HOLDING THE FORT: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey goalie Logan Kramsky turns away a shot last Thursday as PDS played at Lawrenceville. Senior standout Kramsky made 37 saves in a losing cause as the Panthers fell 3-1 to the Big Red to move to 9-9-2. This week, PDS starts play in the state Prep tournament where it is seeded second and hosts No. 3 Montclair Kimberley Academy in a semifinal contest on February 1 with the victor advancing to the title game on February 8. The Panthers also have a regular season game at the Portledge School (N.Y.) on February 6. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Logan Kramsky stood tall in goal for the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team as it played at the Lawrenceville School last Thursday evening.

With the stands at the Loucks Ice Center packed by students clad in the blue and red colors of their respective teams, the Big Red dominated possession early on, outshooting PDS 18-7 in the first period but with Kramsky acting as a stonewall, the rivals were knotted at 0-0 heading into the second period.

Kramsky remained sharp in the second period, making 10 saves and holding Lawrenceville scoreless while the Panthers got a goal on a penalty shot from junior star Tyler Coffey to forge ahead 1-0.

In the third period, however, Lawrenceville broke through as its relentless pressure yielded two goals when Kramsky was screened by heavy traffic in the crease. The Big Red added an empty net score in the waning seconds to earn a hard-fought 3-1 win.

Afterward, a bitterly disappointed Kramsky slumped against a wall near the door to the PDS locker room for minutes, with his head down and rapping his stick on the floor.

PDS head coach Scott Bertoli put his arm around Kramsky, bent over to talk him for a moment and then escorted him into the locker room.

“I told him what else can you do; you can’t score a goal,” said Bertoli, who got 37 saves from Kramsky as the Panthers dropped to 9-9-2 with the defeat.

“He did everything else he had to do, I feel terrible for him. He is such a great kid, he was outstanding so I feel for him.”

Bertoli wasn’t surprised that PDS had to weather a storm in the first period.

“You knew that was coming, they are a big, emotional, physical team,” said Bertoli.

“They got playing downhill a lot in the first period and put us back on our heels. We were probably a little too passive initially, I thought we gave them a little too much respect.”

In the second period, the Panthers got the Big Red on its heels as Coffey was dragged down in the crease and got awarded a penalty shot, which he coolly deposited in the back of the net.

“Tyler is the most skilled kid on the ice,” said Bertoli. “I told him before the game that he needs to come up big in a situation like that and put that puck home.”

While Bertoli had no qualms with the effort put in by his players, he acknowledged that the Panthers need to be more tenacious in the crease area.

“They work hard but to me the other team was tougher, they played better in the hard areas of the ice,” said Bertoli.

“You look at their goals, they get traffic in front of the net and Logan doesn’t see the puck. They won battles with arguably our top group on the ice. The puck goes to the point and you don’t pick up a stick in front on a redirection.”

With PDS having lost five of its last six games, Bertoli is looking for his players to develop more of a killer instinct.

“For whatever reason, we don’t close games out,” said Bertoli, noting that PDS squandered a 5-3 lead late in the third period against LaSalle on January 18 on the way to a 6-5 defeat.

“I guarantee at the NHL level, the college level, the high levels of hockey that some of these kids want to play at, teams leading in the third period win 85-90 percent of the games. You lay the hammer down, you close the game out. We don’t do that; part of it could be our make up. We are not big, we are not physical. We like to play up tempo and push the pace and you get tired. At the same time, you as a defenseman and as a forward have to take pride in playing in your defensive zone and locking guys down.”

Bertoli is confident that his players will show pride as they compete in the state Prep tournament, where PDS is seeded second and hosts No. 3 Montclair Kimberley Academy in a semifinal contest on February 1 with the victor advancing to the title game on February 8.

“When we used our speed, I thought we had some success; when we got away from it, that was tough,” said Bertoli.

“They are a good group of kids, we want them to experience the satisfaction. It was right there.”