Andy Gojdycz has a wealth of ice hockey coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels.
This made him a sound choice as Christian Brothers Academy’s new ice hockey coach.
The Lincroft private school announced Gojdycz’s hiring in a press release on July 23. He replaced head coach Ryan Bogan, who coached the Colts from 2007-2019, compiled a 219-58-25 record and won three NJSIAA Non-Public championships, with the most recent title coming in 2015.
That’s a tough act to follow, but Gojdycz seems prepared for the challenge. His resume is very convincing.
Gojdycz has coached high school hockey at Hightstown High School, Hunterdon Central Regional High School and Montgomery High School. He was also the head coach at Rutgers University from 2002-2015, leading the Scarlet Knights to four American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournaments and five regular-season conference titles.
The 1996 CBA graduate even served as the amateur hockey program director for the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils, organizing youth clinics and camps.
So after stops in high school, college and even the pros, Gojdycz’s hockey journey is now coming full circle, back to the school that he helped lead to three consecutive state titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996. The program has won seven state titles in its history.
“I am honored that Christian Brothers Academy chose me to continue the school’s storied hockey tradition,” Gojdycz said. “As an alumnus, it is a privilege to be named the head coach of CBA Hockey and I am excited to start building towards our eighth state championship.”
“We are very excited to welcome Andy back home to Lincroft,” said Vito Chiaravalloti, CBA’s director of athletics. “During the search process, Andy stood out as the ideal candidate to build upon the proud traditions of the CBA hockey program.”
“We loved his energy and were inspired by his vision for the program,” Chiaravalloti added. “We know he will have a positive influence on our students and we can’t wait for him to get started.”
CBA will open tryouts for the 2019-20 season in November. In 2018-19, the Colts finished 18-5-1 and advanced to the NJSIAA Non-Public Tournament quarterfinals, falling to Bergen Catholic High School, 1-0.
It was another successful season, and a lot of key players from that team should be back this winter, including goal scorers Kyle Contessa, Evan Brown, Logan Heroux, Zachary Wagnon and Giovanni Crepaldi. Brown, Heroux and Wagnon were underclassmen last winter, so CBA should have a bright future, too.
Early last winter, those players were talking about how important it was to get so many reps so early in their careers. Now Gojdycz will be in position to take advantage of that development in his first season back with the Colts’ program.
