TRINITY HALL ICE HOCKEY BREAKS THROUGH IN INAUGURAL SEASON
By Eric Braun
TINTON FALLS – The Shore Conference is already rich in ice hockey tradition, and now Trinity Hall, an all-girls school in Tinton Falls, has thrown their skates into the rink. The Monarchs opened their inaugural season with an impressive 8-2 win against Westfield in front of their home fans at Middletown Ice Arena on Dec. 20.
Since the inception of women’s ice hockey on the national level, the number of girls playing organized ice hockey has grown from the club level, to high school level, to college and professionally. The United States continues to be one of, if not the best, in international play winning two golds, three silvers and one bronze in Olympic play and eight golds and 10 silvers in World Championship play.
So it brings us back to the first-ever, all-girls team in the Shore Conference, and 14th team in the state here at Trinity Hall. The group consists of seven freshmen and two juniors. Not one will complain of the early morning practice schedules before school and the hard work that has been asked of them. With only eight healthy players, the girls at times are asked to skate 8-10 minutes shifts against some of the top players in the state and have done so without any hesitation, due to their love for the game and each other.
“This team is exciting to watch, and they love to play with each other. They are talented and young, and as they grow together, this could be the start of something special,” said athletic director Ken Santos. “The coaching staff is looking forward to building a great program, and the core group of players is already here and ready to grow,”
The hockey team began after the Athletic Advisory Committee noticed that several freshmen played hockey and had experience with the sport. Last winter, former teacher Alyssa Anderson coached a clinic to generate interest in ice hockey. This is the program’s first year as a fully functioning and practicing team. Despite the newness of the team, the athletes say they instantly became good friends and tight-knit teammates.
With the success of this year’s team, Santos added, “Our school and community have really rallied around this team and it has become a big part of our winter sports program. We now have more girls that are students that want to play next season. We also have interest from incoming freshmen who have experience playing who have seen our success and want to be a part of it.”
The inaugural Trinity Hall Monarchs are Maddie Reynolds, Anna Clements (1 goal), Adriana Crepaldi (4 goals), Caitlin Bermingham, Elisabeth Clements (11 goals), Riley Francese, Carolyn Litwin, Molly Riggi (3 goals) and Noelle Turek.
On the season, they are 1-3 with the lone winning coming on opening night against Westfield, followed by three losses to Kent Place, Morristown-Beard and Princeton Day.
The Monarchs’ final game of the season is Feb.19 against Morristown-Beard.
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