(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: SPENSER’S GIFTS: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey senior forward Spenser Gabin races up the ice in a recent game. PDS co-captain Gabin stepped up in the Mercer County Tournament, scoring four goals in a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Hamilton and adding another tally in a 2-0 win over Hun in the semifinals. Last Monday, Gabin and his teammates had trouble finding the back of the net as second-seeded PDS fell 4-1 to No. 1 Notre Dame in the MCT championship game.

Doomed by Late Barrage From Notre Dame, PDS Boys’ Hockey Falls in MCT Title Game

Bill Alden

Earlier this month, the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team battled powerful Notre Dame to a 1-1 stalemate after two periods.

PDS, though, couldn’t hold the fort as the Fighting Irish notched two late tallies on the way to a 3-1 victory.

Last Monday, the two teams met in the Mercer County Tournament championship game and second-seeded PDS found itself in the same position as it was knotted 1-1 with No. 1 Notre Dame headed into the third period.

Unfortunately, the Panthers suffered an uncomfortable case of deja vu as the Fighting Irish scored two goals in the first two minutes of the period and skated away to a 4-1 triumph and the title.

PDS head coach Scott Bertoli thought the rematch might come out differently after his club got off to a strong start Monday at a jam-packed Mercer County Park rink.

“I liked the way we played for two periods,” said Bertoli, whose team jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Max Popkin late in the first period.

“I thought we carried the play in the first period; we didn’t do that when we played them a couple of weeks ago.”

But early in the second period, Notre Dame evened the game at 1-1, taking advantage of a 4-on-3 power play situation.

As his team hit the ice for the third period, Bertoli was concerned that the penalty killing in the second period may take its toll.

“We got into a little penalty trouble there in the second,” said Bertoli. “When you are playing the same guys over and over and they are doing the same thing, kids get tired and make mistakes. That kind of wore us out in the third period.”

It didn’t help that PDS got a bad bounce on what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

“They kind of got a lucky play in transition; they just throw it up the ice and [Chris] DeAngelo is walking in all alone,” lamented Bertoli, whose team dropped to 11-13-1 with the loss. “He makes a great shot, you can’t give guys like that opportunities in scoring areas.”

With PDS having struggled out the gate to a 2-9 start this winter, Bertoli likes the progress his team has made.

“We got off to a slow start and we have come a long way since then,” said Bertoli, whose team also advanced to the MCT final last year where it fell to Hopewell Valley.

“To keep putting yourself in this position is good but you have to find a way to win one of them. We have a tough time scoring goals against the better teams and a lot of that has to do with our depth. We tried some different things tonight and I thought we had some chances.”

The Panthers were to get another chance at a title as they were slated to play at Morristown-Beard on February 24 in the state Prep title game.

Whether or not PDS topped Mo-Beard, Bertoli has no qualms about the effort he is getting from his players.

“We played hard, I am proud,” said Bertoli, whose team was outshot just 23-22 by the Fighting Irish.

“Notre Dame is a good hockey team; they have won a lot of games and they know how to finish. They know how to get the job done in big situations; it takes a perfect game from us to beat a team like that. Unfortunately, you make a couple of mistakes and have a few bad bounces and you get the result we had.”

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