RENEWING HOSTILITIES: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey player Conrad Denise, left, battles Jess Norman of Lawrenceville for the puck last Thursday. Junior forward Denise contributed an assist as the local rivals skated to a 2-2 overtime draw in their first meeting in five years.

Bump Lisk and his teammates on the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team brought plenty of intensity last Thursday as they renewed their rivalry with Lawrenceville.

“Going into the game, everyone wanted to play Lawrenceville,” said junior defenseman Lisk, reflecting on the first matchup between the schools in five years. “This is one we really circled on our calendar.”

Supported by a raucous student section dressed in white lighting up one corner of a jam-packed McGraw Rink, the Panthers circled the wagons as they battled a Lawrenceville team featuring players from such hockey hotbeds as Minnesota and Canada with some post-graduate performers.

PDS fell behind 1-0 minutes into the game and trailed 2-1 midway through the second period only to knot the contest at 2-2 on a Ross Colton tally with 14:07 left in regulation.

The game went into overtime and PDS nearly surrendered a goal seconds into the extra session. After surviving that scare, the Panthers frightened the Big Red, producing one point blank shot that went awry and several other good chances.

With the crowd in an uproar, Lawrenceville went on the power play with 1:37 left in overtime. The Panther defenders held on for dear life as several PDS players dove at shots to keep the Big Red from scoring and the game ended in a 2-2 stalemate.

“There was not a single guy in our locker room who didn’t give everything they had,” said Lisk.

“It was an important game and the guys would have killed to win. At the end, guys would have blocked shots with their neck if they had to.”

The fact that the game ended up in a tie was a killer for the Panthers, according to PDS head coach Scott Bertoli.

“I love the fact that my team is in there kicking and screaming,” said Bertoli, whose team was outshot 35-33 in the thrilling contest.

“They felt like they could have won a hockey game so I like that mentality. I like the fact that not only do they they think they can compete, they think they can beat that team over there. The benchmark for hockey in this area is Lawrenceville and we want our program to be at that level and we will continue to push to get to that level.”

PDS junior forward Conrad Denise voiced the team’s frustration at not cashing in on its chances.

“We are upset; it just shows how much we care,” said Denise, who assisted on Colton’s third period tally.

“We knew in the beginning of the game and before the game even started that we are the better team. When you go out and play a team you know you are better than and you don’t win, it is almost worse than losing when you tie them. It is not like they really outplayed us; we had so many opportunities to control the game and we didn’t do it. It is unacceptable in any game.”

Bertoli likewise rued his team’s failure to put Lawrenceville away. We had an opportunity to win the game,” said Bertoli, whose team did go on to pick up a win last Monday as it topped Seton Hall 8-0 to improve to 12-4-1.

“For a good portion of that game, in the second period and the first half of the third period, I thought we outplayed them. We outchanced them and carried the play. You don’t want to get on guys because they are working hard to get the scoring opportunities but at the end of the day, you are out there to score goals. When we are put in spots on power plays and situations, we really do need to convert on those situations.”

In Bertoli’s view, the renewal of the rivalry after a five-year hiatus was a great opportunity for both schools.

“It’s fun, I told the kids this is the kind of thing you are going to remember,” said Bertoli.

“They will remember this type of environment, playing in front of all your friends and family, girlfriends, and whoever else shows up to watch. Enjoy it, thrive in it. As long as they are agreeable to do it again, it is something we will do. I think it is good for the area. These two teams have been playing for 40 years. I have kids on my team whose dads played in the game 30 years ago.”

Bertoli certainly enjoyed the play of his junior goalie Connor Walker, who made 33 saves in the tie.

“That kid is awesome; he has to be one of the best goalies in the state,” asserted Bertoli.

“He singlehandedly keeps us in games; we put so much pressure on him. Our defense gets so involved and our forwards collapse and what ends up happening is the other teams go on an odd-man rush the other way and thank god you have this kid in the net. He bails you out more often than not.”

Bertoli also tipped his hat to his corps of defensemen which includes C.J. Young, Eddie Meyercord, Grahame Davis, Tyler Olsson, and Taran Auslander in addition to Lisk.

“I think our defense has been our strongest part to date; I have six guys that I can count on to play,” said Bertoli, whose team hosts Portledge School (N.Y.) on January 25 and Notre Dame on January 27 before playing at Rye Country Day School (N.Y.) on January 30.

“They kill penalties, four of them are on the power play on a regular basis. The biggest difference between this team and teams we have had in previous years is their ability to make plays. They are confident to go defense-to-defense and to handle the puck in the neutral zone. It has allowed our forwards to be more efficient on the rush; we get pucks in stride and we take advantage of odd man situations.”

Lisk, for his part, sees an increased confidence level in the PDS program collectively.

“My freshman year, something wasn’t there with the program and now it is,” said Lisk.

“We have just developed so much as a group, especially the juniors. There is a ton of guys in that class, Cody Triolo, Conrad Denise, Rob Colton, me and we have grown together. Everybody works and we all want the same thing, to get another prep championship.”

The disappointment surrounding the stalemate with Lawrenceville will spur the Panthers to work even harder.

“I think that is going to motivate us even more in the long run,” asserted Lisk.

“Everybody here wanted a win and we are going to take this 2-2 tie and not think of it as a tie but almost as a loss because we think we are the better team. We’ll get back on the horse tomorrow and have a good practice.”

SUPPORT NETWORK: Going in white-out mode, Princeton Day School students cheer for their boys’ hockey team during last Thursday’s clash against Lawrenceville. The Panthers gave their student supporters plenty to cheer about as they rallied twice from one-goal deficits to tie Big Red 2-2 before a capacity crowd at Lisa McGraw Rink. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)