SHORE CONFERENCE HOCKEY TEAMS SHINE IN POSTSEASON
By Casey Krish
The 2018-19 ice hockey season has come to an end, but not without a fair share of playoff runs from Shore Conference teams. The “Road to the Rock” provides one final chance for teams to compete together as they try to capture the state’s most coveted prize on the ice.
Seven clubs from the Shore Conference played on into the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA state tournament with Middletown South reaching the semifinals, and six – Point Pleasant Boro, Freehold Township, Middletown North, Ocean Township, Marlboro, and CBA – reaching the quarterfinal rounds of their brackets.
MIDDLETOWN SOUTH: This season, Middletown South was the lone representative from the shore to come within one game of reaching the state championship, ultimately bowing out to top-seeded Randolph, 5-0, in the semifinal round of the Public B bracket. The Eagles captured the A North public division championship, going 13-9-2 while relying on its depth scoring. Demitri Forand led all scorers with 35 points, and along with 30 from Joe Ciervo and 21 from Marc Connor, to give Middletown South a formidable trio for an offense that averaged four goals a game. Andrew Bohner and Michael Hannigan also provided senior scoring, producing 18 and 17, respectively.
Middletown South was also strong in the crease where junior goalie Sean Caswell took on the brunt of the playing time and turned the opportunity into a .907 save percentage in a division littered with goal scorers. With Caswell and Forand set to return for their senior seasons, and Nate Block, Michael Ferlanti, Andreas Forand and Michael Volpi all underclassmen with double-digit scoring seasons, the Eagles are primed to soar again next season.
POINT PLEASANT BORO: Point Boro bowed out in the quarterfinals to Middletown South. The lofty question of how a team could compete with only 11 skaters on the roster was answered by winning the A South division and reaching the final of the Handchen Cup. The Panthers may not have had the most amount of personnel on the bench, but they surely had talented ones. Six players put up 20-plus point seasons led by 40 from Aidan Zielaznicki on 29 goals and 11 assists. Will Herrington piled up 34 and Eddie Coyne had 29. Brett Nelson, Ryan McCabe and Tyler Griffin all contributed at least 20 points, making everyone on the bench a scoring concern for the opponents.
Senior goalie John Meyer turned in one of the greatest seasons in the state holding up a .943 save percentage and allowing only 24 goals in 23 games. With the Panthers set to lose nearly all that production to graduation, it will be hard to repeat the success that so many thought could be achieved with so little numbers. If Point Boro proved one thing this season, it’s that doubt is their strongest motivation.
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP: Freehold Township fell to top-seeded Randolph in the quarterfinal round after a night-biting victory over Southern Regional in the first round. The Patriots’ 14-9-3 season is a testament of their depth up front, led by a trio of seniors looking to make their final seasons a memorable one.
Leading scorers Colin Sullo and Evan McNamara each compiled 31 points and with the 26-point production out of Tyler Sanborn, the top line production for the Patriots helped key an offense that averaged just below four goals a game.
Next season, Freehold will need to replace the scoring of those top three, but have the pieces that are ready to step up and fill the roles. Freshman Michael Sullo will be the top returning scorer after putting up 24 points and 12 goals in his first high school campaign. Joining him will be a pair of 22-point scorers in Tyler DesRochers and Jacob Liebross.
Freehold Township will have a question to answer in between the pipes, where Michael Ottone will depart after his four-year varsity career. With the Patriots set on bringing in a fresh face to be the goalie of the future, as well as losing their top three scorers, next season should be about young talent getting experience, but the pieces are there to spark another great season in Freehold.
MIDDLETOWN NORTH: Middletown North’s playoff run fell short by the hands of Summit in the Public C quarterfinals, but the victory in the opening round was remarkable for the Lions. Middletown North defeated a Manasquan team, 2-1, just five days after losing, 7-1, in the Dowd Cup final. After a miracle run to the Dowd final as an 11-seed fell flat in the final, the chance at redemption was something Middletown North jumped at once given a second opportunity against a Manasquan team that entered the state tournament undefeated.
In fitting fashion, it was a two-goal performance by leading scorer Anthony Tavares, as well as a 47-save performance from Matt Corella – who was pulled in the Dowd Cup final, which sparked the Lions upset.
The formula for success for Middletown North was its goaltending, in which Corella, a junior, fashioned a .909 save percentage on the year and led his team to a multitude of wins in low-scoring contests. The offense struggled at times, being held to two or less goals 13 times this season. However, Tavares, Chris Repmann and John Miranda compiled 10-plus goal seasons, with Tavares breaking 20 in the victory over Manasquan. Repmann and Miranda return next year with another season of experience under their belts. With the offense returning the second and third leading goal scorers, along with Corella, the Lions will be more matured next year and have strong determination to improve on this season’s state tournament victory.
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OCEAN TOWNSHIP: Ocean capped off a season that saw a 2-3-2 start turn into a six-game winning streak and 8-1-0 stretch that fueled the Spartans into becoming a team not to tread lightly on in a playoff atmosphere. The 14th-seeded Spartans took a then undefeated Marlboro team to overtime before ultimately bowing out of the Dowd Cup in the opening round. The playoff run continued in the state tournament with a 6-0 drubbing of South Brunswick and had themselves hanging around with top-seeded Hillsborough before ultimately falling, 7-3.
Ocean leaned on two prolific scorers in Dylan Haar and Kenny Maxwell, who combined for 111 points of production and 75 of the team’s 107 goals. Luke Hagerman and Ryan Convery poked home a combined 13 goals to provide some offense when the other team took away the scoring duo. Patrick Brannen, Eli Perelshteyn and Scott Sirianni were dynamic playmakers and passers while combining on 45 assists throughout the campaign, speaking to the Spartans’ fluent ability to move the puck in the offensive zone.
Freshman Tony Macaluso found a groove before the postseason started, with him becoming a valuable contributor after some expected growing pains of a rookie net minder thrown into the action immediately. Ocean will lose Haar’s offensive production, but with Maxwell set to return with 102 points before his junior season, along with Macaluso maturing as a freshman, the optimism surrounding the Spartans to have similar success is there.
MARLBORO: Marlboro opened the season 12-0-2 before suffering a defeat at the hands of Middletown North in the semifinals of the Dowd Cup. The Mustangs’ season came to an abrupt end to Wayne in the quarterfinals, but not before an 11-2 victory over Robbinsville kicked off their run in Public A.
Last season, Marlboro came one win shy of making it to the Public A state final, surrendering a last- minute lead to Woodbridge Township in the semifinals.
The Mustangs had eight different players put up double-digit point campaigns, led by 25 goals and 45 points from junior Anthony Galante, including scoring his 100th point prior to the postseason.
Dante Balsamo ended his junior season with 25 points and will enter his final season 25 points away from 100. Jack Werther put up a 20-point campaign in his final season, while freshman Justin Solovey produced 16 in his rookie season.
Josh Solovey, Joe Solovey, Anton Saks and Cosmo Morris are also set to return next season, along with a trio of goaltenders in Dan Gerts, Dmitri Kapranov and Jason Williams, who all split time this season.
With seven of their eight top scorers set to return, and having three goaltenders who are capable of coming in and stealing games on any given night, Marlboro should be a favorite to finish the job and capture the Public A title next season.
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY: CBA will have a long and disappointing offseason after having their run end before the semifinal round of the state tournament for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
The Colts’ run of 12 straight final-four appearances was snapped at the hands of 11th-seeded Bergen Catholic, who, behind a third period goal by Will Frassetto and a shutout performance from Chris Branch, eliminated CBA in the quarterfinal round, 1-0.
Despite the early exit by CBA standards, it was another campaign that saw CBA win the A North division title and reach the semifinal round of the Gordon Cup. Kyle Contessa snapped home 17 goals in his junior year and Evan Brown led the team with 34 points as a freshman. Garett Silverman finished second on the club with 10 goals and produced 21 points.
Senior goaltender Jake Brown copied his junior season by matching a stellar .946 save percentage while picking up five shutouts, including a 29-save shutout performance in the opening round of the postseason against Morristown-Beard.
The Colts bring back Contessa and Evan Brown next season, along with Giovanni Crepaldi, Logan Heroux, Matt Herrick and Zachary Wagnon – who all put up double-digit point efforts. With the returning offense, as well as the winning culture at CBA, the group fielded next year will have all the talent needed to rekindle consistent runs deep into the state tournament.
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