WARDING OFF: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey goalie Walker Ward makes a save last week in PDS’s season-ending 3-1 win over Malvern Prep (Pa.). Senior Ward came up big in his finale, making 24 saves as the Panthers ended the winter with an 18-5-1 record. (Photo by Rob Klein)

As goalie Walker Ward enjoyed being one of the three players honored at the Senior Ceremony last week for the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team, he got in a reflective mood.

“It was sort of surreal; my whole high school career flashed in front of my eyes,” said goalie Ward, who was feted along with classmates Garrett Jensen and Tyler Olsson.

“I was remembering back to freshman year when I was a forward and coming up to now being in goal. It has been such a journey; I have grown so much from it. Hockey has really made me a better person. Not always getting the start and being injured, this has taught me that you have to stay mentally strong and always stick with it.”

Having been sidelined for seven weeks due to injury, Ward got to demonstrate that mental strength, getting the start in the team’s finale against Malvern Prep (Pa.) on February 21.

“Coming off the injury I was so excited,” said Ward. “I was so ready to get back in the net because I haven’t played since January 3. The guys were so supportive and they made it that much easier on me.”

Ward, in turn, certainly provided some good support for the Panthers between the pipes, making 24 saves as PDS skated to a 3-1 victory over the Friars.

Looking sharp from the start of the game, Ward had a good rhythm throughout the contest.

“Making the early saves got me some confidence,” said Ward. “The third period I started getting really energetic. I was skating back and forth to the board. With us putting the puck in the net a couple of more times, I just got more confident. I knew that I could keep us in the game if we had a two-goal lead so I wasn’t worried.”

The win gave the Panthers a final record of 18-5-1, as they ended the season by winning three straight games after suffering a disappointing 4-3 loss to Pingry in the state Prep semifinals.

In Ward’s view, PDS’s strong finish speaks volumes about the team’s character.

“I think the fact that we lost that game and came back and won the last three games of the season shows who we are as a team,” asserted Ward.

“We could have given up and said the season is done, these are three random games. But we stuck with it and did it for each other. We ended up with a great record and we are really happy with how it came out.”

PDS head coach Scott Bertoli was happy to see Ward come up big in his finale.

“Unfortunately Walker didn’t get in as many games this year because he has been hurt since the second week of January,” said Bertoli.

“But the kid competes and he wants to be out there. We talked about it yesterday. I wondered about him not playing for several weeks and was that going to be something that was going to hold him back but he felt confident, he knew he could do the job. It was great for him to go out with that type of experience and feel good about himself.”

For Bertoli, coaching his trio of seniors has been an uplifting experience. “I could have gone on and on about those three; in my mind, they epitomize what we are trying to do here,” said Bertoli.

“They are first rate student athletes, they have all matriculated from the PDS middle school so PDS hockey has been in their blood for a long time. I am sure if you asked each of them; this is what they wanted to do. They have aspired to play varsity hockey at PDS and they have been fortunate enough to do it for four years here and they have really watched the transformation of this program over the course of the four years.”

Bertoli credits Jensen with being a catalyst of that transformation. “It starts with Garrett, I could have told you after watching him skate two or three times his freshman year that that kid was going to be a captain senior year,” said Bertoli.

“He is everything you want in a team player and especially in a captain. The kid leaves it on the ice every single game. You never have to worry about what kind of effort that kid is going to bring. He is fearless.”

In assessing Olsson, Bertoli noted that he struck fear into PDS’s foes.

“Tyler has really been the rock of that defensive corps this year; he is a physical presence out there,” added Bertoli.

“I think what I am most proud of with him is that he was able to mold his game to his strengths. We wanted to play up-tempo and that is not one of his strengths but it didn’t hold him back. He was able to do things and he was able to transition in the neutral zone. I think he really figured out how to play both his game and the game that we wanted to play as a team.”

The win over Malvern Prep was icing on the cake for the Panthers. “I told the team yesterday at practice that you have already defined the season in my mind,” said Bertoli.

“It has been a great year, you have done things that no one has done in a long time and this is just how you are going to end your season. Are you going to end it on a high note and go out and have a good feeling or are you going to have a little sense of disappointment. Had we not won this game, we would have gotten over it. It wasn’t going to define who we were.”

In Bertoli’s view, consistency defined this year’s team. “Last year was a good team; we won a lot of big games but we lost a lot of bad games,” noted Bertoli.

“This team was steady and gave a good effort from start to finish. It was one bad period against Pingry which took away a near perfect season. We were consistent with strong effort, day after day, game after game.”

Ward, for his part, relished the daily interaction with his teammates.

“The environment in the locker room, that is the one thing I will always remember,” said Ward, who is heading to Hobart where he plans to walk on to the men’s hockey team.

“A win is a win and whoever loses, loses. But in there is where the family really is; we are all in there together, talking about everything.”