Knights move on, South hockey ousted in states
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The West Windsor-Plainsboro North ice hockey team knows it only gets tougher from this point on.
The Knights, the No. 8 seed in the NJSIAA A Division tournament, opened with a 9-0 win over Old Bridge on Tuesday at Mercer County Park. The game offered some of the younger players a chance to experience the state tournament before what figured to be a more challenging game Thursday against No. 9 Clifton.
”It’s a new experience for me,” said freshman defender David Sandberg, who helped the defense limit Old Bridge to seven shots on goal. “It’s a fun experience. As a first-year player you don’t know what to expect. You don’t take any games lightly. We know the rankings and a little bit about each team, but we don’t know how we are going to play against them. Our team goes into every game expecting to play hard and go all out.”
While WW-P North was advancing, WW-P South was eliminated from the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Ridgewood. Ridgewood was scheduled to play No. 2 seed Montgomery on Thursday.
Sandberg has been paired on defense with senior Scott Litwak, and the help of the veteran leader has been appreciated.
”The seniors have been really good this year,” Sandberg said. “Our goalie (James Komianos) has been amazing. Our offense is solid and our defense has been pretty good lately. We have three players who are freshmen playing on defense and we have our leaders leading the defense. Scott Litwak has done a great job helping all of us. Both captains are great leaders and bring intensity to the game.
”After a while you have to be up to snuff with all the other players. Playing with better players and faster speed you work harder on your game and try to help your team out.”
The Knights got plenty of offense early, scoring four goals in the first period. Scott Martin finished with three to lead the team, while Joe Bensky added a pair of goals. Stephen Kolber, Marcus Allen, Harrison Washuta and Dylan Strober also scored to back the shutout goaltending of Komianos.
”They earned that seed with a good season and you get a home game and an opportunity to play as the higher seed,” said North coach Bob Weiss, whose team was scheduled to face Clifton after deadline on Thursday. “The next one, we get Clifton at home and they’re the ninth seed and we’re eighth. So a game like this is a good tuneup. Having the home advantage pays off.”
For a young player like Sandberg, each game in the state tournament is a chance to gain experience.
”It’s the most important part of the season,” said Sandberg, who plays for the Mercer Chiefs. “This is what we play for the whole year. Every game means so much. This is what it all builds up to. We don’t take any games lightly. We have to go out there and get it done.”
So far this year, the defense has risen to the occasion with a combination of experience and youth.
”We have Sandberg and Casey Litwak, another freshman, who has been out for the last four games with a separated shoulder and this is his first game back,” said Weiss, whose team took an 18-5-1 record into Thursday’s game. “David has come a long way. We pair him up with an experienced player and he does a nice job. He’s been back there the whole season contributing. We thought at the beginning of the year that defense might be a weak spot and it has turned out to be a strong spot.”
No. 15 seed WW-P South held a 1-0 lead after the first period of a first-round game Tuesday, but No. 18 Ridgewood scored the next three goals for a 3-1 win at Lawrenceville.
”We were outworked for the first five minutes of the game, and then we took over for the first period, I thought,” said Pirates head coach Brian McGurney. “Then we stopped and started coasting to pucks. We got beat to every puck. That’s what happens.”
Adam Rothman got the Pirates on the board 10 minutes into the game off a feed from Matt Bright and Nick Wong.
Ridgewood got the equalizer midway through the second period, and a Pirates penalty shot was saved to preserve the tie game. It was all Ridgewood in the third period as they scored twice in three minutes.
”The penalty shot, that’s not a turning point of the game,” McGurney said. “It doesn’t come down to one play. The second period, we let up.
”They worked harder than us,” he added. “That’s what it comes down to it. It’s about finishing one play or two plays. They worked harder than us.”
The Pirates closed the season 13-8-3. They have some talent returning, but also will suffer significant graduations losses. It was the senior crew that McGurney felt most disappointed for after the season-ending loss.
”I had a good group of guys,” McGurney said. “It’s the same every year. Obviously everyone else will be back, but this is it for them. There are only three (public A and B and parochial) teams that can stand at the end as champs. I wasn’t expecting to go to a championship game, but I would have liked to have gone a round or two. I feel bad for these guys — Matt Bright, Keegan (Martell), Junichi (Hara), Trent (Hanafee), Mike (Nestel). The other guys will be back, so we’ll hope for better results next year.”

