By Warren Rappleyea
The Ocean Township High School ice hockey team is looking to bounce back from a 1-3-1 start as it heads into a stretch of six games in 11 days.
Coach Dave Smith’s young team could have won two more games, but inconsistency hampered their effort. The Spartans played Colonia High School to a 5-5 tie Dec. 8 in a game in which they led 4-2 after two periods. Ocean Township scored to open the third; however, the Patriots responded with three unanswered tallies to equalize things.
“I could see that things seemed to be a little too easy for us in the second period,” Smith said. “Colonia has an excellent goalie, [Ryan Creenan], and we had four goals already, then we got the fifth. At that point we stopped doing all the things we had done to build the lead.”
After Colonia knotted the score, Ocean Township controlled the last five minutes of the game yet could not score, as Creenan stood tall between the pipes.
Smith’s team also dominated the third period against Manasquan High School in what would become a 4-2 loss. In that match, the Spartans were the victims of their own play, as several Ocean Township mistakes resulted in goals for the Warriors. Ian Hendrickson and Dylan Haar scored in the loss.
Ocean Township’s lone victory was the result of a solid showing against Old Bridge High School. Despite outshooting the Knights by a count of 50-4, the Spartans’ only goal was a second-period tally by Joe LaValle that was assisted by Hendrickson and Haar. Brennan Mulvey earned his first career shutout in net.
“We definitely should have scored more because Old Bridge was undermanned because of injuries, but we’ll take the win,” Smith said. “Against Manasquan, I thought that after we hurt ourselves, we responded very well to a strong team that wanted to put us away.”
The Spartans have a strong core of veterans led by senior forwards Alex Laughlin and LaValle, who moved up front after playing defense last season. Another senior, forward Casey Schulhafer, provides depth on the forward line. Juniors Gavin Cherella and Tom Stuppi can put the puck in the net. In addition, Harr, a sophomore, is off to a strong start with four goals, including a penalty shot in an 8-3 loss against Passaic Valley Regional High School. Freshman Nicolas Ciancio has been seeing time up front as well.
Seniors Mike Perri and Hendrickson provide experience on the blue line, which also includes sophomore Brandon Convery and freshmen Patrick Brennan, Richard Canneto and Scott Siriani.
Perri and Hendrickson are particularly important given the Spartans’ inexperience in goal. At the end of last season, Ocean Township lost both of its netminders to graduation — and there was no heir apparent. Three newcomers have stepped in to hold down the fort: junior Sean Harrington, freshman Kevin Scholenberger and Mulvey, a sophomore.
Last year, Ocean Township, which is actually a co-op program with Shore Regional High School, went 15-10-2. In addition to the two goalies, eight other seniors were lost to graduation. As a result, the Spartans have a smaller roster this time around with 15 skaters to go with the three new goaltenders.
“We went from zero to three goalies, who have never really played before,” Smith said. “It’s been interesting. We also have a lot of young players, but they’re coming together. They’re all great kids, they’re working hard and we appreciate what they’re doing.”
The Spartans were slated to play at Edison High School Dec. 12 and will host South Brunswick High School Dec. 15. On Dec. 16, Ocean Township travels to Edison, and Smith’s team will be at Red Bank Regional High School Dec. 20.
