HoVal, Princeton settle for a draw
It was to be an early season tussle between the defense of Hopewell Valley and the explosive attack of Princeton in a Colonial Valley Conference showdown.
On a perfect snowy night for hockey, it proved to be a just enough of both as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Friday evening in a game played at Mercer County Park.
The Bulldogs (5-0-2) got the best of the early play and took a 2-1 lead into the final period.
The Tigers (3-0-2), who have not played in 11 days, then came alive and got a goal from Aidan Trainor with 4:32 left to knot the score at 2-2.
“I’m never happy with a tie,” said Hopewell Valley coach Jeff Radice. “The guys played hard and we know the opponent we had and we know they are a good team and we stayed out of the loss column. As much as we wanted to walk away with a win we have to keep harping on the positives and keep moving forward.”
Princeton coach Tim Chase wasn’t happy with a tie, either, but he was fortunate the Tiger rallied.
“For the way we played I’ll take the tie,” said Chase. “The layoff made a difference as we came out very flat in the first two periods. Give credit to Hopewell they came out and looked like they wanted it and were all over us.”
Hopewell Valley started the scoring halfway through the first period when Ethan Block, who picked up his sixth goal of the season, scored at the 7:06 mark off assists from Nick Vagott and Chandler Habig for a 1-0 lead.
Just under two minutes later at the 4:55 mark Patrick McDonald, a freshman, converted a pass from Aidan Trainor and Stephen Avis to knot the score at 1-1.
It stayed even until the final three minutes of the second stanza when Steven Doldy scored for the ’Dawgs off assists from Cal Flemming and Vann AdrianHage with 2:45 left in the period.
“I tell the guys that this is why we got into hockey, it’s for these games,” said Radice. “We love these close games when you have to make hard, smart hockey plays and it’s something we really enjoy as a team. So, we are looking forward to the rest of them.”
The Tigers were looking forward to the third period.
After being held scoreless for over 30 minutes the Tigers got the tying goal with off the stick of Trainor, his fourth of the season, at the 4:32 mark. He was assisted by Avis and McDonald.
“The third period we have the puck in their zone, but we weren’t getting a lot of good chances,” said Chase. “Finally, Aidan was able to get some open space and get off a good shot. We need to face some adversity to see what our team is made of, so it’s good to have a game where we have to fight back.”
Princeton (3-0-2) Hopewell (5-0-2) Goals — Assists —
McDonald, Trainor (P). Block, Doldy (HV). Avis 2, Trainor, McDonald (P). Habig, Flemming, Adrian-Hage, Vagott (HV).
20 (P). 20 (HV).
Skopas 18 (P). Meredith 18 (HV).
Shots — Saves — 1 1 0 1 — 1 0— 2 2