(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: POPPING OFF: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey star Max Popkin heads up the ice in a game earlier this season. Last Monday, senior captain Popkin scored two goals to help PDS edge the Hun School 4-3 in the state Prep semifinals. The Panthers, now 9-11-1 on the season, compete in the Mercer County Tournament next week before facing two-time defending champion Morristown-Beard in the Prep championship game.

Senior Standout Popkin Guns in Two Goals as PDS Boys’ Hockey Tops Hun in Prep Semis

Bill Alden

Max Popkin was sidelined with an injured shoulder this past December when the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team fell 4-1 to crosstown rival Hun.

Last Monday, senior forward and team captain Popkin inflicted pain on Hun, scoring two goals to help PDS edge the Raiders 4-3 in the state Prep semifinals at the Ice Land Skating Center.

Afterward, a smiling Popkin acknowledged that he and his teammates brought plenty of emotion into the rematch with Hun.

“After the loss, this was a game we knew we had to win,” said Popkin.

“This was a game we would remember all year if it didn’t go the way we hoped it would go, so we were all pretty fired up. I missed the first game and the game before that from last year because of my shoulder. I play club with all these guys and it feels nice to score on Travis [Potts], game after game, he is a good goalie.”

The win improved PDS to 9-11-1 and set up a Prep title game matchup with two-time defending champion Morristown-Beard at a site and date to be determined.

Although PDS fell behind 1-0 in the early going Monday after a goal by Hun’s Harry Blackburn, Popkin and his teammates weren’t overly concerned.

“After the big win against St. Augustine (3-1 on February 5), we kind of had confidence for the first time all year,” said Popkin, who acknowledged that his shoulder injury is still causing him pain. “We knew we could come back but it was definitely hard.”

After PDS star John Inman scored to tie the game at 1-1, Popkin registered his first score of the game as he found the back of the net with 1:37 remaining in the first period.

“Brooks [Herr] gave me a good pass on that and I just took it to the net; somehow it got in there,” said Popkin, who celebrated the goal by skating in front of the Hun fan section and pumping his fist several times.

“It felt good after three years ago when I had to sit the whole game with them chanting. It was nice to get back in their face.”

Hun knotted the game at 2-2 early in the second period on a goal by Sam Rosenberg and then PDS regained the lead as Inman scored a short-handed goal.

Later in the period, Popkin tallied the eventual game winner, banging home an Inman feed.

“It was all a pass from John,” said Popkin, recalling the goal. “I put it away but it wouldn’t have been anything without John’s pass.”

Playing with classmate Inman has helped make Popkin’s PDS hockey experience something special.

“You either give him the puck and you know he is going to score or he gives you the puck and you are right at the net and you score,” said Popkin.

“It is a win-win; no matter what, you do well. I think he is the best player in Mercer County, there is no one better to play with.”

Popkin and his teammates knew they had to play their best after Hun scored early in the third period to narrow the PDS lead to 4-3.

“I think after the last game with them and the third period we realized that once we hit 4-3, it was do or die,” said Popkin, noting that Hun had outscored the Panthers 3-0 in the third period in their previous clash this season.

“We went out hard and we made Nick [Jabs] make too many saves. But Nick played a terrific game, coming up big again and again. It feels good going into the county tournament with Nick playing at the top of his game after he was out for a month or so earlier in the season.”

PDS head coach Scott Bertoli is certainly comforted by Jabs’ return to form. “We have Nick in net now and just his presence alone is calming,” said Bertoli, whose team will start play in the county tournament next week.

“He has a calming influence on us. I think our team plays more confident because we tend to take more chances in the offensive zone to sustain offense.”

Bertoli liked the offense he got from Popkin in the win over Hun. “He’ll be the first to admit that he struggled this year with having a bad shoulder and probably being a little out of shape because he hasn’t played as much as he had last year,” said Bertoli.

“But this is a big game, he knows a lot of the kids on the other team, they have given him a hard time in games before. So it is nice to see a senior captain step up and score a couple of big goals.”

It was nice for Bertoli to see skilled forward Inman produce another dominant performance.

“You take John away from that game and they are winning the game,” asserted Bertoli.

“He’s a type of player who can turn games around; he has the ability to beat one or two guys on a rush and create his own offense. His wingers are learning to play with him and complement him.”

The Panthers have been complementing each other better all over the ice lately as they have rebounded from a rocky start.

“We were 2-9 and we were kind of doubting ourselves,” said Bertoli. “We have turned that around, I think we are 7-2-1 in our last 10 games. We are playing good hockey at the right time of the year. A lot of that has to do with being more confident and going out and winning a few games and feeling good about ourselves.”

Bertoli feels good about his team’s chances in the county tournament and Prep title game.

“I feel like now we are playing teams we can compete with, they are teams that we have a chance of going out and beating,” said Bertoli, noting that his team played some of the tougher teams on its schedule in the early part of the season.

“You look ahead to the state final game against Mo-Beard and yeah they are a better team than we are. They beat us earlier in the year but we played them competitively, it was a one goal game on two occasions in the third period and we ended up losing 5-3. So we will have to be at our best; we will have to play similar to what we did last Thursday when we beat St. Augustine.”

Popkin, for his part, believes the team’s best is ahead. “I definitely think we are going in the right direction,” maintained Popkin.

“We have figured it out; everyone is starting to but into Scott Bertoli’s systems. We are all starting to play hard and win battles.”

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