Quick start propels ND into CVC final

WEST WINDSOR >> It didn’t take long for the Notre Dame ice hockey to find itself fending off a penalty.

Three seconds after a successful penalty kill, the Irish turned up their offense.

Top-seeded Notre Dame got the early lead and made it stand up to take a 5-1 win over No. 5 Hopewell Valley/Montgomery on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament played in the Mercer County Skating Arena.

The Irish (6-0-1) advanced to Friday’s 4 p.m. final against either Paul VI or Robbinsville/Allentown

“We came in with a positive mindset and we wanted to keep playing how we have been playing,” said ND junior Will Celli, who had four assists. “We wanted to play our game and be physical.”

The Irish jumped to a 3-1 first period lead and then added one more in each period.

Senior Carson Skove (team-high 15 goals) and freshman Trey Guire both scored twice, while Mike McVey also netted one. Sam Kraus had two assists and Brendan Bennett one.

The loss ends HV/M’s season, a rough campaign that concluded with coach Jeff Radice in quarantine.

“It’s been a tough year for everybody,” said HV/M assistant Ray Altieri. “We are in the middle of the twilight zone right now. I give these players a lot of credit we had a lot of guys step up.”

The Irish had won the first two meetings this season by a combined 14-3 score.

Guire scored both of his goals in the first period, and Skove added one with Celli assisting on two for the early lead.

“It was huge,” Celli said of the fast start. “From my perspective, that was the game right there. We have good chemistry and I hear these guys and I know where they are.”

The HV/M goal came in the first period off the stick of Lucas Gaissert with an assist from Sean Amon.

“Hopewell can draw you into a physical game,” said McVey, the coach. “We get up really quick and we start coasting. They get one and the next thing you know it’s a close game. You have to keep playing and we did that as the game went on. Sometimes it’s hard to get up for these games.”

Celli is ready for the final, though.

“We are going to bring it home,” said Celli. “We are going to play and and we are going to play fast. We are going to play our game and we don’t care who we play.”

HV/M (2-8-1) 1 0 0 — 1 Notre Dame (6-0-1) 3 1 1 — 5 Goals: HV/M — Gassiert. ND: Guire 2, Skove 2, McVey. Assists: HV/M — Amon. ND: Celli 4, Kraus 2, Bennett.