STICKING WITH IT: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey player Fred Ringblom controls the puck in recent action. Last Thursday, senior forward Ringblom scored a goal in a losing case as PDS fell 3-2 to Don Bosco. The Panthers, who lost 10-2 to Morristown-Beard last Monday to move to 1-3, play at Christian Brothers Academy on December 17, host St. Joseph (Montvale) on December 18, and then play at LaSalle College High (Pa.) on December 22. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
With the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team locked in a 1-1 battle with powerhouse Don Bosco Prep in the second period last Thursday, Fred Ringblom cashed in a golden opportunity.
Getting loose on an odd-man rush, Ringblom found the back of the net with 4:42 left in the period.
“Our d-man made a nice play to Grayson [McLaughlin] on the wall and he chips it to Filip [Kacmarsky],” said senior forward and team co-captain Ringblom. “Filip makes a nice drop pass to me and I put it through the five hole.”
Ringblom has developed a special connection with Kacmarsky over the years.
“I have known Filip for a good amount of time, we play club together,” said Ringblom, who also competes for the Mercer Chiefs club program. “Our chemistry just builds every year. It shows through high school and club.”
PDS, though, failed to build on the 2-1 lead as Don Bosco, ranked No. 2 in the state by nj.com, scored two unanswered goals in the third period to pull out a 3-2 win.
“We got great goaltending from [Drew] Picker. I think we stuck through it — it was definitely a winnable game. We just didn’t win it this time. They have a lot of great players over there. We are a younger group. I think we fell apart in the last eight minutes.”
While the loss was disappointing, Ringblom liked the way the No. 8 Panthers battled Don Bosco in a week that saw them fall 4-1 to No. 1 Delbarton two days earlier.
“It is always fun playing the bigger teams and the tougher teams in the state,” said Ringblom. “We were playing Nos. 1 and 2. It is always a challenge, especially when we are a young group. I think we competed hard for both of them.”
In Ringblom’s view, the squad’s younger players are gaining some valuable experience.
“All of these young kids are getting great chances,” said Ringblom. “Every line gets a chance and that’s the big thing.”
Ringblom, for his part, has been excited to get more chances over his PDS career.
“Last year was my big step because, before then I didn’t really play much,” said Ringblom. “This year it is me and Filip. I am getting a lot more chances, more power play, more first line minutes. It is just getting more opportunities. I think that is a big part of my success.”
Panther head coach Scott Bertoli liked the way his players competed in their opportunity to play Delbarton and Don Bosco.
“Any time you are playing the Delbartons, the Don Boscos, the CBAs, those are the three teams that year in, year out, are elite and they are the benchmarks for high school hockey in this entire area,” said Bertoli. “Now that we have been doing this for five years (in the Gordon Conference), it is easy for these kids to get excited and understand that unless they bring their absolute best, they aren’t going to win. Sometimes your absolute best is good enough against these teams, but we are not going to have a fighting chance without this.”
In the loss to Don Bosco, PDS raised its game after falling behind 1-0 early in the contest.
“I thought the second period was the best period we played all year,” said Bertoli. “We were really, really good. We talked about trying to slow them down in transition, and conversely we probably had eight or nine odd-man rushes. We finally buried one. We probably should have been able to stretch that lead out a little bit. We had four breakaways and we only scored on one of them.”
Bertoli was not surprised that Ringblom and Kacmarsky combined on the second period goal.
“Those two, just in terms of their ability to impact the game in a positive way in all three zones at the forward position, are head and shoulders above anyone else on our roster,” said Bertoli, who also got a goal from EJ Wiston in the loss. “They are going to drive the offense for us. As they are going, we are going to go. It is no secret when we play these teams, it is going to be easy for them to understand who they need to shut down. They are talented enough, they are skilled and fast enough that they are still going to generate their chances like they did tonight against a very good team.”
Junior defenseman Tyler Nevrotski showed his talent and grit against Delbarton and Don Bosco.
“Tyler on the back end, that kid probably played 26, 28 minutes in the last two games,” added Bertoli. “He rang a puck off the crossbar, he had that look with six seconds left.”
In goal, junior Picker made 21 saves as he helped PDS survive an early onslaught from Don Bosco.
“I said to the kids afterward that probably the thing I am walking out of here most excited about is the fact that your goalie played the best two games he has ever played for us,” said Bertoli. “Now he is giving you the opportunity and belief that you can be in every game you play because of the way he has played. He is so calm, his rebound control was incredible. He just ate so many picks with his glove that just killed the play almost effortlessly for a kid that size. He was awesome. In that first period, he was unbelievable.”
Bertoli knew that PDS was facing an uphill battle in the matchups against Delbarton and Don Bosco.
“Against Delbarton on Tuesday, they have 17 juniors or seniors and we dressed 13 skaters because we had a number of kids out sick,” said Bertoli. “If I had to guess, we probably had six or seven freshmen or sophomores in the lineup today, and a couple of older kids that are playing their first or second varsity games. We are inexperienced.”
Looking ahead, Bertoli believes his squad will benefit from the experience it gained last week.
“I told the kids after both of the games, ‘I am super proud and I am encouraged; there is a lot to build off,’” said Bertoli, whose team lost 10-2 to Morristown-Beard last Monday to move to 1-3 and plays at Christian Brothers Academy on December 17, hosts St. Joseph (Montvale) on December 18, and then plays at LaSalle College High (Pa.) on December 22. “There was a lot of good to take from today. We had way more chances tonight than were had against Delbarton. Against Delbarton, we had a flurry of chances in the first and one or two each in the second and third whereas today we had more chances in the second period alone than we did in the entire game on Tuesday.”
Ringblom is confident that PDS will start converting their chances on a more consistent basis.
“We just have to bear down when we get these early chances,” said Ringblom. “I think it is important. I had a chance in the first period that I didn’t bury. I think that goes a long way at the end of the game.”