It’s state tournament time and Robbinsville/Allentown and Princeton are two local teams looking to keep the season alive. Hopewell Valley/Montgomery played the Howell Co-op on Thursday and was eliminated, 6-1. Here’s a look at the two games on tap for Monday: South Public Co-op Tournament Both t eams are coming into the game playing pretty good hockey as No. 2 Robbinsville/Allentown (18-5), the CVC Tournament champion, has won six of the last eight and No. 15 Millburn/Kearny/No. Arlington (7-7-2) is riding a four-game winning streak. Face off is set for 3:45 p.m. at the Mercer Skating Center. No matter how impressive his teams might be, R/A coach Dan Bergan is always the skeptic. “The “one and done” factor is scary and trying to integrate high end freshmen talent into a team that plays assignment hockey gives me concern,’’ said Bergan. “Usually takes two years to gain my trust but we don’t have time for that.’’ There’s plenty of reasons to trust this group and it begins with senior leadership and the play of the state’s leading scorer Jake Lachance. “Senior leadership has been everything,’’ stated Bergan. “While we have skills, the chemistry is off the charts for players that spent four seasons, four summer camps and four spring league seasons together.’’ Besides Lachance, the seniors are Michael Buchanan, Shane D’Auria, Jack Lawrence, Shane Savola, Alex Margolin, James Morino, Marcus Johansson and Reilly Halpin. At some point through the season all have made major contributions. Now, the seniors would like to cap off the things with a strong tournament run. “I think we have a pretty good shot,’’ said Lachance. “This has been a fun year and we have stuck together this whole season.’’ Yes, they have through injuries and a tough schedule. “We are where we expected to be,’’ Bergan. “The surprise was how we held up despite five players out with broken bones over six weeks of the season and yet continued to win.’’ Lachance leads the charge with a state-best 46 goals and 29 assists, Morino chimes in with 15 goals and 34 assists and Jack Lawrence has 18 goals and 26 assists. The R/A Co-op has eight players with 20 points or more and goalie Tyler Wagner has a .905 save percentage. That doesn’t mean that Bergan can relax behind the bench. “Millburn has a great goalie in net with Tim Hanney,’’ said Bergan, emphasizing great. “He can single-handedly win a game as he did in the last two Oratory matches and Conference title over Johnson.’’ Hanney has 456 saves and a .927 save percentage. The Millburn Co-op has scored only 54 goals on the season and relies heavily on goaltending and defense. Brenden Shaykevich leads the attack with 15 goals and Alex Strauss has a team high 13 assists. Expect the Robbinsville/Allentown team to advance. Princeton High’s Anders Hedin, left, tries to move away from the check of Notre Dame’s Colin Wright, right, during a CVC Tournament quarterfinal boys ice hockey game on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 at the Mercer Skating Center in West Windsor. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) South Public Tournament This is a tough draw for No. 13 Princeton (9-12-1) as No. 4 Ridge(12-10-1) is a program with four state championship trophies in the case and last won in 2023, when the now-seniors were freshmen. Face off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. at Bridgewater Sports Arena. The Tigers have dropped three straight and have lost six of eight heading to the states. Anders Hedin leads with 12 goals and a team high 33 assists, Baptiste Demurge leads in goals with 25 and he adds 18 assists, Ryan Garlock has been steady with 15 goals and 18 assists. Peter Pessutti has been solid in the cage with 366 saves on the season. The last time on the ice, Ridge fell to Bridgewater-Raritan in the Skyland Cup semifinals, 6-5 Ridge has been led by Brody Hansen, who is the son of the former Princeton High coach the late Dave Hansen. Hansen has 26 goals and 15 assists. Jake Gunn has 15 goals and 19 assists and Brennan Ward leads the team in assists with 20. Matthew DeMaio is between the pipes and has a 90.2 save percentage. Princeton will need to be on every aspect of its game. ...read more read less