Little Tigers hockey team happy with bye

By: Justin Feil
   The Princeton High boys ice hockey team is 11-7-3, and has as many good wins as bad losses. Yet, PHS drew the No. 18 seed, and the top 20 teams get byes into the second round.
   The Tigers will play No. 15 Roxbury at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at Mennan Arena, and with a win would face No. 2 Brick.
   "We’re very surprised with our seed," said PHS head coach Paul Merrow, whose squad faces WW-PN 3:45 p.m. today (Friday) at MCP in the final regular-season game. "It definitely exceeded my expectations. It’s a surprise to the kids as well.
   "It makes it a lot tougher. We definitely drew a tough seed in Roxbury. That’s a real good league they play in. Not that the CVC doesn’t play good teams, but we have a pretty tough opponent."
   The PHS-Roxbury match-up offers an intriguing confrontation. The Little Tigers are 5-6-1 against the nine state tournament teams they faced in the regular season. Their only win over a team seeded higher than them is a 4-3 triumph over Hightstown Feb. 5. They did not lose to any teams seeded below them, but in the regular season, they did lose to Ewing and tied Lawrence. They have one common opponent with Roxbury.
   "They beat Westfield, 5-1; we won, 7-3," Merrow said. "They’re kind of like us. You never know what you’re going to get from game to game. We haven’t played since Feb. 10 and we play (today) against North so hopefully we get some game time in before the fifth.
   "It’s going to come down to the team that’s going to be more physical, who wants it more. I can’t see how you wouldn’t want it now."