ND, R’ville meet for CVC crown
Late turnovers cost Rider a win in overtime loss to Monmouth » Page 29
When Notre Dame and Robbinsville/Allentown take the ice for the championship game of the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament there are plenty of storylines.
The two conference powers face off at 4 p.m. at the Mercer County Skating Center.
Top-seeded Notre Dame advanced to the final with a 5-1 win over Hopewell Valley/ Montgomery and No. 3 Robbinsville/Allentown stunned No. 2 Paul VI, 7-1.
These two programs are longtime rivals, not strangers.
Before Hun began its sixyear dominance of the Mercer County Tournament, there was always a good chance the Irish and the Ravens would be in the final.
So, this is like a ‘Back to the Future’ game.
“This is a big as any Mercer County Tournament final we have ever gotten to,” said Robbinsville/Allentown coach Dan Bergan. “Obviously, things are different with some teams not here, but we can only play the games that are in front of us.”
The Irish hold a 3-1-1advantage over the Ravens in their last five meetings. This season ND won the first, 7-3, and the two tied, 5-5, a week ago. The last R/A win in the series was on Jan. 18, 2019.
Coming off that semifinal triumph, ND is playing with a lot of confidence.
“We are ready and we are going to bring it home,” said ND junior Will Celli. “We are going to play hard and we are going to play fast. We are going to play our game.”
While Robbinsville/Allentown would like to erase some of the past memories of ND games, the Irish want to expunge the blemish from last year’s season ending with forfeits.
“The ones that were here last year are aware of the ending and they appreciate everything we’ve done this year,” said ND coach Mike McVey. “We don’t want to go out of a season like that.”
Celli, who has nine goals and 16 assists, remembers the ending, and he’s not only playing for this year’s seniors but those who missed out last year.
Besides Celli, the Irish have Carson Skove with 15 goals and seven assists.
Both of these teams have a lot of firepower, Robbinsville/ Allentown is led by Mitch Ducalo with a county-best 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points. Charlie Pallitto has 13 goals and 10 assists.
Championship games have a tendency to come down to defense, with ND’s Nathan Mayer and the Ravens’ Chase Williams having solid seasons between the pipes.
“We are excited to play Notre Dame,” said Pallitto. “We’ve played then twice and both were good games. It’s always down to the wire with them.”
Robbinsville/Allentown wants to bring the season full circle.
“We had to march past a Hamilton team and a Paul VI team that beat us and now we have to beat a Notre Dame team that beat us by four goals the first time around,” said Bergan. “It’s right there and what a beautiful story of redemption if we can get it done.”
Rider’s Dontrell McQuarter, left, shoots the ball over the defense of Monmouth’s Melik Martin, right, during Thursday afternoon’s MAAC game at Alumni Gymnasium.