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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Overcoming Early 2-Goal Deficit to Notre Dame, PHS Boys' Hockey Earns MCT Title in Overtime
By Bill Alden
Six years ago, the Princeton High boys' ice hockey team, captained by Ben Brener, suffered a disappointing overtime loss to Notre Dame in the Mercer County Tournament (MCT) championship game.
Last Friday, as the same two teams met in this year's MCT title contest, PHS captain Nick Brener, Ben's younger brother, was determined to leave the Mercer County Park rink with the title plaque.
"I knew that I just had to come out and play as hard as I could and take it home," said Brener. "My brother came this close when he was a captain and a senior."
This time around it was PHS that prevailed in a close one as it nipped the Irish 3-2 in a game that appropriately had to be decided in overtime.
In the early minutes of the contest, the top-seeded Irish, who came into the night with a gaudy 22-1 record, looked like they were going to blow the third-seeded Little Tigers off the ice.
Notre Dame scored twice in the first 3:32 of the game. PHS wasn't rattled, though as Brener and Sam Finnell assisted on a Peter Teifer goal with 11:11 left in the period. PHS sophomore Peter Miller scored with 8:11 to knot the game at 2-2.
The game stayed deadlocked through the third period although PHS came agonizingly close to scoring in the waning moments of regulation as sophomore star John Ryan got past the Notre Dame goalie only to have his shot cleared by a defenseman.
In the overtime stanza, PHS earned the title as little-used freshman Kyle DeBlois came through on just his fifth shift of the game to fire home a score.
The goal set off a raucous celebration as the Little Tigers jumped all over each other in joy in one corner of the rink with the coaching staff coming on the ice to join in the fun.
Brener, for his part, didn't want to seem to leave the ice as he skated around clutching the title plaque.
After the celebration headed to the locker room, a beaming Brener reflected on the team's achievement.
"We've finally got a banner to hang up in the gym," said Brener with a laugh. "We knew we had it. We just had to keep pounding that net."
Brener acknowledged, however, that the Little Tigers needed that first goal to slow Notre Dame's momentum.
"It gave us the jump we needed," said Brener. "From there we played like a real Princeton team, we played hard and together. We knew that if we played our game, we could win."
As the Little Tigers headed into the dressing room after the second period, Brener felt that the momentum had swung in favor of PHS.
"We all felt the energy, we just had to put it all together," asserted Brener. "We play as a team. We play as hard as we can, we go after every puck."
PHS came into the game with momentum having beaten long-time nemesis Hopewell Valley in the semifinals.
"Not beating them in over 10 years and then coming out and beating them, that was pretty uplifting," said Brener, recalling PHS' 5-2 win over the Bulldogs. "Last year we weren't as together as much as we are this year. There is a lot of team unity."
PHS head coach Paul Merrow found his team's rally last Friday pretty uplifting.
"It could've gotten ugly," said Merrow reflecting on his team's early deficit. "We just needed to go out and play hockey. We had nothing to lose. We weren't expected to be here. It was supposed to be the Hopewell-Notre Dame thing."
Once PHS got on the board, it settled down and gave as good as it got. "We showed discipline, we had to stay out of the box and for the most part we did," added Merrow, whose team improved to 18-4-1 in winning the program's first MCT title since 1992.
"We had to kill off a few penalties. It was 2-2 for a period and a half. In overtime, anything can happen."
Merrow and his assistants, though, went out of their way to remind the players of that frustrating loss to Notre Dame in the 1999 MCT.
"We've been in this same situation before against the same team and we came up short," recalled Merrow, who got a splendid 45-save performance from sophomore goalie Shane Leuck.
"Coach [Bob] Corell laid that thing in their head that back in '99 when we went into OT we weren't that fortunate."
With that history in mind, Merrow particularly enjoyed celebrating the win with Brener. "He came up to me and said Œfinally,'" added a smiling Merrow. "I told him that Œyou can tell your brother you have something that he doesn't.'"
With PHS facing Morris Hills in the NJSIAA state playoffs this week, the Little Tigers are intent on getting the state tournament success that has eluded the program in recent years.
"We're very optimistic about it," asserted Brener. "We're playing Morris Hills, they are just like us. I think we have a very good chance. We have come together this year. I think we've proven it to the league and to New Jersey. I think we're ready."
Based on last Friday's gritty effort, PHS could be ready to do some damage beyond Mercer County.
