Ice hockey
By: Jim Green
The Hopewell Valley Central High School ice hockey team found the perfect remedy for the sting of losing its first-round game in the Mercer County Tournament: a date with hapless Ewing.
The Bulldogs rebounded from their 2-1 overtime loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro South in the county tournament by thrashing Ewing 12-2 Friday at Mercer County Park. Hopewell Valley’s top line of seniors Emeka Ogbonna, Jay Rush and Sean Martin combined for seven goals, as the Bulldogs improved to 17-4-1 overall and 11-2-1 in the Colonial Valley Conference.
"We think, over the last five to six games, we haven’t been playing up to our potential," Hopewell Valley coach Mark Kowal said. "Halfway through the game Friday, we started to sense a different feeling.
"We left with a much better outlook on where we are."
Rush tallied two goals and two assists, raising his season totals to 72 points on 39 goals and 33 assists. Ogbonna, who had three goals and an assist, is second on the club in scoring with 46 points on 17 goals and 29 assists.
Martin added two goals and an assist and now has 42 points on 20 goals and 22 assists.
The win allowed the Bulldogs to get some of the bitter taste out of their mouths. But it did not completely eliminate the disappointment of losing four days earlier in the first round of the county tournament.
"I can’t even put into words the disappointment we had," Kowal said. "We went against a team that was playing really well at the time.
"In games like that, where you let the underdog stay with you, they get stronger."
While the Bulldogs have not used it as an excuse for losing to West Windsor-Plainsboro South, they were still recovering from being hit hard by the flu earlier in the preceding weeks. A flu-ridden Hopewell Valley squad fell to West Windsor-Plainsboro North 7-3 on Jan. 31, costing the Bulldogs the CVC Valley Division title.
"I told the boys that, if we got an early lead, we could play defensively (against West Windsor-Plainsboro North)," Kowal said. "Otherwise, the third period and the second half of the second were going to be miserable. Unfortunately for us, that’s the way it worked out."
Although Hopewell Valley hoped to face the Knights again in the county final, Kowal is not sure he likes facing a particular opponent more than three times in a season.
"There always seems to be unfinished business between Hopewell and (West Windsor-Plainsboro) North," Kowal said. "But that’s not such a bad thing. When you play a team four or five times a year, it gets to be counterproductive. Players start to think about it personally, instead of as a rivalry."
And Kowal was not bitter about Hightstown, a team the Bulldogs defeated last month in the final of the Titans Cup, having the opportunity to play in the county final against the Knights.
"I don’t begrudge any kids who make it to a championship game," he said. "I’m one to say, ‘Best of luck to you.’
"I don’t think for one minute there was any thought of, it should have been us."The Bulldogs will have an opportunity to completely put behind them the disappointments in the county tournament and the conference standings when they begin play in the state tournament in early March.
"You can’t win them all," Kowal said. "And you can’t always win the ones you want to.
"If we had our choice of one we’d like to win, it’s the state tournament. That’s where we’re starting to focus on playing our best hockey."
But if the Bulldogs come up short in the state tournament, will their Titans Cup title be enough to show for the season?
"I don’t know," Kowal said. "That’s something that only time will tell. Have we been in positions to win? Absolutely. But I don’t think we can say, it’s been an unmitigated success."

