved by senior goalkeeper Ethan Pearson kept the Tigers in the game.

Sophomore forward Carson Buydens delivered a big hit that sent him to the penalty box late in the second. This gave Harvard a power play which they quickly converted when Casey Severo found the back of the net to give the Crimson their first lead of the game.

A tense third period saw another power play, this time resulting in a game-clinching goal for the Tigers from sophomore forward Kai Daniells to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Despite Pearson’s stellar performance with 29 saves, Harvard’s Mick Thompson scored with just 24 seconds left in overtime, earning the Crimson a 4-3 victory.

Tigers fail against Dartmouth after showing promise at Harvard

On Saturday, the Tigers lost the momentum they had from the previous night’s overtime battle, falling to the Big Green 5-1 in a game that was never close.

“You go from a game last night to getting back into it early this morning, and you know, I thought we showed real flashes of really good things, and now it’s up to us as a team and up to us as a group to be able to continue to transform this group to be more cohesive as we move forward here,” Syer told the “Prince.”

At the start of the first half, the Tigers were playing Dartmouth neck and neck. The Tigers conceded a power play for tripping less than two minutes into the game, although Dartmouth failed to convert. Throughout the first half, Dartmouth narrowly outshot Princeton 21-16 with nine shots on target.

“I was super happy with our first half,” de la Durantaye told the ‘Prince’. “I think we were fighting with them in skating, we fought tooth and nail with them.”

Sophomore goalie Arthur Smith, who started in Pearson’s place due to the back-to-back games, kept the Tigers’ defense upright, making eight saves in the first 20 minutes, mostly dominated by Dartmouth’s offensive possessions.

The Big Green scored its first goal of five with 1:36 remaining on a second-chance shot deflected by Smith.

The second period began with the Tigers down and unsuccessfully trying to kill a penalty, giving the Big Green their next goal just seconds into play. The Big Green continued their offensive pursuit and dominated possession, scoring two more unanswered goals throughout the period, making the score 4-0.

“I think our message (at the second intermission) was that we are the best when we do it together as a group,” Syer told the “Prince.” “Hockey is the ultimate team game, and the harder you play in a group of five, the harder you execute. But when you start cheating that process, so to speak, you don’t get the same rewards as when you stick to the process.

The Tigers would not go down without a fight, even after Dartmouth’s fifth goal. In a near-goal battle, sophomore defenseman Ian Devlin fired the puck into the back of the net, making the score 5-1.

The Tigers begin a long road game starting next Friday in New Haven against Yale, where they will try to bring the Syer era back to life.

“Close the book on this weekend and move on to next weekend. Yale is always a great defensive team, they don’t give up a lot,” Syer told the ‘Prince.’ “We’ll have some tough competition here on the road, and I think it’s just about constantly being together as a group and keep our message consistent.”

Lily Pampolina is sports editor and audience creator for the “Prince.”

Francie McKenzie is sports editor for the “Prince”.

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