Princeton resident wins with Green Wave
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Thad Williams has a longer commute to school each day than most high school seniors.
But for the Princeton resident, the daily trek back and forth to the Delbarton School in Morristown is a worthwhile one. Williams has found the benefits far outweigh the negatives of the nearly hour long trip each day.
This year was an especially rewarding one for Williams, a member of the ice hockey team that captured the state non-public championship with a 5-1 win over St. Augustine in Sunday’s final at the Prudential Center in Newark.
”I had heard about the school from one of my dad’s friends,” said Williams, a second team All-Gordon Division selection who will play at Middlebury College next year. “My brother (Zach) went there a year before me while I was in eighth grade. We both loved it. It’s a great community and great school. I had heard what a great school it was and that was true.
”The hockey team has been pretty consistent. We won the championship in 2006 and before that they had won in 2001. We’ve been doing well the last couple of years.”
After winning the state title in 2006, Delbarton lost to St. Augustine in the state semifinals a year ago. That loss stayed with the team all through this season and served as extra motivation. Based on the Green Wave winning all four meetings with the Hermits this year, the motivation obviously paid off.
”Last year, St. Augustine knocked us out in the semifinals in overtime,” Williams said. “So we had a little edge because we wanted to get back at them.”
The teams had met twice during the regular season with Delbarton winning both meetings. They met again in the Gordon Cup final, where Delbarton won again.
”Every time we played them we played with a little chip on our shoulder,” Williams said. “We remembered last year and we carried that into every game. I think that helped us.”
Williams played his youth hockey for the Mercer Chiefs through Midgets before heading to Delbarton, at which time he switched to a team closer to his new school. Next year he will be playing at Middlebury with his brother, who spent a post-graduate year at Taft this season.
The Princeton resident will head to college off of one of the best hockey seasons every for Delbarton, which finished 27-1-1, including a 23-game winning streak to close out the season.
”We went to Minnesota for a couple games,” Williams said. “We had not done that before last year and it was a lot of fun. We won two games out there. We had a very close-knit team. It felt good to be a part of it.
”The whole experience at Delbarton was great. I’m looking forward to going to Middlebury because it is a similar type of school. It is a lot like Delbarton with a great campus, great academics and a great athletic program.”