LHS Ice Hockey Team to Play at Sun Center Friday

Editor's Note: The following was written by Andrew Gow and submitted to Lawrenceville Patch on behalf of the Lawrence High School ice hockey team, with the approval of Coach Mark Fidanza.

This year's ice hockey season will come to an end tomorrow afternoon (Friday, Feb. 17) at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton in an exhibition game against the Hamilton West Hornets, played before the Titans game against the Reading Royals.

Lawrence ended the regular season last Wednesday with an exciting 6-5 win over Steinert that ensured their second place position in the division. On paper the game was very much the Cory Zrinko show as he scored five goals and assisted on the sixth to Pat Kelly. But keen observers noticed how the game was built very much on the cohesiveness that the Cardinals have developed throughout the season. Solid and concerted defense, led by Ross Doerler and Chaz Nagy, limited Steinert to 27 shots on goal, compared to 54 shots in their previous meeting. Perhaps the most telling stat of the night for Lawrence was that every goal scored was with at least one assist.

The game was a testament to the dedication of the team and the motivational powers of the coaching staff as the team had been severely dispirited by a loss the previous Monday. Playing Hightstown, a team that Lawrence had beaten twice earlier in the season, the Cardinals played in a disjointed and unfocused manner. The result was contentious and dissatisfying 6-5 loss that was keyed by five consecutive second period Hightstown goals.

But with the win over Steinert, Lawrence was able to leapfrog Hightstown in the standings and enter the Mercer County Tournament with an opening round game against West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Monday. South goalie Jon Plester is possibly the one individual within the Colonial valley Conference who can rival Lawrence goalie Alex Finan for solidity under fire. They are both among the Top 20 goalies in the state with 433 and 410 saves respectively. In the tournament game Jon was very much on his game with 32 saves, and some well-balanced offense led South to an eventual 7-1 win.

The boys have enjoyed their season so much that they didn’t want it to end. So when invited to a play an exhibition game against Hamilton West, who lost to local powerhouse Notre Dame in the county tournament, they leapt at the chance. Friday will see the two teams meet up for the third time this season with the added bonus of playing on the Trenton Titans home ice at the Sun Center (www.sunnationalbankcenter.com). Both teams are looking forward to a high-paced and open game played on the bigger professional rink. The game will be played on Friday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m.