L’ville, Hun set for early MAHL clash at Iceland

There are only seven teams in the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League and since the teams play each other just once, every game takes on extra meaning.

Add in the fact that Lawrenceville and Hun are a few miles apart and the game picks up even more intensity.

The two are set to faceoff Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Iceland and it should be a battle right down to the final whistle.

The Big Red (3-1) are coming off a loss to Hotchkiss after having won their first three, while Hun (3-2) enters the game on a twogame losing skid after having won its first three.

While it’s Lawrenceville’s first MAHL game of the season, the Raiders are 0-1 in the league having lost to La Salle.

“Falling to 0-2 in the league to start the year would essentially put us out of the running before Christmas,” said Hun coach Ian McNally. “So, the key will be our ability to treat this like a game seven.”

The Raiders will also be looking to snap a twogame losing streak to the Big Red.

“If they are anything like the last two years I know we are going to get a team that competes hard,” said Lawrenceville coach Keith Dupee. “They finished their checks and make it tough to play against them. They have talent up front and on the blueline. We need to be aware and do our best to contain them. It should be a challenging and fun game for both squads.”

Indeed, it should as both teams want to get things back in the right direction with both having major events looming.

The Big Red host the prestigious Lawrenceville Tournament this weekend and Hun is once again headed to the popular Purple Puck Tournament in Washington.

Hun has been led by Brian Nelson with a county-best 10 goals and five assists. Aidan McDowell adds four goals and six assists and Matt Argentina and Eddie Evaldi both have six helpers.

“The Lawrenceville game will be a test to see what we actually have his year,” said McNally. “If we can emotionally match what’s at stake then I think we can be a tough team to knock off regardless of how Lawrenceville has been playing.”

The Big Red opened the season with a pair of onegoal wins over Hoosac School and Millbrook.

Matt Manahan and Nikita Nesterenko got the goals in the 2-1 win over Millbrook and T.J. Semptimphelter had 40 saves between the pipes.

“To start the season we have kept things relatively simple and just tried to play hard,” said Dupee. “In the Hoosac game we went down 3-0, but we stayed the course and worked to minimize mistakes, while playing to our strengths. We came back to earn a hard-fought victory. Simple formula really, but doing it consistently is difficult, even for the best hockey players in the world.”