By: Bob Nuse
BRIDGEWATER The Princeton High ice hockey team didn’t concern itself with seeds.
The Little Tigers, who were seeded 18th in the NJSIAA public school state tournament, went to the Bridgewater Sports Arena looking to win. And second-seeded Ridge was nearly the victim of a huge upset.
"It was probably the best game we played all year," Princeton coach Paul Merrow said after his team had dropped a 2-1 decision in overtime. "Their captain said after the game we were probably the best team they’ve played all year. We did give them a good game. It was the number two seed against the number eighteen seed and we were upset-minded. They’re fast and deep."
Princeton is also deep and fast, led by a group of 12 seniors who have taken the Little Tigers through four great years of ice hockey. But after playing Ridge even for the first 45 minutes Wednesday night, the Little Tigers lost when Brandon Paladino knocked in a puck that was loose in front of the net 39 seconds into overtime.
With the win, Ridge improved to 22-1-3 and advanced to face seventh-seeded Chatham in the quarterfinals. Princeton ended its season with a 14-9-3 record.
The shot in overtime was one of the few Princeton goaltender Shane Leuck couldn’t stop. The senior made 24 saves in one of his best outings of an outstanding career.
"Shane was huge," Merrow said. "He’s a big-game goalie. He steps up in the big games. And any good goalie has a little bit of luck. They hit a couple posts. But when you cut down your angle and come out of the crease, that’s what the posts are there for. He always comes up big in big games."
Princeton had taken a 1-0 lead in the opening period when Peter Teifer scored off an assist from John Ryan. Early in the second period, Ridge tied the game on a goal by Keith Macey. Both teams played exceptionally well on defense, but Princeton could not generate many shots. For the game, Ridge outshot the Little Tigers, 26-7.
On the final goal, Leuck saved the initial shot before Paladino knocked in the loose puck.
"I saw a scramble in front of the net," Merrow said of the game-winning goal. "I saw Christian (McCracken) in the crease with puck underneath him, not quite with his hand over the puck. They dug it out and put it in. It was your proverbial garbage goal, but it’s a goal that wins the game. It would have been nice to have it end on a good goal."
Princeton never got a chance to see what it could do on the power play, as both penalties whistled against Ridge were coincidental with Princeton penalties. Ridge had three power plays, scoring its first goal on one of those opportunities.
The loss brings to an end the careers of 12 Little Tiger seniors, many of whom have been with the program at the varsity level for four years. Included in that group were Cranbury’s Ryan, Teifer and Colin Sarafin.
"They made it to three sweet sixteens in the state tournament," Merrow said. "Three out of four years they were in the county tournament title game. They’re just a great bunch of guys. I can’t say they always worked hard, but they came to play in the big games.
"We’ve got a lot of guys graduating and not many coming back. We’ll look to rebuild. We played a tough schedule this year. We’ll see what we have over the summer in terms of making the schedule and do it accordingly."

