Vitolo scores twice to lift HoVal

WEST WINDSOR » Roman Vitolo must not believe in magic.

Nottingham-Hamilton goalie David Thompson was performing magical feats throughout the game before Vitolo scored twice in the final eight minutes to give HopewellMontgomery a 3-1 ice hockey victory at Mercer County rink Wednesday.

As he has been all year, Thompson was magnificent with 34 saves, saving his best with 8:05 remaining and the scored tied 1-1. Hugging his right post, Thompson watched a pass go across the ice onto the stick of Ethan Block, who fired a quick shot. Somehow, Thompson shifted over in time to make an incredible save.

But Trent Demers slid the rebound out to Vitolo, who fired it home with 7:56 remaining before Thompson could recover

“We created opportunities,” the sophomore said. “The puck bounced to Ethan, he got it on net, it came out to me. I had it on my backhand but that wasn’t stopping me from putting it on net because I knew the goalie was out of position.”

“I made the save,” Thompson said. “They passed the puck back to him and he got the shot off; I made my best effort.”

That effort was good enough for most of the game, as Thompson has been a key element in Nottingham’s ascension to CVC Valley Division champs after an 0-16 season. He typically makes saves in the 30s and 40s each game.

“In my opinion we’ve got one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie in the CVC,” first-year coach John Patterson said. “They talk about building your team from the goalie out and we’ve done that this year.”

The Bulldogs (14-5-2), who are 6-0-1 in their last seven, were well aware of Thompson’s capabilities.

“It was really tough to score on him,” Vitolo said. “Coming into the game coach (Jeff Radice) said the goalie was going to be tough. A couple guys on the team knew him, said he had a great high glove. I tried to refrain from going there and I believe both my goals were low.

“We had to do what we had to do to score on him and he played a really good game and saved most of our shots.”

But he couldn’t stop Vitolo, who added some insurance with his 10th goal of the season on the power play with 1:48 remaining. Nottingham had just killed a two-man disadvantage but another penalty ran concurrent and the Stars could not whether another storm.

“When we were up by one, coach kind of said stay levelheaded, anything can happen,” Vitolo said. “We just really focused on the power play, burying the puck. We had one waved off but that didn’t stop us from keeping going, keeping grinding.”

Despite the loss, it was an encouraging performance for Nottingham, which has long had difficulties with Hopewell.

“I think coming in we weren’t expecting to be that close with them,” Thompson said. “It was a really good game. I think if the penalties went our way it would have been a different outcome but we can’t control that.”

Both teams now turn their attention to the Mercer County Tournament, which begins on Tuesday. Nottingham’s goal is to win its opener and hope that a hot Thompson may lead to a little more.

As for Hopewell. . .

“I think we just need to focus,” Vitolo said. “We’ve been doing a really good job, always dialing in for practice. We come to the rink, we’re always prepared. The boys just have great chemistry together, everyone is all in for each other. That’s the kind of attitude you need for the playoffs and I think that’s what we’re gonna bring. I think we’ll be a really hard team to beat with that attitude.”

Nottingham-Hamilton (6-10-1) 0 0 1 — 1 Hopewell-Montgomery (14-5-1) 0 1 2 — 3

Goals: Fleming, Vitolo 2 (H-M). Luckie (N-H). Shots: 16 (N-H), 37 (H-M). Saves: Thompson 34 (N-H), Schaefer 14 (H-M).

Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores