Notre Dame blanked by St. Joe’s in Egan Cup
LAWRENCEVILLE » This is the fourth year the Egan Cup is being contested and the last two seasons St. Joseph’s (Metuchen) took home the trophy.
The first game of the roundrobin tourney with six schools was played on Thursday and it appears St. Joe’s isn’t ready to give up the Cup just yet.
The Falcons scored in each period to blank Notre Dame, 3-0, at Loucks Ice Center as the chase for the Egan Cup got underway.
The Irish (4-2) saw there fourgame winning streak end as St. Joe’s (3-1) won the battle in the trenches and took advantage of 10 Notre Dame penalties.
The Irish got a great game in goal from Jack Wiedling as he came up with a career-high 29 saves.
“I thought we played well, but we have to stay out of the box,” said ND coach Andrew Ducko. “We have to keep our composure and capitalize on our opportunities. We played hard and competed hard.”
ND’s best chances came in the second period when it had a 5-on-3 and fired shots on St. Joe’s Clay Whittingham, but came up empty.
Dylan Costello scored two including one on a power play for the Falcons, the other came off the stick of Steven Hollabaugh. Mike Rocco, Matt Samerelli, Andrew Costello and Ty Carter had assists. Whittingham made 10 saves between the pipes.
“They are a very good team and Jack (Wiedling) made a lot of good saves and kept us in the game,” said Ducko. “He played very well and that was a bright spot.”
It was that stretch in the second period when Notre Dame had control of the ice and just couldn’t convert, and shortly after that St. Joe’s made it a 2-0 games.
“We are having trouble scoring goals in the tough games,” said Ducko. “This is the best team we’ve played this year and hopefully we’ll improve as the season goes on.”
The other teams involved in the Egan Cup are St. John Vianney, St. Joseph’s (Montvale), Montclair Kimberley and Paramus Catholic.
“It’s not the ideal way to start the Egan Cup,” said Ducko. “But it’s still early.”
St. Joe’s (3-1) Notre Dame (4-2) Goals — Assists —
DCostello 2, Hollabaugh (SJM). Rocco, Samerelli, ACostello, Carter (SJM).
32 (SJM). 10 (ND). Whittingham 10 (SJM). Wiedling
Shots — Saves —
29 (ND).
1 0 1 1— 0 0— 3 0