PHS’ Kovacs hoping for happy ending

Little Tiger ice hockey captain looks for MCT upset vs. WW-PS

By: Justin Feil
   When you’ve seen the high side of things like Kevin Kovacs has, it’s hard to accept the lows of the past two seasons of Princeton High boys’ ice hockey.
   "There’s been a lot of ups and downs," said Kovacs, the Little Tigers’ team captain. "My sophomore year, we had a huge year (when they advanced to the state quarterfinals). It’s been downhill after that. I’m accepting it. I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is look at the future positively."
   Princeton High can do a lot to forget its last two season’s frustrations with a win over West Windsor-Plainsboro High South in the opener of the Mercer County Tournament on Thursday.
   "It would just make up for basically the success we didn’t have," Kovacs said. "I look at them as a strong team. They have the depth that maybe we don’t have. Other than that, we can play a strong game and I’m going into it thinking we can win."
   Kovacs and PHS were scheduled to face Pennington Thursday, two days after a disappointing 3-3 tie with Ewing, the team they beat out for the eighth and final MCT spot.
   "I was real disappointed with a tie," said Kovacs, who had a goal and an assist in the game as PHS moved to 6-11-1. "We thought we had won the game before it was over. Especially since we’d been playing well beforehand.
   "I’m still optimistic about the tournament. I think we’re going to play well against South. We played well against them earlier this year."
   In the teams’ first meeting of the season, the Pirates edged PHS, 3-2. Since then, WW-PS has put together a 11-2-3 record to secure the top seed. PHS doesn’t think that will matter if it can put together a complete effort.
   "We’re the eighth seed, but I don’t think we’re even looking at that," said PHS head coach Paul Merrow. "I’m looking at it as wide open. Judging from the earlier game we played against them, we can do it. We played well against them. They give up quite a lot of shots per game. I think if come in focused and ready to play we might be able to pull the upset."
   It’s when the Little Tigers have slipped up mentally that they’ve run into the most problems. Against Ewing, for instance, PHS held a two-goal advantage in the third period only to see the Blue Devils come back.
   "We definitely outplayed them," Merrow said. "We had 46 shots on goal. Their goaltender played tremendously well. And then we made a bad coverage play in our zone and got burned. We’ve been trying all year to eliminate those mistakes in our zone."
   "When we don’t have mental lapses," Kovacs added, "we play well. We play the way we know we can. It’s just basic fundamentals."
   With a young nucleus, PHS can be forgiven for some mental errors. It was part of the problem as PHS went 6-13-1 last season and a reason they have just six wins at this point. Kovacs is one of only three seniors left on the Little Tigers roster after former starting goaltender Travis Hall left to attend school in Maine. In addition, PHS lost one of its top forwards in Michael Mann, who left the school to study abroad. Kovacs is eyeing his final scholastic action before heading to college to continue his career with special attention.
   "It’s coming down to the wire," he said. "I’m in a place where I used to always be saying that I’ll be a senior and it’s going to be my last game and it’s going to be hard to deal with. It is hard to deal with. I makes you want to play better. It makes you want to make your last games your best ones."
   Tuesday was a good start for Kovacs. His goal and assist helped PHS sustain some momentum heading into the MCT.
   "I’m happy with it," the 17-year-old said. "I put in as much effort as I could. I think sometimes it’s lagging with other people, but if we can pick it up, we’ll be fine."
   Merrow knows too that it will take just one good complete effort to give PHS a chance Thursday.
   "We don’t have anything to lose," he said. "They are the first seed, we’re the eighth. We have everything to gain. They have to defend us to keep their No. 1 seed."
   And Kovacs would like nothing more than advance to what would be his first MCT final since his sophomore year to put a nice ending on an up-and-down high school career. He’s played in some big games at Princeton, been on the upside of several of the Little Tigers’ biggest wins, and he’s counting on a couple more chances.
   "I’ve been playing hockey since I was 10," he said. "I’ve had so many good memories from it. It’s been a huge part of my life. When I look back it’s almost overwhelming."
   What a moment it would be then if Princeton High could upset the No. 1 seeded WW-PS and give Kevin Kovacs one more special memory of the last four years he’s spent with the Little Tigers.