By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Similar to last year, the West Windsor-Plainsboro High North ice hockey team opened last season with a win over Nottingham/Hamilton.
But Knights head coach Andrew Ferencevych is hoping that is where the similarity ends.
The Knights followed that opening win a year ago with 22 straight losses to close out the season. But this year there is renewed optimism as the Knights are deeper and more experienced than they were a year ago.
“We played them the first game and beat them and then we didn’t win the rest of the season,” Ferencevych recalled. “This year we played well lost to Lawrence in a close game our second game. We were not able to score but we played well defensively.
“We have a good goalie and we are solid on defense. One thing we need to work on is capitalizing when we get the puck into the offensive zone.”
In the win over Nottingham, Gordon Sine and Adam Lohr-Pearson scored goals, while Ian Schwartz made 31 saves in goal.
“The team was happy they were able to win,” Ferencevych said. “The focus was on starting 1-0 and it was a success. We have some newcomers and freshmen. We have most of the team back from last year and those players have an extra year of experience and a lot played travel hockey and came into the season in good hockey shape. They were ready to play mentally and physically.”
The Knights are certainly looking to improve on last year’s season. The non-league portion of their schedule this year is more suited to the talent level and that should help. A busy early-season schedule has North playing nine games in the first three weeks of the season. Included in the schedule are non-league games with J.P. Stevens, Monroe and West Orange. The Knights will also face Paramus, Oratory Prep, Gill-St. Bernard’s and East Side of Newark later this year.
“I think this year the non-league schedule will be more competitive than the past two seasons,” Ferencevych said. “I went through the schedules and standings to find opponents on a similar level with us. The goal for us is to win every game. With the non-league games we are looking to improve and work on our system and build in cohesiveness.”
The Knights certainly seem like an improved team from a year ago and they are hoping that shows in the results.
“In our win, Gordon and Adam scored which meant we got a goal from each line,” Ferencevych said. “We are looking for balance from each line so it was good that each line scored in the win. We have played well defensively in the first two games. We’ve dragged a little in the third period. Four of the five goals we have had scored against us have been in the third period.
”On defense, Will Cobb, who is from Ewing, is playing well. And we have been playing David Corell on both offense and defense and he has been playing well. Against Lawrence he able to neutralize their best forward.”
