LOCKED IN: Princeton High boys’ hockey player Max Garlock fires the puck in a game this winter. Sophomore defenseman Garlock’s fine play on the blue line helped PHS make it to the Mercer County Tournament semifinals on the way to a final record of 12-8-4. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Heading into the postseason, the Princeton High boys’ hockey team was peaking.

The Little Tigers went 3-0-1 in their last four regular season games, picking up a 2-1 win over Hopewell Valley and a 3-3 tie with Robbinsville in the process.

“I think we lost to Robbinsville on January 26 and since then, we had a nice little run there.

PHS kept rolling in the first two rounds of the MCT, topping WW/P-S in the opening round and then edging HoVal 3-2 in overtime in the quarterfinals.

But then the Little Tigers hit a wall, losing 8-4 to perennial power Notre Dame in the MCT semis and bowing out in the opening round of the state Public B tournament with an 8-1 loss at Mendham.

While ending the season with two losses stung, Miller saw the 12-8-4 campaign as an overall success.

“It was an abrupt ending but at the end of the day we had a successful season and the team really jelled towards the end of the year,” said Miller.

“We came up against a buzz-saw in Mendham but on any given day, we have a chance to play with anybody.”

Miller credited his group of seniors, Nathan Drezner, Matt Cirillo, George Seneko, and Earl Humes, with helping the team to jell.

“This year we had a smaller senior class, those are four guys that have been with us through and through,” said Miller.

“Nathan has been a really good player for us. Matt made contributions, he won our sportsmanship award. Everybody loves George, he walks into a room and he lifts it up. George is a great kid. Earl the Pearl, as I call him, is a special kid, who picked up hockey in high school and earned his way on the team. He was hard working and he finished out his senior year like that.”

Boasting a group of junior stars in leading scorer Brendon McCormick, who scored 31 goals this winter and has passed the 100-point mark in his PHS career, along with defensemen Tooker Callaway, Eamonn McDonald, Anthony Trainor, and goalie Sawyer Peck, Miller is looking at that class to come up big next winter.

“We are certainly coming back fully loaded with a big junior class this year; this is the group that I started with when I came in and took over so they are kind of a special group to me,” said Miller. “We will be looking for next year’s senior class to really have a strong year and do some big things.”

Sophomores Max Garlock, Justin Joyce, and Luke Matteo did some good things this winter for the Little Tigers.

“Max and Justin have solidified themselves; Luke really came on strong late for us,” added Miller. “Those three made big contributions.”

A trio of freshmen, Augie Preziosi, Nathan Podgalsky, and Robbie Trainor, made some strong contributions in their debut season with PHS.

“Augie is a really good player; Nathan finished as our second highest goal scorer so that reflects the impact he had as a freshman,” said Miller.

“He was a player who had played defense his whole career and we moved him up to forward and he did well there so that speaks to his overall hockey ability. Robbie is a great little skater, he is a good club hockey player. He is going to be really good.”

With that core of talent in place, PHS believes it can be very good next winter.

“All in all, what they can take from this year to next year is really we put ourselves in a good position,” said Miller.

“We were in the semifinals of the counties against Notre Dame for a third straight year. Certainly next year we have our sights set on them, they have obviously been the team to beat in the CVC over the last four or five years.”

In order to get his team up to Notre Dame’s level, Miller has his sights set on getting more out of his players.

“I would like to ramp up our preseason schedule a little bit next year, and maybe have some tougher scrimmages,” said Miller.

“I want to see if we can get the wheels going a little sooner so when we hit the end of the year we are used to playing to a higher consistency and at a higher peak.”