Ice hockey
By: Mike Molaro
Can one player have an impact on how well a team plays?
The Hopewell Valley Central High School ice hockey team definitely thinks so.
With Bryan Driver fully recovered from an injury that forced him to miss the first 12 games, the Bulldogs (9-5-2 overall, 7-1-1 in the Colonial Valley Conference) have turned it up a notch and are in prime position to make some noise in the county and state tournaments in addition to defending their Titans Cup title.
The junior goalie has surrendered four goals since his return, and HoVal has gone 3-0-1 in the span. Driver recorded back-to-back shutouts including a 5-0 blanking of Hightstown on Jan. 21 and was the backbone of last Saturday’s 5-2 triumph over West Windsor-Plainsboro North in the opening game of the Titans Cup at the Sovereign Bank Arena.
"There’s a big difference with Bryan Driver in the nets," Bulldogs coach Rob Siris said. "He’s been in the big games, and the guys respond to him. He’s a little more vocal than (junior goalie) Jake (Laurie).
"Jake did an absolutely fantastic job in Bryan’s absence. Jake is the reason we are where we are. We’re confident with either one in the nets."
After tying WW-P North 2-2 on Jan. 14, the second-seeded Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead after two periods last Saturday, including two in the opening minutes of the period. Freshman defender Tom Kawalec scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot off assists from junior forward Pete Carroll and junior defender Greg Amato. Sophomore forward Ben Bershad added a goal 21 seconds later (assist by freshman forward Eric Doran) on a wrist shot following a HoVal win off a face off.
"We’ve been able to shift some people around, and we are looking to score more," Siris said after knocking off the third-seeded Knights. "We are more offensive minded with Bryan in there. We have been practicing dumping the puck and cycling around. We played a solid game."
After the Knights closed to 3-1 in the third period, Amato scored the first of his two goals off an assist from sophomore forward Alex Laughlin and senior forward Bryan Frank. Amato closed the scoring for the 5-2 final.
A total of 17 penalties were called in the game, giving the Bulldogs an opportunity to put into play what they practice.
HoVal killed off a 5-on-3 disadvantage in the second period that could’ve put North back into the game.
"We’ve been working a lot on penalty killing," Siris said. "We’ve been down 5-on-3 a lot this year. They seem to be calling a lot more penalties this year. In this game, one of our players was wearing a clear mouthpiece and was told he had to change to a colored mouthpiece. I don’t know how that teaches the guys about hockey.
"We prepare in practice to be short-handed during the game. We also prepare for our power play. That has really helped us."
HoVal advanced to Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. Titans Cup final against fourth-seeded Princeton, which upset top-seeded Notre Dame 2-1 last Saturday. It is the third consecutive year the defending champion Bulldogs have earned a berth in the title game.
The Bulldogs defeated Princeton 4-0 Jan. 16 the first of Driver’s back-to-back shutouts and expect to play the same type of game when the teams take to the ice with the Titans Cup on the line.
"We videotape our games, and we get a chance to see what we did well and what didn’t work," Siris said. "We make a game plan according to what we see. Our coaches do a great job scouting our opponents. We respond accordingly."
HoVal was coming off a performance in which it outshot Hightstown 34-18 and got the only goal Driver needed in the first period from Frank off assists from Amato and Bershad. Carroll (assists by junior forward Jeff Karpiscak and Doran) and Frank made it 3-0 after two periods, and Amato scored twice in the final period. Doran and Carroll assisted on the first goal, and freshman defenseman Brian Deangele assisted on the second.
"We have been changing match-ups both offensively and defensively, and it really paid off in this game," Siris said. "We have been having intense practices and the guys are starting to click.
"There was a brief time this season when we weren’t scoring goals. Now we are. Our defensemen have really been outstanding. We only have four defensemen: two sophomores and two freshmen. We’ve had to move guys around and everyone has been doing their job."
With injuries popping up since the start of the season, the Bulldogs have yet to put their full squad on the ice. They have had to rely on their younger guys, and those underclassmen have done an outstanding job.
"We are not surprised with the play of our freshmen," Siris said. "They have a lot of raw talent. We only have four seniors, and two are hurt. The younger guys have had to step up, and they have.
"We don’t think of them as freshmen. We work them hard, and the guys have responded. We don’t do a lot of different things in practice. We work on a few things and the younger guys have picked them up very quickly."
NOTES: The fourth-seeded Bulldogs faced Hamilton yesterday (Wednesday) at Ice Land in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament. HoVal dominated the Hornets 11-0 earlier this year. The winner faces the Nottingham-Princeton victor Feb. 23 in the MCT quarterfinals at Ice Land.
Pennington earned the top seed and a first-round bye. The Red Raiders in the quarterfinals Feb. 23 take on the survivor of the West Windsor-Plainsboro North-WW-P South first-round game. Notre Dame is the second seed in the MCT, and Hun is seeded third.