Could face Pirates for third time in MCT
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
LAWRENCEVILLE — In a matchup of sister school rivals, it was a pair of brothers that combined for the West Windsor-Plainsboro North ice hockey team’s win Friday.
Andrew Washuta found his brother Harrison for the game-winner as the Knights came all the way back from for a 3-2 win over WW-P South on Friday.
”It felt great,” said Harrison, a sophomore whose goal with 7:33 left gave the Knights their first lead of the game. “It wasn’t just me. It was the whole team played great.”
The win was the second this season over their rival Pirates. The two could meet for a third time Wednesday in the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals if they both won their scheduled MCT openers on Monday.
”They’re going to come out hard,” said Andrew Washuta, a junior center. “They’re going to come out fast, knowing we already beat them twice. I look forward to a good game. Hopefully we can stick in there. It’ll be a good game again.”
Friday, the Pirates took a 2-0 lead on a first-period goal by Mike Nestel and second-period tally by Joe Cangelosi. But they couldn’t keep the Knights down.
”It’s not the first time it’s happened,” said Pirates coach Brian McGurney. “We get up on a team and we let them up. I told these guys a couple weeks ago, I need someone to step up and put a team away.
”Give credit to these (North) guys. They didn’t stop. They played 45 minutes of hockey and we didn’t.”
A major penalty helped the Knights toward the end of the second period. Scott Litwak got WW-P North on the board before his brother Casey Litwak was injured on a hit from behind. On the resulting five-minute power play, the Knights scored just 29 seconds into the third period for their second goal in 1:30 of play.
”The momentum changed,” said Knights coach Bob Weiss. “You hate to see a penalty like that for a five-minute power play, but it put them back on their heels. The kid who made the hit is a really good player. Losing him, you could see took a little bit of steam out of them. And after we scored that second, they were back on their heels.
”After they scored the two, in past years we’ve had teams that would sort of fold in,” he added. “These guys are determined. They’ve come back a number of times.”
The Washutas combined seven minutes later for the game-winner. It was only their second game paired together on a line with Dylan Strober.
”We played as a team,” Harrison said. “I think that’s what got us back the three goals we needed. We knew we could come back.”
Said Weiss: “It was Harrison’s best game of the year, by far. Andrew is big and fast. Harrison is a little smaller. But he played a heck of a game. He stepped up. He’s playing on the second line. We only had two lines tonight.”
James Komianos made 24 saves for the Knights, who improved to 15-4-1. The MCT No. 5 seeds were scheduled to play Nottingham on Monday. Fourth-seeded WW-P South was to play No. 13 Ewing. With wins, the sister schools would meet again Wednesday.
”We’ve never swept South since I’ve been here,” Weiss said. “With the comeback and the way they came back with a short bench, with some of them it’s all about the mind and the mind’s going to feel really good after these two games. But it’s a new game. It doesn’t matter. They could be 15-0 and we could be 5-10 and it’s a game. It doesn’t matter.”
Harrison Washuta is happy for a new year. He is playing a lot more than he did as a freshman. He is contributing a lot more as well, and he called Friday’s goal his biggest to date.
”It’s probably the best just because of where it was in the rivalry,” he said. “These games are always big.”
Andrew, too, feels better about his play in his third varsity season. He felt he never got on track after being injured to start last year. Now he is playing with a familiar face.
”It’s pretty nice to see my brother out there,” Andrew said. “Playing alongside him, I look out for him, he looks out for me. We have a connection going. That helps in the long run.”
Weiss is hoping that the new, more balanced lines will pay off in the long run for the Knights, who have been through some ups and downs recently. They topped Hamilton on Wednesday with the new look, and got a bigger win over the Pirates on Friday.
”I think Andrew is making Harrison a better player,” Weiss said. “He’s got to play with his brother, he’s got to keep up with his brother.”
The two are happy to be skating together. Andrew is hoping that their play can help lift the Knights to new heights.
”Considering it’s been an up-down season in the middle, towards the end here, we have to step it up and keep the intensity here from the last two games,” he said. “Hopefully that can propel us through counties and states.”
WW-P North’s second win of the season over this Pirates is a big boost, and the timing couldn’t have been better for the Knights and Harrison Washuta.
”We feel great,” he said. “It’s a huge confidence booster to beat our rivals.”