Notre Dame back to its best after early blip
When Princeton ended Notre Dame’s 81-game Colonial Valley Conference winning streak last January the whispers started, and then when the Irish opened the 2017-18 season with a loss to Hopewell Valley the voices became a little louder.
Could ND’s domination of the CVC be over?
Not so fast.
The Irish (9-4) have quelled the rumors with a recent five-game winning streak, including wins over division rivals Princeton and Robbinsville.
“We have been getting great goaltending and have taken care of business in the defensive house,” said ND coach Andrew Ducko. “We have played with urgency in front of the net. We are a team that never gives up.”
The Irish have just four seniors, and one of them, Ben Kilian, has been a leader on and off the ice.
He leads in goals with 13 and adds eight assists. His presence has been felt by the younger players as a pair of sophomores, Nathan Goldberg and Ryan Nemec, are tied for lead in assists with nine each. Nemec has nine goals and Goldberg seven.
“Ben has been a huge part of this team’s success,” said Ducko. “He has scored many big goals, killed off some big penalties and he has made a lot of heavy plays to put us in a position to be competitive. He plays at a very high competitive level.”
The goaltending tandem of Cameron Holbrook and Jackson Weidling allowed just six goals in the five-game winning streak.
The Irish are 3-1 in the Colonial Division and have games with Hopewell Valley and Princeton remaining. The 4-3 win over the Tigers last week might be the game ND looks back on as turning around the season.
“The win over Princeton was a great game for us,” said Ducko. “We went into the game as huge underdogs with no one expecting us to win. Our kids worked hard and deserved to be rewarded. Our team respects that Princeton is a tough tam with solid players and the next game will be even tougher.”
ND had a tough one on Tuesday, losing to St. Peter’s, 8-0, and it faces a good Paul VI team on Wednesday night.