By Wayne Witkowski
The Ravens, a co-op ice hockey team consisting of players from Robbinsville High School and Allentown High Schools going back to the 2011-12 season, is shooting for a strong upswing from last season’s 12-9-3 campaign with a solid nucleus of returning players.
The team opens its season Nov. 26 at Jersey Shore Arena in Wall Township against Freehold High School.
The Ravens return to their home rink at Mercer County Park for the next two games against Ocean Township High School at 8 p.m. Nov. 28 and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North at 4 p.m. on Nov. 30.
“We have a mix of forwards this year that remain relatively intact, other than major losses of John Francis and Matt Kalczynski,” said head coach Dan Bergan, who returns for his 11th season.
Francis had a team-best 32 assists to go with 13 goals.
Bergan’s assistant coaches include Mark Phillips, who is also starting his 11th season; Dan Grab, who is on board for his ninth season; and Dennis Green, who starts his eighth season. Connor Given joined the staff last year.
Other key graduates from last season’s team are John Martin, a first team all-Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) defenseman, and goalkeeper Joe Nolan. Nick Koch, a senior and one of the 11 players on the Ravens from Allentown High School, shared a lot of time in goal last season with Nolan.
“He brings a high level of athleticism and competence to the nets,” Bergan said.
Sophomore Justin Cooper also has earned Bergan’s praise for making “impressive gains” as the other goalie.
At forward, captain Shawn Camisa is back on the first line after an all-CVC first team season with Josh Rosenbaum, a second team all-CVC pick last season, and Aiden Fredericks, an Allentown student. All are seniors.
Camisa had 28 goals and 27 assists, and Rosenbaum logged 29 goals and 20 assists last season.
Junior Joe Pontrelli looks solid on the second line after getting a lot of playing time last season along with Allentown juniors Brian Eider and newcomer Noah Duggan. Allentown juniors Matt LaPreta and Andrew Laurits continue to make big strides and should have larger roles this year, Bergan said.
“The team looks good in practice so far, knocking off some rust and starting to put the system’s pieces together,” Bergan said. “I have some concern about the conditioning factor, but we’re going to remedy that. We have four scrimmages to get reacquainted with what 45 minutes of maximum effort looks like.”
Martin’s graduation leaves a significant void on defense, where there are many young players ready to take on larger roles.
“Fortunately, our defense remains in good hands with junior Ryan Van Duren [and] fellow junior Daniel Simone. Sophomore Ryan D’Auria is coming on strong and will be a cornerstone back at the blue line after an impressive first season,” Bergan said. “We have a host of quality freshmen looking to grab jobs. Jack Pallitto, Sierra Moore and Jeremy Van Duren will form an excellent defensive corps for years to come for the Ravens.”
D’Auria and Pallitto are Allentown students.
“Our defensive group should be young and develop as the year plays out,” Bergan said. “We will need to play a highly defensive game with strong goaltending. Our offense should have some depth at forward with the new players we have coming in.”
Also on the roster from Allentown are forwards Liam Hartmann, a sophomore, and Paul Cacace and Joe Colamarino, who are freshman.
“We are looking forward to a breakout year from Liam Hartmann, who carried a lot of ice time his freshman year and is expected to be a core contributor this season,” said Bergan, who feels this team should return to the state tournament for the ninth straight year and advance into it.
After a 4-20-1 season in the first year of hockey at Robbinsville, the Ravens have gone 125-71-17 with five CVC division championships over the last 10 years, including their second CVC Colonial title two seasons ago, and three CVC Player of the Year award-winners. Most memorable for Bergan was the 2012-13 team that took three-time defending NJSIAA Group A state champion Randolph High School deep into overtime before losing in the state tournament.
