Yale is, and always has been, Harvard’s archrival, but Princeton has become more than happy to share the role of spoiler—at least in the hockey rink.

The Tigers, 3-0-1 at Bright Hockey Center over the last four years, have taken the last two meetings, each by 2-1 scores, against favored Crimson teams.

“We’ve been upset at home the past couple of times,” senior forward Tim Pettit said. “We just have to take a different approach this time.”

This weekend, Harvard (1-1-1, 1-1-1 ECAC) faces off against Princeton and Yale. This season, the squads have a combined 1-7 record and have been outscored by a collective 41-13.

However, as the memories of last season’s disappointments linger, the Crimson is cautious not to underestimate its rivals.

“Yale will play more of an up-tempo game,” Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni said. Princeton, however, is “a team that will slow the game down.”

Like Brown, which beat Harvard, 2-0, in the season opener, the Tigers clog the defensive zone and force teams to dump the puck instead of skating in.

“They play hound-dog defense,” Mazzoleni said. “You never get a two-on-one against them, a three-on-two, a four-on-three, because they always have four guys back.”

Though Princeton (0-4-0, 0-2-0) has allowed almost four goals per game, the Crimson is not overconfident; to fall behind early to such a defense, even if it has struggled recently, could be disastrous.

Mazzoleni, whose team is averaging more than three goals per game, stresses that his team must be uncompromising if it wants to succeed this weekend.

“I want my team to play aggressively,” Mazzoleni said. “When you want your team to play aggressively, you’re going to take some penalties.”

“If you have kids playing passively, then they’re not pressuring the puck. I want them going. Go, go, go, go, go with pressure.”

Mazzoleni plans to keep Pettit, senior Dennis Packard, and junior Tom Cavanagh skating together, after that line appeared on the scoresheet most often last weekend.

Pettit has a history against Princeton in more ways than one. Last year, he tallied five assists in a 6-3 over the Tigers at Hobey Baker Rink.

Those five dishes, the first such collection by a Crimson skater since 1986, would have stood on their own. The performance was sweetened, though, by the fact that Pettit comes from a long line of Princeton alumni.