AROUND THE BEND: Hun School boys’ hockey player Jon Bendorf fires the puck up the ice in recent action. Last Friday, junior forward Bendorf tallied a goal and an assist to help Hun defeat Calvert Hall (Md.) 4-1 for its first win of the season. Last Monday, Bendorf contributed a goal in a losing cause as Hun fell 3-2 to Princeton Day School. The Raiders, now 1-2-1, host LaSalle College High (Pa.) on December 9 before playing at Academy of New Church (Pa.) on December 11. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Jon Bendorf’s future in hockey over the next few years is set as he has committed to join the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s program and was selected in the seventh round of the USHL draft this spring
by the Madison Capitols.

Accordingly, Bendorf is firmly focused on the the present as he competes in his junior campaign for the Hun School boys’ hockey team.

“Being one of the oldest kids on the team this year, I need to step up and play like it and be a leader out there,” said Bendorf, who tallied 46 points on 17 goals and 29 assists last winter as Hun won the Mercer County Tournament and the state Prep title.

“I am hoping we can make a run like we did last year and have a great season.”

Last Friday against visiting Calvert Hall (Md.), Bendorf contributed a goal and an assist as Hun built a 3-0 first period lead on the way to a 4-1 win and its first victory of the season.

“It was huge, getting that 3-0 lead sets a tone for the rest of the game,” said Bendorf. “Luckily we were able to get a fourth one, so even though they started to come back, we were able to finish them off.”

On his goal, Bendorf converted a nice feed from Blake Brown with a one-timer into the top of the net.

“Blake took it around the net and made a great play,” said Bendorf, recalling his first goal of the campaign.

“I just creeped in and they left me wide open, he passed it and I got a shot on goal. We had a good screen and the goalie didn’t see it.”

It was good for Hun to break into the win column after getting a loss and a tie in its first two games.

“It wasn’t our best game but it is definitely a confidence builder to get our first win of the season and coming into next week, we have two big games,” said Bendorf.

While Hun head coach Ian McNally acknowledged that his team wasn’t particularly sharp, he saw value in winning ugly.

“It was nice to win, 0-1-1 didn’t look so good on our record,” said McNally.

“We are a long way from the way we would like to be winning but at the end of the day, we have got to score some goals and that builds confidence up.”

Getting the early goals gave Hun the cushion it needed to hold off Calvert Hall, who tied the Raiders 1-1 last season.

“These guys took a bus ride from Maryland, you get one period to kind of jump on them and that happened today and we had our shot.” said McNally. “In the second, they outshot us 16-4. They found their legs and it got turned around.”

Hun, though, is still searching to find its rhythm this season. “The problem is that we haven’t been able to get anything going because guys keep getting hurt,” said McNally, whose team fell 3-2 at Princeton Day School last Monday and hosts LaSalle College High (Pa.) on December 9 before playing at Academy of New Church (Pa.) on December 11.

“In the end, we have to string together a couple of games consistently to start realizing exactly how we want to play and we haven’t been able to do that. We will keep scraping together wins however we can.”

The scrappy play of senior goalie Diesel Pelke, who made 26 saves, including some point blank stops, was critical in the win over Calvert Hall.

“This year we will need him to be able to win games,” said McNally. “For him, it is a good kind of pressure. If that game gets to 4-2, that is a whole different ball game. We gave them two final power plays, without a solid goalie we could have been in trouble. It is a good pressure for him to have. At the start of the game, if he sits there and thinks we are going to win because of me, that is a good feeling to have as an athlete. He should feel that way for every game because we are going to need him.”

McNally credited Bendorf with doing whatever the team needs. “We have asked him to play defense, we don’t have enough guys back there so he has been playing defense for the last two games,” said McNally.

“He is shooting from 30 feet away and he snuck one in there today. He is still leading our team in points from the back end. He has got so much poise with the puck and understanding of how the game works that he can play any position. At the end of the day, he is more valuable to us right now helping us stop the other team than having the green light to go every shift.”

Bendorf, for his part, puts a special value on his experience competing for the Raiders.

“I have my travel team but you know Hun definitely has a spot in my heart,” said Bendorf.

“I love putting on the Hun jersey and playing in front of our fans and just going all out to help my team win.”