Robbinsville routs Lawrence in season opener
WEST WINDSOR >> It took a few minutes for everyone to get in sync, and once it did it was an impressive showing by the Robbinsville ice hockey team.
The Ravens, with just three seniors, showed a nice balance of veteran leadership and the eagerness of youth.
Robbinsville took control in the second period and captured a 6-1 win over Lawrence on Tuesday night at the Mercer County Skating Rink in the season opener for both teams.
A year ago, the Ravens struggled at times to score goals and that doesn’t seem to be a problem this season as five players cracked the scoring column.
Lawrence (0-1) is under a new coach this season as Andrew Dudich, a former standout at Steinert, and after pulling even early saw the Ravens (1-0) open things up.
Mitchell Ducalo led the Ravens with two goals and an assist. Jason Gallucci, Robert Grimes, Jack Pallitto and Shane Martin all had one goal.
Tyler Guttormsen and Liam Hartmann each had a pair of assists for the Ravens. Gallucci, Grimes, Ducalo, Pallitto and Teddy Wittenborn all had one helper.
“We adhered to our systems,’’ said Ravens second-year coach Rob Davis. “It was a really good start and overall it was a very good start to the season. We have a lot of depth and we were able to run three lines and a fourth line at the end of the game.’’
Kyle Doherty with an assist from Jack Yamnuik had the Lawrence goal.
“Things went well up until the second period,’’ said Dudich. The guys played hard and we have a young team. The more we play the better it will go.’’
Pallitto, one of the Ravens returning players, got the scoring started with 5:22 left in the period.
The Cardinals answered when Doherty converted Yamnuik’s pass to make it 1-1 at the 2:56 mark of the initial period.
If there was a turning point in the game it came with 6.8 seconds left in the first period when Jason Gallucci, a freshman, scored his first high school goal to give the Ravens the lead, it would never relinquish.
“It was pretty cool,’’ Gallucci said of the goal that proved to be the game- winner. “Bobby (Grimes) intercepted it and passed it off. We have a lot of talent on this team and we are out there working hard.’’
The second period sealed the Cardinals fate as the Ravens scored three unanswered and cruised to a 5-2 lead.
So, after a season of goals being scarce the Ravens opened with more than enough.
“We had a few last year that underproduced and this year we have a fresh crop and a crew that is eager to play as a team,’’ said Davis. “Because we are two different schools (Robbinsville and Allentown) it’s often difficult to build that team chemistry, so right from the beginning we push for that unity.’’
It’s only one game, but it looked like a pretty together group of Ravens.
Robbinsville (1-0) 2 3 1 – 6 (0-1) 1 0 0 – 1 Lawrence Goals: R: Ducalo 2, Gallucci, Grimes, Pallitto, Martin. L: Doherty. Assists: Hartmann 2, Guttormsen 2, Gallucci, Grimes, Ducalo, Wittenborn, Pallitto. L: Yamnuik. Shots: R: 24, L: 15. Saves: R: Cooper 14, L: Hindash 14 Cobb 2.