 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) GETTING ZAPPED: Princeton Day School sophomore forward Eric Czapka, left, chases the puck in a game earlier this season. Last Wednesday, Czapka had a goal and three assists to help PDS tie Bergen Catholic 4-4. The Panthers, now 4-3-1, host local rival Lawrenceville on January 11 before playing at Kingswood Oxford on January 14 and at St. Thomas More on January 15 and then hosting Morris Knolls on January 17. |
Hitting the ice last Wednesday for its first game of 2006, the Princeton Day School boys' ice hockey team seemed stuck in holiday mode for the first two periods of the clash against visiting Bergen Catholic.
Giving up several odd-man rushes, the Panthers found themselves trailing 4-3 going into the third period and could've been further behind if it hadn't been for several spectacular saves by senior goaltender Jared Tepper.
But racheting up the intensity, the Panthers knotted the game at 4-4 on a power play goal by sophomore Eric Czapka. PDS generated several other scoring opportunities after that but couldn't quite get over the hump as the contest ended in a 4-4 stalemate.
Czapka, who had four points that day with a goal and three assists, had mixed emotions about the result.
"A tie is better than a loss but a win would've been much better," asserted Czapka. "If we had come out harder in the first two periods, I think we would have had it."
The Panthers were determined to end the game on a high note. "Coach told us we have nothing to lose," recalled Czapka. "You're down by one and you've got to come out hard. That's usually our period to come out hard."
Czapka and his linemates, juniors Derek Mayer and Justin Mimmo, made things hard on Bergen Catholic as they generated the lion's share of the PDS offense
"I play with them on the Mercer Chiefs, that has something to do with it," said Czapka, referring to his partnership with Mayer and Mimmo, who each had a goal in the Bergen Catholic game. "I try as much as I can to be a playmaker."
PDS head coach Chris Barcless acknowledged that his team was lucky to scrape out a tie in its 2006 debut. "We were very fortunate to get a tie," said Barcless. "Our goalie played excellently. It's weird that we gave up four goals and you're complimenting the goalie but he made five or six saves that he had no business making. They kept getting odd-man rushes; we were out of position."
With a team that isn't the flashiest, Barcless knows that his club can't afford defensive lapses.
"We're going to be a blue collar team," said Barcless, whose club dropped to 4-3-1 with a 2-1 loss at Bishop Eustace last Friday. "We don't have any superstars but we have four lines and five defensemen. From top to bottom, we are very steady."
The ninth-year head coach is looking for steady production from Czapka and his linemates. "I've coached Eric for four years now with the Mercer Chiefs," added Barcless. "He's a guy we expect a lot out of. We have targeted that line as our scoring line."
With local rival Lawrenceville paying a visit to PDS on January 11, Barcless knows his team needs to sharpen up. "We have depth, everybody is giving us effort," said Barcless, whose club plays at Kingswood-Oxford on January 14 and at St. Thomas More on January 15 before hosting Morris Knolls on January 17. "We just need to get better. Today we came back all game. We need to build on the third period. The key to Lawrenceville is to be more disciplined without the puck."
Czapka, for his part, realizes that PDS must be disciplined right from the start to have a chance against the formidable Big Red. "If we play the way we played in the first and second period, it won't be good," said Czapka. "We need to start better and come out quicker."
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