TUNNEL VISION: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey Abby Ashman eyes the puck as she gets ready to make a glove save last Thursday as PDS hosted Summit in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state semifinals. Junior Ashman made 20 saves in the contest to help the second-seeded Panthers edge third-seeded Summit 4-3 in overtime. On Monday, Ashman had 24 saves in a losing cause as PDS fell 7-0 to top-seeded Morristown-Beard in the state final. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Before the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team faced Summit in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state semifinals last Thursday afternoon, Abby Ashman stood alone in a corner of McGraw Rink, staring intently at the ice and practicing her goalie moves.

“I am very serious about my play and I am very passionate about it,” said junior netminder Ashman, reflecting on her pregame routine. “I like to make sure that I am ready for every circumstance, any win or loss. I like to keep myself focused, tunnel vision as I call it.”

With second-seeded PDS having lost 2-1 to third-seeded Summit on January 11, Ashman was ready to turn the tables on the Hilltoppers.

“I am going to beat them,” said Ashman. “You may win once but you won’t win a second time. That is how it works with me.”

After yielding two goals in the first period, Ashman produced some very good work the rest of the way as PDS rallied for a 4-3 win in overtime. The victory earned the Panthers a trip to state girls’ title game at the Prudential Center in Newark for a clash on Monday with top-seeded Morristown-Beard.

“I love the intensity, I think that makes it more worthwhile,” said Ashman, who made 20 saves in the win.

“It is more fun to play when you don’t really know what is going to happen. You have to put more into it and the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. We got a very good outcome out of this.”

The intensity of the contest, which saw PDS overcome 2-1 and 3-2 deficits, brought out the best in Ashman.

“Confidence, that is all it really is,” said Ashman. “It boils down to confidence. If you are not sure of yourself and  you don’t have self-certainty in your position, you can’t take it very far.”

Midway through the third period, Ashman went into a split to make a pad save that kept the game at 3-3.

“That was a little bit of a desperation save which I wouldn’t recommend for goalies,” said Ashman. “I am glad I stretched before the game, I will say that.”

Having shared time between the pipes with Jillian Wexler last season, Ashman was primed to assume the starting role this winter upon Wexler’s graduation.

“Being able to have my net and be a single goalie as a starter has given me the opportunity to put my talent on display,” said Ashman. “Doing that has made me better. More shots leads to more experience and more experience leads to more skill and more improvement. I have been very busy this year between this team and my travel team. So all of that combined made it easier for me to improve.”

The Panthers improved collectively as the season has gone on with the victory over Summit, marking its 10th win in its last 11 games.

“I think it is just work ethic, we started to develop the passion with our own play,” said Ashman, reflecting on the late surge.

“We started to get used to it and it became more routine and then from there we developed. We kept climbing the ladder with skill.”

PDS head coach John Ritchie liked the passion he saw from his players as they rallied to beat Summit.

“We had to settle down a bit, they are a very good team;  there is a reason why they were in the state championship last year,” said Ritchie. “They have perennially given us good games. For us, we talked about seizing the moment and understanding that we are in the territory that if you don’t win, you don’t play on. We are all about extending the season, having one more practice and one more opportunity to be together.”

In Ritchie’s view, fighting for territory on the ice was a key to the win.

“As the game wore on, I think we got hungrier and became more desperate,” said Ritchie.

“The winner of that game was going to be indicative of who won 50-50 pucks, who got to loose pucks first, and who was getting the rebounds in front of the net. I thought in the third period and overtime, we did a pretty good job of that.”

PDS freshman star Eibhleann Knox got to a loose puck on the winning goal, racing in on a breakaway and whipping a shot into the back of the net 1:11 into overtime.

“Eibhleann was another player who got better as the game went on,” said Ritchie of Knox, who also got the game-tying goal midway through the second period. “For her to put herself in that position and battle through, she is a little smaller, she gives up size. They are a big, physical team so they have that gutsy mentality to get through two girls, win that puck. and put herself in position to win the game for the team, I couldn’t be happier for her. She really deserved it.”

Ritchie was happy with how Ashman stepped up as the game unfolded.

“In between the first and second, we talked about adjustments that she needed to make because they just kept trying to pull her to the side and she was too deep in her crease,” said Ritchie. “She adjusted well and settled down. All we said was to keep us in there, we are going come back. She did a great job back there.”

Junior Claire Meehan got the Panthers off to a good start, scoring 1:45 into the contest to give PDS an early 1-0 lead.  Summit responded with two straight goals and then Panther sophomore star Logan Harrison found the back of the net to make it a 2-2 game. After Summit took a 3-2 lead early in the second period, PDS utilized some gritty play and heroics from Knox to pull out the win.

“There are a lot of unsung heroes on this team that just play roles and work really, really hard,” said Ritchie. “Claire is one of them, along with players like Emily McCann and Lily Ryan. You know what you are going to get from them every game. A lot of it is just based on how hard they work. They are giving up skill to some of the other players but they work so hard and it adds up, especially in games like this.”

Earning a trip to “The Rock” in Newark was special for the Panthers.

“It is fun, it is the first year we are eligible so we are taking it day by day,” said Ritchie, whose team ended up falling 7-0 to Mo-Beard in the final to end the winter with a 14-6 record.

“I told them these are opportunities, these are moments that we have to take advantage of. You don’t ever want to be in a situation where you look back on Monday afternoon and wish you were there. They seized the moment.”

Ashman, for her part, was appreciative of the opportunity to play in the final.

“Personally I haven’t been that far. I do play boys’ hockey, but we weren’t a winning team,” said Ashman, who plays for the Junior Knights in Old Bridge.

“Now that we are more of a winning team, it is great to take a team to the top and help them with that. It is good to see what we can do and what I can do with the talent that I have been blessed with.”