Princeton High has crack at defending champ Ridge
It will be another tough test for the Princeton High ice hockey team as it continues along the state tourney trail.
On Monday, the No.10 seed Tigers (15-6-1) take on No. 2 and defending Public A champion Ridge (13-7-4) at 3:45 p.m. in the Bridgewater Sports Arena.
The last meeting of the two was in the 2018 tourney and Princeton came away with the 4-3 win.
The Tigers have won seven straight and put up eight goals in the tourney opening win over Passaic Tech.
“Obviously, the key is to score more goals than your opponent,” said Princeton coach Rik Johnson. “The boys did a nice job putting pucks on net and finishing opportunities.”
Cooper Zullo, who has 94 career goals, leads the Tigers with 32 goals and 19 assists, Ethan Garlock has 15 and a team high 27 assists, Brendan Beatty checks in with 10 and 21 and TT Zhao has 12 and 19.
Ridge, which plays in the Skyland Conference, has dropped two of the last three games, the win was a tourney opening 11-1 rout of West Orange.
Ridge is led by Jamie Zimmerman with 19 goals and 15 assists, Niccolo Evangelista has 14 and 15, Dennis Kuzmenkov leads in assists with 25.
“If we can minimize mistakes, precisely execute and have fun whilst doing so, I feel will be all right,” said Johnson.
There’s some controversy surrounding the Ridge team as junior Egor Barabanov, who is committed to Penn State, has been barred from the tournament by the NJSIAA for failing to play in 50% of its games.
The reason was that Barabanov was playing in the USHL for the Sioux Falls Stampede for 10 games. During the games he played, he had 13 goals and eight assists.
Princeton will be looking to stay focused on the task at hand.
“Our job is to focus on the players on the ice on Monday afternoon,” said Johnson. “We’ll eliminate any noise beforehand if necessary. Anything outside of playing hockey is a distraction, as it pertains to our game.”
While Ridge may be a little shorthanded, the Tigers are playing very good hockey lately and it has been an enjoyable season in Johnson’s first as coach.
“What’s not to enjoy,” said Johnson. “We’ve got a bunch of great young humans. They’re exemplary student athletes.”