Hopewell Valley Ice HockeyThe Hopewell Valley Central High School ice hockey team has had an up and down season that resulted in some great games and some disappointing losses.
By: Matt Nalbone
The Bulldogs entered the state tournament with more losses than wins, but found themselves facing a familiar opponent Tuesday in Nottingham.
Hopewell was the 25th seed and Nottingham was the 40th, as the Colonial Valley Conference was the only conference in the state tournament to have two teams playing each other in the first round.
The game was close throughout but in the end, Hopewell would not suffer another of those disappointing losses.
Instead, it was another great game as the Bulldogs prevailed, 3-2, to advance to the second round against eighth-seeded Ridgewood.
Sophomore Jay Rush got the scoring started as he skated through the Nottingham team to put HoVal up, 1-0. The breakaway goal was something right out of the playbook of another No. 99 Wayne Gretzky.
Just 23 seconds later, senior Forrest Covin picked up a loose puck and went the entire length of the ice, scoring to give the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead.
Hopewell dominated the first period with the skating of Covin, the shooting of Rush and the hitting of junior defenseman Mike Briehler. Briehler, who stands 6-9 on skates, set the tone early as he put down a few Nottingham players while playing solid defense.
The game would get close as Nottingham came out of the gates hot to begin the second period, scoring 45 seconds in and cutting the lead to one.
Hopewell then controlled most of the period with goaltender Matt Seems making a few good saves to preserve the lead.
With only 20 seconds remaining, a Nottingham player received a four-minute penalty, giving Hopewell a man advantage to start the final 15 minutes.
They would capitalize 39 seconds into the third, with Kerry Disbrow collecting a rebound and stuffing it past the goalie for what would be the eventual game-winner. Briehler hit the post with his shot from the point, but Disbrow was there to put it home.
The game got very interesting with just over six minutes remaining, as Covin took a penalty giving Nottingham a man advantage. Less than a minute later, Tim Kerr then went into the box, putting the Bulldogs two men down for 58 seconds.
Nottingham was able to capitalize at the 10:33 mark, cutting the lead back to one.
The remaining four-and-a-half minutes felt like an hour but when the horn sounded, Hopewell advanced.
"I’m happy to get a playoff win," Hopewell head coach Mark Kowal said. "I’m happy for the kids that were getting banged around to find some success regardless if it was against a CVC opponent.
"It was playoff hockey. Nottingham played with passion and we beat a good team."
The win also evened the Bulldogs’ record at 10-10-3 for the year.
"We won a battle," Kowal said. "The kids realize that they are capable of anything. It’s good to see them get the accolades due to them, they deserve everything they got.
"There’s a lot of hockey yet to play, we know we have to play better then we did today to go farther."<</p>