Ice hockey
By: Jim Green
The Pennington School’s ice hockey team is no longer a pushover in Mercer County.
The Red Raiders made that clear Saturday, defeating Notre Dame 2-0 at Ice Land in Hamilton. The Fighting Irish (5-5-1) were coming off a 1-1 tie with 9-2-1 Hopewell Valley.
"That (beating Notre Dame) was a great win," Pennington coach Tom Horsley said. "It felt really good."
Pennington followed its win over Notre Dame with a 4-2 victory over Nottingham on Monday. It was the fifth straight win for the Red Raiders, who moved to 10-1 and 8-0 against Colonial Valley Conference opponents.
The two games this week represented a bounce-back for Pennington, which defeated Lawrence last Thursday despite a lackluster performance.
"I think, for the sake of our confidence, we needed to play a solid game," Horsley said. "We played a tough game against a team (Notre Dame) of a higher caliber."
The Red Raiders were able to prevail against the Fighting Irish despite being without forward Jeff Friedman. The senior, who has seven goals and 10 assists, was away from the team for the weekend.
Junior Will McPhaden replaced Friedman against Notre Dame, joining junior Chris Kehrer and freshman Dan Cohen on the top line. McPhaden picked up an assist as that line snapped a scoreless tie with two third-period goals.
"I think they clicked," Horsley said of his first line.
The Red Raiders’ strategy was to keep Notre Dame’s potent attack in check while waiting patiently for offensive opportunities. Pennington’s second line of seniors Brian McCarthy and Tommy McGann and sophomore Brendan Douglass helped keep Notre Dame scoreless until the scoring line was able to find the back of the net.
Cohen finally broke through with a goal off an assist from sophomore defenseman Chris Farr less than five minutes into the third. Kehrer then added an insurance goal with 5:52 to play off assists from McPhaden and Cohen.
"Our best chance was to keep the score low," Horsley said. "That’s what we did.
"Notre Dame’s a very quick-skating team. Our boys just kept up with them."
Freshman goalie Joe Nalbone also stepped up in net, recording 21 saves in the shutout. The Red Raiders outshot Notre Dame 25-21.
"Joe Nalbone did an outstanding job," Horsley said. "We kept plugging away, knowing our goalie would keep them out."
Junior defenseman Neil DeLoggio had a goal and two assists Monday to spark the Pennington attack against Nottingham. Friedman returned to the lineup with two assists, while Cohen chipped in with a goal and an assist.
After a scoreless first period, Douglass put the Red Raiders on the board with a second-period tally off assists from Friedman and McCarthy. Pennington, which outshot Nottingham 24-14 over the first two periods, took a 1-0 lead into the third.
The Pennington offense exploded for three goals in the final period. DeLoggio started the rally with a goal off assists from Cohen and Friedman.
Cohen then scored a goal of his own, with assists credited to Kehrer and DeLoggio. Kehrer then opened a four-goal advantage by scoring off DeLoggio’s second assist.
The Pennington defense, which had been solid for most of the game, suffered a late letdown. Tony Matterillo and Zach Harris netted late goals for Nottingham to make the score respectable.
Nalbone made 16 saves in his second straight strong performance, as Pennington finished with a 36-18 advantage in shots on goal.
The Red Raiders were somewhat fortunate to escape with a victory against Lawrence last Thursday. Pennington overcame a 32-13 deficit in shots and an early Cardinal goal to pull out a 4-1 win at Ice Land.
It was the Red Raiders’ third straight win and second victory over Lawrence in a week.
"Lawrence is a very aggressive team," Horsley said. "They (the Cardinals) never give up. I’ve seen a lot of their games, and I was expecting a close game."
The Red Raiders’ play against Lawrence was hampered by penalties. Pennington racked up seven infractions totaling 13:10.
"I was expecting our team to play more disciplined," Horsley said.
The Red Raiders were able to overcome their sloppiness thanks to the play of Douglass and sophomore goalie Walter Scherer. Douglass scored three goals, the first of which tied the game 1-1 with 23.7 seconds left in the first period, while Scherer recovered from a slow start to make 31 saves.
Scherer’s play was particularly crucial in the third period, as Lawrence pounded away at the Pennington defense in a spirited comeback attempt.
"Walter (Scherer) really did a wonderful job for us," Horsley said.
Douglass, a member of the Red Raiders’ defensive-minded second line, doubled his scoring output for the season against Lawrence. After scoring late in the first to tie the game, he gave the Red Raiders the lead with a goal 2:10 into the second.
Both goals were assisted by DeLoggio.
"That’s the first time he (Douglass) has come out and put the puck in the net," Horsley said.
Douglass’s production was vital because the Red Raiders’ potent top line of Kehrer, Friedman and McPhaden netted only one goal.
"Normally they work very well together," Horsley said of his first line. "Kehrer, Friedman and McPhaden weren’t clicking well. They’ve had some problems the last couple of games getting their timing down."
The first line’s sole tally came 2:12 into the third period, as Friedman scored off a feed from Kehrer to push Pennington’s lead to 3-1.
"We know that they (the Red Raiders) are coming up pretty big in the clutch," Horsley said. "We think we should be able to pull things out."
An empty-netter by Douglass with 1:10 left was the final goal of the game. The goal came off DeLoggio’s third assist of the contest.
The level of competition will continue to rise for the Red Raiders, starting with a game against Colonial Valley Conference power Hightstown at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow at Ice Land.
"We’ve got some tough games coming up," Horsley said. "I would have liked to see more team play out of them (against Lawrence)."

