Samse, Panther boys come together for strong start in ’10
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The new calendar year has brought a welcome change for Skye Samse and the Princeton Day School boys ice hockey team.
After starting the season with just two wins in eight games, the Panthers remained unbeaten in their first three games of the New Year with a 6-3 win over Notre Dame on Friday.
”We had to bring our team together,” said Samse, a junior captain who scored a goal in Friday’s win. “Our team is really young. We were basically rebuilding a new team and I guess it took a while for everyone to buy into and play that way. People have gotten really into the system now. We look forward to continuing it into the next year.”
The Panthers face a challenging week with powerhouse Seton Hall Prep scheduled for Monday after Packet deadline and 2009 non-public state semifinalist Bishop Eustace on Thursday. But the Panthers are feeling good after turning improving to 3-6-2 with a 1-0-2 week.
”It was kind of a rough start,” Samse said. “We could have won a lot of the games we lost. We had a lot of one- and two-goal losses. Our goal coming into the New Year was to make those wins or ties. To win against Notre Dame was a good feeling.”
The Panthers could have moved even closer to .500 had they made a couple of their ties into wins, but skated to a 2-2 tie with Red Bank Catholic and 4-4 tie with St. John Vianney before stopping Notre Dame.
”I’ve never questioned their work ethic,” said PDS head coach Scott Bertoli. “They’re kids, and a lot of times I question the decisions they make, but I’m sure any coach at any level will do that. If we play a smarter game and not panic when we get down, we would be better. We have to stick to our system. We can create opportunities.
”We’ve done that recently. We were down, 3-1, against St. John. Not a single person panicked. We knew we could come back. A lot of that comes with experience and having 10-11 games under their belts now.”
The challenges were plenty for PDS when the season began. They missed transfer forward Peter Blackburn, who leads the team in goals, and sophomore forward Garrett Jensen and freshman defenseman Bump Lisk to injuries. A three-year contributor, Samse felt the pressure to do more without them.
”I definitely had that mindset at the beginning,” he said. “I played the first couple games trying to do too much. We have a great core group of guys around me. All of us can score. I can rely on all my teammates. Even if they’re underclassmen, I can count on them.”
Samse still has to be a leader for the Panthers, in particular in big games like those on this week’s schedule.
”First, you have to lead by example on the ice,” said Samse, a Hopewell resident. “That’s the only way kids know what it’s like to play at the next level. They’re always going to go 100 percent. In the locker room, you make sure they’re focused, that they’re in the right mindset. That’s one of my roles as a captain.”
Samse can identify with this year’s freshmen. He came in and quickly contributed to the team, but admits that he had more experience surrounding him than this year’s ninth-graders do. It puts more on the shoulders of the few upperclass leaders this year.
”I accept the role,” Samse said. “I love it. I think it gives me a lot more responsibility. It’s helped me to push me to raise my game to the next level. I have to be a role model to the younger kids. I thank Scott for voting me for one of the captains.”
Samse and the Panthers have been helped with the team getting healthy again. Blackburn scored the first goal against Notre Dame, while Lisk added a goal and an assist. Brooks Herr and Alex Nespor also had goals. Nespor recorded a pair of assists.
”We struggled in the beginning to score goals. We’ve had some injuries,” Bertoli said. “That being said, in a lot of the games we played, we played pretty well. We outplayed teams. Outside of the Pingry game and part of the Randolph game, I thought we carried play. We just didn’t bury the puck. We had chances to do that. We put 40-50 shots up and scored one goal. That happened again against St. John. We totally outplayed them, but ended up with a tie.”
While that could lead to frustration, the Panthers have remained focused on improving every day. Their freshmen are growing more accustomed to playing older, bigger, stronger players.
”Having a two-week break, we skated a number of times,” Bertoli said. “We consider the post-break another season. We played well before and deserved to have a better record than we do. We’ll go out and continue to play hard, and at the end of the day we need to start winning hockey games.”
Samse should help as he settles into his leadership role this season. Bertoli is looking for him to make a big push to finish his junior season.
”He’s doing well,” Bertoli said. “He’s one of the kids I’m counting on to play better and produce more. I’m pushing him to do more on the power play. In the 5-on-5, we need more from him. He and Peter need to be our best players. He’s got it in him. He logged tons of minutes as a freshman and last year was productive playing with (Jon) Inman. He has to take it upon himself to be more accountable. He did a much better job of that. He had a good game against Notre Dame.”
So did the Panthers as they picked up their first win of the New Year. It may be a sign that PDS has turned the page just as soon as it turned the calendar.
”I think we’ve shown in it in the last three games,” Samse said. “We haven’t lost. We’re starting to come together as a unit and play a lot better.”