While Knights fans remain fanatical, those who have been following Mercer County High School Hockey had no great expectations for WW-P High School North this year. Following a year with only three victories, and a season after which so many veterans graduated, it was obvious the Knights needed some drastic rebuilding. At this season’s outset, 15 members of the 20-man team were sophomores and freshmen.
But coach Bob Weiss was not receiving a crew of strangers to mold into a unit. Prior to the season, team members raised money for costly ice time, and practiced a full session at least day a week throughout the summer and fall. By the time they hit the ice this December, Weiss had a team of fit and hungry hockey players.
Captain Ernie Parks, a junior, and sophomore Scott Martin are joined by former goalie Ryan Worrall as the first line and primary scoring threats. “Everyone was expecting a goal tender to lumber out slowly and be kind of choppy on the ice, but Worrall is in there mixing it up in front as fast as any of them,” says Weiss.
Meanwhile, Ryan’s younger brother Brandon, a freshman, has taken over his brother’s post between the pipes. He splits time with sophomore James Komianos.
Coach Weiss admitted to not being pleased that the heated North-South contest was his team’s first game of the season. But he had an inkling of just how well his team could function in a scrimmage the week before when North defeated Hamilton 5 – 0.
In assessing his team, captain Parks noted, “Our greatest advantage is that we have tons of heart. And of course, we know where each player is on the ice at all times.” They would need both this spirit and skill against their more seasoned opponents from South.
The previous Friday, December 1, coach Brian McGurney stood on the edge of the ice and just smiled. His Pirates, opening their season against a very competitive Clifton team, were doing everything right. His two powerhouse senior forwards, captain John Reece and John Shaughnessy, joined by sophomore and assistant captain Keegan Martell were keeping a very surprised Princeton pressed hard against the goal.
Senior Mike DeVestern and sophomore Mike Nestel were displaying their dependable pass and feed ability. Goalie Dan Katz, a junior, was fielding all the shots. In the end, the Pirates skated off the ice with a 5-1 victory. “It was the type of game where everything just clicked, we knew it on the ice, and just fed off it,” said Reece.
But that was Clifton. The cross-town rivalry against the Knights was setting all the players on edge. Martell feared that, as he put it, “the crowd would get into our heads.” And while the Pirates certainly had the advantage of experience, they held a very short bench. Having an entire roster of only 15 players would mean that each man would play longer and the team might tire more quickly. McGurney knew that he had only two lines to play, opposed to North’s three. He was making no early predictions.
The Game
By 6 p.m., on Monday, December 4, 45 minutes prior to the game, the fans were already gathering in Hamilton’s Iceland rink and launching into a chorus of cheers. As the two teams warmed up, both students and parents stood and roared. Nobody would sit down for any part of this contest.
From the outset of the game, it was clear that, despite differing experience, the teams were evenly matched. Passions on the ice raged naturally high. Each player made it clear that he wanted to bring home the bragging rights for his school, and the deafening roar of the fans fueled the energy.
Each team played heavily to its strength. For the Pirates, this meant superior stick handling. Man for man, the experience showed with long South sweeps past the Knights’ defense, which were routinely turned into to shots on goal. Sophomores Martell and Matt Bright, and senior Shaughnessy each broke through early on to make an attack on goal.
Midway through the first period, Pirates junior Will Dzugan came sweeping around behind the net and took a sharp, quick pass from freshman Jed Plester and slammed in the Pirates’ first goal.
The period continued with a lot of individual breakaway action. The Pirates’ Alex Thompson and Matt Bright both brought the puck back from a hard Knights’ press and raced ahead for quick, but deflected. shots on goal. Reece and Shaughnessy each got in two hasty shots, deflected by Worrall. Meanwhile, North players kept passing. Litwack, McGovern, and Parks seemed to be everywhere.
By the second period, the Knights seemed to crystallize. Within the first four minutes, Litwack grabbed a pass amid the thick huddle and on a short shot scored the Knights’ first goal. This led to a flurry of assaults in Pirates’ zone. But each time the Knights would methodically work the puck down with a series of passes, South’s Reece, Thompson, or Martell would steal it away. Three minutes later, Dzugan slapped in what would to be South’s final goal of the night.
Undiscouraged, the Knights stuck to their plays. Rather than charge the strong stick handling of the Pirates, Martin and Litwack kept fading back against each break away, intercepting Pirates passes and feeding them forward. They finally pushed South back on the defensive with McGovern, Martin and sophomore Chris Pareitier each making close shots. In the end, Parks shouldered his way through and quickly flicked in North’s second goal.
With the start of the final period, the Knights’ Parks, James Cosmas and Mulhall kept up a tight cluster passing format that kept close shots on goal. For the first five minutes of play, the Knights’ goalie, Worrall, saw little action.
The Pirates by this time were getting tired. Twice Nestel and Martell broke from the press of Knights and made it down to the Pirates net, but the shots were hasty and the back up not there. Then North retrieved the puck and midway through the period, Bailer broke the tie with a short back flip, scoring the Knights’ third goal.
In a desperate move, the Pirates replaced their goalie and put the entire team on the offensive. With the extra attack player, the Pirates were able to push the puck back to the North end of the ice. But it was not to be. With just 45 seconds remaining in the game, Knights’ forward Martin broke free and slapped in one more shot on the empty net, icing a 4-2 victory for the young WWP-North team.
North had made 27 shots on goal, compared with South’s 18. Pirates captain Reece, summed up his team’s play, “We just couldn’t get back on the horse each time. We never settled down, and played our system. All the plays we drilled on, we just never got together. Will Dzugan seemed to be the only one of us who was with it tonight.” Martell agreed: “We’ve got some really good passing on this team, particularly Mike Nestel and Mike Devestern – but we didn’t pass it tonight. And yes, the crowd got into our heads a bit.”
In the Knights’ jubilant camp, they felt as if they had just played the perfect game, just as South had against Clifton a few days earlier. “We really fed off each other and we stuck to our plays,” said Parks. “We weren’t favorites going into this game, and after Dzugan’s goal in the first period I know we were all a little worried, but we kept at it.” Coach Weiss felt that his Knights’ real asset was the way they capitalized on the opponents mistakes. So, will the North come in with a new edge in the rivalry? Weiss shakes his head. “Tonight was just one game. We meet South again a month from now. We’ll wait and see what happens then.”
