Well, the simple answer is that non-conference scheduling is not easy, while adding a third game against Quinnipiac was easy. Typically schedules are finalized two or so years ahead. When these past two seasons schedules were put together, it was assumed that Princeton would play two games its opening weekend of the season as part of an inseason tournament.
Last season it was the "Shootout at Ignalls" and this year the "Shootout at Brown." A fourth team had agreed to play in the tournament, but later pulled out and by that point the only replacement was a Canadian team, and games against that opponent, the Ontario Institute of Technology, are considered exhibition games. Each season the home team played the other two Ivy teams, and the visiting teams played the host and the exhibition team.
While this solved the problem for that weekend, it left Princeton with a hole in the schedule for one more game, but it happened after most teams had their schedules finalized. One team that had an opening was Quinnipiac, and it made sense. The teams are separated by only two hours, they play the same league schedule and have many of the same openings for non-league games.
Last season the teams played three straight games, alternating between Hamden, Princeton and Hamden. The first game was the non-league one and it was won by Quinnipiac, as was the first of the league contests before Princeton won in Hamden. This year the first two were the league games, both won by the Tigers, and the third will take place tonight but have no effect on the ECAC standings. If you're interested though, Princeton is currently first, while Quinnipiac is fifth
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