Men's Ice Hockey | 2/13/2018 10:07:00 AM
NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT men's hockey team ended their 2017-2018 campaign on a strong note with a 7-5 victory over the Princeton Tigers. The win gave the Highlanders a 9-9 record in the Colonial States including a 6-5 record in home games at Prudential Center.
The 1
st period was all NJIT as defenseman
Will Hoer's scorching hot play continued from Friday night's win over UPenn to give him a total of 10 goals for the weekend. (Will finished the season with 22 goals in 22 games and led the team in points.) It was almost a carbon copy of the 2nd period on Friday as Will scored all three goals in the period, except this time they were all even strength. The first two goals, scored in a span of 55 seconds just four minutes into the game, showcased his skill and gave the Highlanders an early 2-goal advantage.
Michael Crincoli and
Ryan Nieves got assists on the 1
st goal, while Hoer's second was unassisted. Hoer's natural hattrick goal came late in the period with
Rohan Ganta and
James Lyle getting the assists. The Highlanders lead 3-0 after one period.
Newcomer Mike Caufield gave NJIT a four-goal advantage 1:42 into the 2
nd period. The Tigers responded with two quick goals to cut the Highlander in half. But, NJIT quickly responded with two goals themselves in a span of 1:32 to regain their 4-goal lead.
Phil Lelikov, set up by a terrific pass from Crincoli, scored on a nifty shot in front and
Will Hoer got his fourth goal on the power play and NJIT led 6-2 after two periods.
Princeton would show tremendous fight in the 3
rd period. The Tigers managed to cut the lead with 3 straight goals to make it 6-5 and seemed to have all the momentum. With their net empty, Princeton had a barrage of shots, the most dangerous of ones rang off the post and crossbar. But, Joe Dickinson was able to clear the puck all the way down and into the empty net to secure the win for the Highlanders by the final score of 7-5.
Thomas Pryka in this final start won in his second game of the season making 43 saves in the win. Thank you for all the Highlander fans who have watched either in person or on the webcast. Have a good rest of the semester and see you in September for NJIT Hockey.
Before the game,
Phil Lelikov, Dave Ferrero, and Thomas Pryka, accompanied by their family – including Mr. Lelikov who flew in from Russia - were acknowledged for their impact on the program. We would like to extend congratulations to these seniors for their contributions to the program and best wishes following their graduation from NJIT.
Goals - Hoer (4), Caufield, Lelikov, Dickinson
Assists - Crincoli (2), Nieves, Ganta (2), Lyle
Saves - Pryka- 43
SOG - NJIT- 38 Princeton- 43
PP - NJIT- 1/7 Princeton 1/9
Courtesy club ice hockey
