Ice hockey
By: Mike Molaro
Nobody could blame the Hopewell Valley Central High School boys ice hockey squad if it had a difficult time believing that it came out on the short end of a 3-0 shootout loss Monday to Pennington in the consolation round of the Lawrence Holiday Tournament at The Lawrenceville School.
The third-seeded Bulldogs (5-3) held a 33-9 advantage in shots and, according to coach Rob Siris, controlled most of the game. With the score tied at 1-1 after regulation time and a five-minute overtime session, the second-seeded Red Raiders (6-2) scored three times in the penalty-shot round to claim the victory.
Senior forwards Will McPhaden and Chris Kehrer and junior defenseman Terry Wells found the back of the Bulldog net in the shootout round to provide Pennington with the triumph.
Red Raiders sophomore goalie Joe Nalbone proved to be the difference as he stopped 32-of-33 Bulldog shots, including the three shots he faced during the penalty-shot round. Pennington also held off a two-man HoVal advantage midway through the final period.
"We controlled the puck most of the game," Siris said. "Their goalie (Nalbone) played a fantastic game. He made a couple of phenomenal saves. We should’ve had three or four goals easily.
"It was a well-played game by both teams. I feel we outplayed them and the shots (33-9) showed that. We came out on fire. We played three solid periods of hockey. Their goalie was the difference."
HoVal junior net-minder Jake Lurie was also outstanding, as he came up big when needed while the Bulldog defense limited Pennington to single-digit shots.
Junior defenseman Gregg Amato, off an assist from sophomore forward Charlie Knights, gave HoVal a 1-0 lead in the first period that held up until Kehrer scored an unassisted short-handed goal in the third period.
"We were missing three seniors tonight on defense because of injuries (defensemen Nick Colati and Colin Disbrow and goalie Bryan Driver), and I thought the rest of the guys were great on both the penalty kill and on five-on-five," Siris said. "Their guy (Kehrer) made a great effort on the short-handed goal. Other than that, I thought this was the best we’ve played defensively. Jake (Laurie) played well for us. We gave up only nine shots in three periods."
The Bulldogs and Red Raiders meet again during the regular season on Saturday, Jan. 10.
Since losing 11-3 to Notre Dame, the Bulldogs have surrendered just four goals in their last two games, including a 3-2 loss to fifth-seeded Pennsbury in the opening round of the Lawrence Holiday Tournament last Friday.
Senior Bryan Frank had a goal and an assist against the Falcons, while sophomore forward Ben Bershad tallied the other HoVal goal. Amato contributed two assists, and Lurie recorded 16 saves, including stopping 14 of the last 15 shots he faced.
HoVal trailed 3-0 in the third period before Frank and Bershad made things interesting. The Bulldogs held a 30-19 advantage in shots.
"We are getting our opportunities," Siris said. "We need to finish them. Two of their goals were screened shots that Jake (Lurie) really had no chance on. Their goalie came up big against us.
"We came out a little slow and flat in this game. We fought hard from that 3-0 deficit but couldn’t come all the way back."
Although they came up short in the Lawrence Holiday Tournament, the Bulldogs took some positives with them as they prepared for next Monday’s game against West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
"We played well in both games," Siris said. "We lost to Notre Dame, and Pennington beat Notre Dame. We played outstanding against Pennington.
"We are keeping our goals against down and playing very well defensively. This is very promising considering that we have such a young team. People are stepping up for us. We are looking forward to having a full squad within the next 2-3 weeks."
With Driver and Colati about two weeks away from returning to the lineup and Disbrow hopefully ready for the WW-P South game, HoVal’s makeshift lineup is about ready to return to normal.
"Having two senior defensemen (Disbrow and Colati) out is taking a bite out of our offense," Siris said. "When we are healthy, our forwards who are now playing defense can move back to their regular positions."

