2024 Mercer County Final
2-Robbinsville-Allentown (16-5) vs. 4-Notre Dame
Friday, Feb. 16 at Mercer County Park, 5pm
Championship History
- Robbinsville-Allentown: 0 titles
- Notre Dame: 12 titles (1986, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2022)
How They Got Here
Notre Dame put together consecutive shutouts to reach this final. Nate Mayer was in goal for both wins against fifth-seeded Princeton and top-seeded Paul VI-Camden Catholic and stopped a total of 48 shots in the process. Offensively, eight different players picked up at least a point in the two games.
Robbinsville-Allentown scored six goals in both of its tournament wins against seventh-seeded Hamilton and third-seeded Hopewell Valley-Montgomery. The semifinal tilt against HV-M needed overtime after the team squandered a four-goal lead in the third period. Luke Gensinger supplied the overtime heroics and Zach Duggan picked up the secondary assist to notch his sixth point of the game.
Previous Meetings
This is the third time these two will share the same ice sheet this season.
The first tilt was back on Dec. 20 and 45 minutes of regulation didn’t determine a winner. After five goals were scored in the third period, Jake Lachance buried the game-winner in overtime to lift Robbinsville-Allentown to a 4-3 win.
The rematch was on Jan. 26 and it was a tight 2-1 game through two periods. Then Robbinsville-Allentown’s offense erupted. Four different players scored to pull away from Notre Dame in a 6-2 win. Five players had at least one goal and two points.
If Robbinsville-Allentown completes a three-game sweep, it will give the team its first-ever Mercer County title. A win for Notre Dame would be the 13th championship, which is the most in the tournament’s history.
Impact Players to Watch
Robbinsville-Allentown
- Zach Duggan (29G, 30A, 59P)
- Luke Gensinger (26G, 26A, 52P)
- Charlie Luizza (18G, 33A, 51P)
- Zander Wiley (20GP, .904 sv%, 2SO)
- Colin Rubin (3G, 12A, 15P)
Notre Dame
- Gavin Frith (9G, 21A, 30P
- Trey Guire (14G, 13A, 27P)
- Mike Kuzma (10G, 6A, 16P)
- Nathan Mayer (11GP, .911 sv%, 2SO)
- Jake Moog (7G, 7A, 14P)
Prediction
- Hugel: Robbinsville-Allentown 4, Notre Dame 2
- Bobal: Robbinsville-Allentown 4, Notre Dame 1
Brian Bobal may be reached at bbobal@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @BrianBobal.
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