RINGING TRUE: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey player Fred Ringblom controls the puck in a 2023 game. Senior forward Ringblom figured to be a catalyst for PDS this winter. The Panthers were slated to open their 2025-26 season by playing at Gloucester Catholic on December 2 and then hosting Delbarton on December 9. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

As his Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team has gone through its preseason preparation, Scott Bertoli has enjoyed getting back to basics with his players.

“It has been high energy, it is a younger group,” said PDS head coach Bertoli, who guided the Panthers to a 10-9-1 record last year on the way to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public state tournament quarterfinals. “It is definitely a group that is talented and focused and seemingly willing to listen and learn which is exciting. It is a bit of a change, we have had an older group for a couple of years now. This has a different feel. It will require more attention when it comes to detail and systems which is great. We really haven’t had to focus on that too much over the last few years; that is a different challenge that we are looking forward to.”

The pair of senior forwards and co-captains Filip Kacmarsky (15 goals and 17 assists in 2024-25) and Fred Ringblom (11 goals, 12 assists) provide talent and grit for the Panther attack.

“What we love about them is they compete, they play hard,” said Bertoli, whose team was slated to open its 2025-26 season by playing at Gloucester Catholic on December 2 and then hosting Delbarton on December 9. “They are going to be good role models, they are coachable kids. I think our younger group should fall in line pretty easily with those two guys as role models and leading by example. They will play together on an line. They are going need to score and produce.”

PDS features some other veterans who are poised to produce in junior assistant captain Marshall Matyszczak (3 goals, 3 assists), junior James Winkler, sophomore Connor Paulmenn (3 assists), sophomore EJ Wiston (1 goals, 4 assists), and junior Alex Trantalis (1 goals, 3 assists).

“These are all kids who have been third, fourth line guys for us that are going to have to play much, much bigger roles,” said Bertoli. “We feel like most of them are ready for that challenge of playing the power play and killing penalties, playing on a second or third line and being relied on in key situations. That is par for the course as the kids get older.”

A pair of freshmen, Miles Matyszczak and Ryder Ewanchyna, are emerging as key additions.

“Miles is Marshall’s younger brother and we expect him to be able to step in and play in some capacity,” said Bertoli. “It definitely looks like he will be able to, he is a very good player. Ryder is the younger brother of Ace and Wyatt. He has had a little growth spurt and he is a very responsible two-way player. For what we will need from him, he has that mindset. He wants to play the full 200 feet. He wants to take pride on being responsible defensively.”

On defense, the pair of junior assistant captain Tyler Nevrotski (2 goals, 4 assists) and senior Hubert Shin (2 goals, 6 assists) will be spearheading the blue line unit.

“Tyler is back and he has looked great,” said Bertoli. “He is a big kid. He will be a top guy and we will lean on him a lot. We leaned on him a lot last year. We anticipate him quarterbacking the first power play. He plays a ton of minutes, we feel really good about him. Hubert has always been one of the kids that we have relied on back there and we will lean on him a little more.”

The Panthers will be looking for sophomore Cooper Fang and junior James Morwald to give them some good play on defense.

“Cooper looks better so hopefully he can step in,” said Bertoli. “We have used James sparingly over the last year, he will be in the mix and will have to play valuable minutes.”

At goalie, junior Drew Picker (123 saves and a .880 save percentage in 2024-25) is primed for a big season.

“Drew will be the guy that likely starts every game this year,” said Bertoli. “He looks great. He is a big kid, he competes. He plays club at a high level. He will be ready. I think he is excited to be the guy and take that on.”

In order for PDS to have a big season, it will need to be stingy defensively and excel on special teams.

“We are just not as dynamic offensively as we have been the last few years so it is being really good defensively, responsible, and hard to play against,” said Bertoli. “It is doing a lot of the little things like having a willingness to block shots, getting pucks deep, always having a high guy and winning board battles that are going to be important for us. They are going to have to be points of emphasis and they have been. We are going to have to be really good on the power play because I don’t think we will be getting on the rush and creating chances like we generally have the few years.”