CREASE CONTROL: Princeton Day School girls’ hockey goalie Kelly Stevens guards the post in action this winter. Last Thursday, junior goalie Stevens made nine saves to help PDS defeat Oak Knoll 7-0 in the Librera Cup final. The Panthers, now 10-2-1, play Kent Place on February 19 at the RWJBarnabas Hockey House in Newark before starting play next week in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state tournament. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Even though the Princeton Day School girls’ hockey team started the winter short-handed with just nine skaters and one goalie, Jamie Davis was confident that his squad could do some big things.

Noting that two key players, forwards Eibhleann Knox and Brynn Dandy, were slated to return from injury in the new year, PDS head coach Davis believed that things would come together by the time the Panthers got into postseason action.

Davis proved to be prescient as the Panthers rolled to the Librera Cup title last week, topping nemesis Morristown-Beard 3-0 on February 7 in the semifinal round and then routing Oak Knoll 7-0 in the final last Thursday.

For second-seeded PDS, the win over third-seeded Mo-Beard was a confidence builder.

“We beat them last year in the Librera championship, we talked about that a lot,” said Davis. “It is already a rivalry in our eyes. The girls are fired up just going to the rink to play them. They were really focused and they played great that game. It was a convincing win.”

Facing fifth-seeded Oak Knoll in the final at the Codey Arena in West Orange, PDS overcame a sluggish start to turn the contest into a rout.

“It was an 8:00 game and we were at school at 4:30 having a team dinner, it was just a long event,” said Davis, whose team improved to 10-2-1 with the win. “We were a little flat and a little tired. Our first period wasn’t great but we locked in after that. We played really well. I got to play some of my players that don’t get to play as much. It was nice that we had the lead.”

Getting up to speed upon recovering from a broken collarbone, senior star Knox sparked the Panther offense against Oak Knoll.

“The championship game was her coming out game, Eibhleann really played well,” said Davis, who also got goals from Mariana Lee, Brynn Dandy, Sam Dandy, and Alexis Moslin in the win. “She had three goals and an assist, that was good for her. She is finally clicking, her chemistry with her linemates is up. She played really well in that game.”

The PDS defense is clicking, spearheaded by junior goalie Kelly Stevens.

“They are playing really well, it helps having Kelly at goalie,” said Davis of Stevens, who made 23 saves against Mo-Beard in the semis and then had nine saves in the final. “She is really good. It is nice to have a good goalie back there that you can trust. She has been really focused for these big games. She is very competitive, she wants to win.”

With the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) starting next week, Davis believes his team is ready to compete hard.

“You don’t want to peak too early,” said Davis. “We got Eibhleann back, we got Brynn back and we are playing well, playing hard, and getting our chemistry up. I think we are still climbing. We are in a good spot.”

In order to climb to a title, PDS needs to take it one game at a time.

“It is just staying focused, I always tell them that we have a play every opponent the same,” said Davis. “You have some early games where you are not going to play the toughest opponent but you can’t just look past them. It is one and done and you are out of the tournament. We don’t want to lose focus, we want to keep rolling.”