(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) SHOOTING STAR: Princeton High girls’ hockey senior star Gabby Vukasin heads up the ice in recent action. Star defenseman and captain Vukasin produced a superb senior season, leading the Little Tigers in points (31) and goals (24).

Ending Season With Inspirational Weekend, PHS Girls’ Hockey Displayed Good Progress

Bill Alden

As his Princeton High girls’ ice hockey team took the bus to the Hill School to face Princeton Day School in the WIHLMA (Women’s Ice Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) playoffs, Christian Herzog dipped into his bag of motivational tricks.

“As soon as we got on the bus, I said ‘I realize you are friends with the PDS girls but today they are your worst enemies,’” recalled PHS head coach Herzog, reminding his team that it was the last chance for its seven seniors to beat PDS.

To help fire up his players even further on the ride, Herzog cued up the DVD of “Miracle,” the film that tells the inspirational story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team and its improbable run to the gold medal.

But when the DVD malfunctioned halfway through the ride, Herzog supplemented his earlier message.

“I was worried when it broke down,” said Herzog, whose club had fallen to PDS in the rivals’ three previous meetings this season. “I told them that was 1980, make your own miracle.”

Taking their coach’s words to heart, the Little Tigers came out flying, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Keeping up the intensity to the final whistle, PHS rolled to a satisfying 6-0 victory over the Panthers.

“Rachel Bozich played an amazing game on goal, that was her first shutout this year,” said Herzog.

“It was a crazy day offensively; they really stepped up. Gabby Vukasin led us with three goals, Keely Herring had two goals and three assists and Abby Hunter had a goal and three assists.”

In the ‘B’ consolation final the next day against Shady Side (Pa.), PHS couldn’t keep up its fiery play as it fell behind 3-0 after two periods.

Once again, Herzog was able to fire up the troops. “They got the jump on us and I had a little speech before the last period,” said Herzog.

“I told them this is the last period of the year and that everyone needs to step up for themselves, the school and especially the seniors. There was a sense of urgency.”

The Little Tigers responded as senior star Vukasin and classmate Olivia Ray scored to make it a 3-2 game. After a Shady Side tally, PHS again narrowed the gap to one at 4-3 as Vukasin netted another goal.

The rally fell short as Shady Side scored the last two goals of the contest to earn a 6-3 victory.

In reflecting on his first season at the helm of the program, Herzog rued the fact that his team didn’t peak earlier.

“I wish we could start the season two months earlier,” said Herzog, whose team ended the season with an 8-10 record. “The girls seemed to reach their apex at the end after four months.”

Herzog got just about everything he could have wished from senior stalwarts Vukasin and Ray, who scored 31 and 14 points, respectively

“Gabby is the spine of the team; when she is having a bad game, everyone has a bad game,” said Herzog, whose other seniors included Bozich, Haley Andres, Fiona Mahon, Stephanie Miezin, and Allegra Bianchini.

“She did a very good thing for the team moving back to defense; she can go end to end and use her skills. Olivia works hard, she never complains. She always asks questions and works with the program.”

The future of the program is in good hands with the productive line of sophomores Keely Herring, Abby Hunter, and Phoebe Rea. Herring was the team’s second leading scorer with 28 points while Hunter added 15 and Rea chipped in four.

“They played as a line last year and this year,” said Herzog. “They know where they are on the ice with their eyes closed. Keely has not reached her full potential but she is on her way. She is more confident in getting her shot off. Abby is fast; when she brings her A-game, she has her stick in the lanes. Phoebe has speed and has shown toughness this year. She just needs to work on her stick skills.”

Herzog saw an increase in skills across the board. “A lot of the girls were skating for the first time, they made huge strides,” asserted Herzog. “We have quality; we just need some more quantity.”

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