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Vol. LXIII, No. 50
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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Vol. LXIII, No. 50
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction)
STREAK BREAKER: Princeton University men’s hockey forward Kevin Lohry streaks up the ice in recent action. Last Saturday, Lohry notched the game-winning goal as Princeton edged ninth-ranked UMass Lowell 3-2 and snapped a six-game losing streak. The Tigers, now 7-8-1 are on holiday break and will return to action when they compete in the Florida College Classic on December 29 and 30 in Estero, Fla. |
Over the last month, the hockey gods have not been smiling on the Princeton University men’s hockey team.
Coming into a two-game set last weekend at ninth-ranked UMass Lowell, the Tigers had lost five straight games after getting off to a 3-2-1 start.
During the course of the slump, the Tigers had been hit with various forms of adversity.
Last winter, the Princeton High boys’ basketball team caught fire at the right time.
Raising the level of its game down the stretch, PHS started the post-season by making a deep run in the Mercer County Tournament, reaching the semifinals.
Bringing momentum into the state tournament, the Little Tigers began play in the Central Jersey Group III sectional by topping Point Pleasant Beach and then stunned top-seeded Monmouth Regional to make the program’s first sectional final since 1994.
For the Princeton High boys’ ice hockey team, one of the most disappointing moments last season came when it blew a late lead against Lawrence High and ended up settling for a 6-6 tie.
Adding insult to injury, that stalemate helped keep the Little Tigers from reaching the .500 record needed to qualify for the state tournament.
When the teams renewed their rivalry last Thursday at Mercer County Park, it looked like history might be repeating itself.
When Courtland Lackey took up ice hockey in 2006 as a freshman at the Princeton Day School, she had trouble keeping on her feet.
“I looked like a bear on ice,” recalled a smiling Lackey, whose main sport is soccer which she has been playing since she was four years old.
“I was falling everywhere; it was awful. I worked on my skating and Kat [PDS head coach Kat Smithson] helped me out. Sometimes we had morning workouts. I kept working at it and once you get skating down, the rest comes.”
Last Sunday, Lackey showed the fruits of that labor as the Panthers battled crosstown rival Princeton High in the consolation game of the annual PDS Invitational Tournament.
Myles Melville and his teammates on the Hun School boys’ basketball team were down in the dumps after they lost last Wednesday to visiting Blair Academy.
The Raiders fell behind 12-0 to Blair as they dug an early hole. Hun, though, essentially played the Buccaneers even over the second and third quarters and trailed 40-27 going into the last eight minutes of the contest. Blair went on a 9-0 run to start the quarter and cruised to a 55-39 triumph.
In assessing the setback, sophomore guard Melville didn’t pull any punches.