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HIGH SCHOOL ICE HOCKEY
Hopewell-Montgomery wins CVC Tournament By rIch FISher Blake Echternacht won a team trophy and an individual award as tournament MVP after the Hopewell-Montgomery co-op ice hockey team won the inaugural Colonial Valley Conference Tournament championship. But as far as the HVCHS senior was concerned, they were both team honors. “It’s great (being named MVP) but everyone on our team contributed, not only in the tournament but the whole season, whether it was on or off the ice,” the standout goalie said. “Everyone bought in. And my defense has done a great job all season.” Individual awards aside, Echternacht said, “I really just care about that big (Puchalik Cup) trophy for the team.” “It was just awesome to win it,” he continued. “This group of seniors has worked hard together for so many years. We’ve been through a lot of tough losses. We lost in the (Mercer County Tournament) finals two years ago and the semifinals last year, both in overtime. It was great to just finally win after everything we’ve been through.” Hopewell-Montgomery is
having a historic season, carrying a program-record 23-2 mark and No. 13 state ranking into its Feb. 24 state tournament opener. It took a 4-1 win over Notre Dame in the Feb. 14 Puchalik Cup final, and Echternacht won his award after making 63 saves on 65 shots in the semifinals and finals. “I wouldn’t even say he raised his play to another level, he just kept it to the level that he was playing at all year,” coach Jeff Radice said. “It’s really more about consistency. That’s the key when you’re doing the things that you love to do. “It’s repeating the highest level you can; doing rep after rep with no mistakes. He’s a highpressure kid and that helps him in tournaments in high-pressure situations. When the pressure is there, he can see a little more clearly.” What makes Echternacht’s hockey success so amazing, is that his focus is on baseball. He’s a standout player with a three-year varsity career ERA of 2.62 and batting average of .318. He hopes to play on a college diamond next year. But that has taken nothing away from his dedication to hockey. “Blake is just a different type See HOCKEY, Page 6
John Hart of Needle Creek Farm Brewery emptying out the mash tun, a part of the beer brewing process. (Facebook photo.)
New brewery aims to share a glimpse of life on the farm By Joe eManSKI John Hart Farms on Titus Mill Road is a true working farm. There are cows, chickens, horses, pigs and fields of crops in season. The property, which John Hart purchased in 1986, includes buildings which date
back to the early 18th century. One of them, which has beams that have been dated by historians to as early as 1713, had served until very recently as a home for the cows that live on the farm. A few years ago, John Hart and his wife Beth got the idea to start up a farm brewery on
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the site. They would grow a certain percentage of the brewing ingredients on the farm — namely, barley — which is a requirement for those seeking to be licensed by the state as a farm brewery. For a tasting room, the Harts tapped the old cow barn. But See BREWERY, Page 4
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