Hun rolls past Princeton for 5th straight title
WEST WINDSOR » Kyle Mandleur got a taste of it the last two years and he didn’t want to be a part of the team to have this amazing Hun run end.
Mandleur sparked a secondperiod rally and the top-seeded Raiders made it five straight Mercer County Tournament crowns.
Hun scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take control and finish it off with a 9-4 win over No. 2 Princeton on Friday night in the MCT final at Mercer County Park.
“This is unbelievable and something no one has ever done,’’ said Mandleur. “It just gets better every time we do it. It’s always that much better.’’
Mandleur had a lot to do about making it possible with a hat trick and four assists. He teamed along with Matt Argentina, who had two goals and two assists, and Eddie Evaldi, who had two assists.
The Hun trio accounted for five goals and eight assists.
“This is better than I expected, and I expected a lot coming into the tournament,’’ said Argentina, a freshman who has committed to Notre Dame.
After a tight first period (1-1), the second was explosive.
It started with each team scoring a goal just 24 seconds apart. Then, taking advantage of a couple Princeton penalties, the Raiders scored three straight including two on power plays.
The Raiders were 4-for-7 on the power play.
“We were dominating the play in the first period and then we decided to do something different and started turning the puck over,’’ said Princeton coach Tim Chase. “They grabbed the lead and we tried to press. The three goals killed us, it put us down and we tried to do more things than we should.’’
The Tigers never quit, and despite trailing 6-2 late in the third, they continued to battle and protect.
Besides the terrific three, the Raiders got goals from Joey Hoffman, Brian Nelson, Nick Aubry and James McCall. Assists also came from Aubry with two, Nelson, Joey Corcoran, Kyle DePalma and Aidan McDowell.
Princeton was led by Ben Drezner with two goals and an assist, Aidan Trainor had one goal and two assists, Keith Goldberg had one and one and Patrick McDonald had an assist.
But, it was once again the Raiders taking home the trophy.
“This is pretty cool,’’ said Hun coach Ian McNally. “Chris Brake, who is the third brother to play here, came up and said he’s been waiting seven years to play in this game. We are on the second generation of Hun hockey now.’’
It started with names like Brown, Barratt, Bendorf, Preston, Wurster, Pelke. Now the torch has been successfully passed.
“This is the first year where I didn’t have Blake (Brown), Tanner (Preston) or Jon (Bendorf) so it was like my team,’’ said Mandleur. “It put more pressure on getting it, so it feels that much better to get it. I have confidence on every single player on this team and that is how we got the win.’’
An unprecedented five straight MCT crowns, and it’s beginning to look like it’s their right come the middle of February to hoist the trophy.
Princeton (16-8-1) Hun (13-8-2) Goals —
Drezner 2, Trainor, Goldberg (P), Mandleur 3, Argentina 2, Nelson, Hoffman, McCall, Aubry (H).
Trainor 2, Drezner, Goldberg, McDonald (P), Mandleur 4, Evaldi 2, Argentina 2, Aubry 2, Nelson, Corcoran, McDowell, DePalma (H).
28 (P). 35 (H).
Skopas 26 (P). Cole 24 (H).
Assists — Shots — Saves — 1 1 1 2 — 4 4— 4 9