The St. John Vianney High School ice hockey team is looking to pick up where it left off a year ago when the Lancers won the NJSIAA’s National B Conference and went 18-5-3 overall.
This time around Coach Mike Dowd’s team is competing in the National A Conference, the state’s strongest.
The Holmdel Lancers moved up as a result of winning National B. St. John also reached the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Parochial tourney before bowing, 3-0, to Seton Hall Prep.
"We’re now in the best conference in the state, and we’ll have to come to play and be at our best every night," Dowd said. "We’ll have to make sure that we’re prepared for every game."
Vianney opened the season on Dec. 1 with a 4-1 win over Bergen Catholic. A.J. Petruzel, Tom Mariano, Mitchell Morgan and Mike Dowd, the coach’s son, tallied for the winners, while Todd Stolarz picked up the win in net.
As always, the Lancers play an uptempo, fore-checking game that should result in plenty of offensive opportunities, particularly since most of the forwards are back.
The younger Dowd, now a senior, paced the team with 25 goals and 25 assists last winter. Petruzel led the team in goals with 26 and contributed 13 assists. Junior Doug Morgan added 16 goals and a like number of assists, and Mitchell Morgan tallied 10 goals to go with 13 assists.
Other returners on the front line include seniors Matt Weisenfeld (8 goals, 14 assists) and Pat McDermott (8, 2), and juniors Rob Burner (2, 10), George Bardis (4, 2), Pete Johnson (4, 3), Todd Moitz (3, 2), and Mariano (3, 8).
On the blue line, the Lancers are equally strong with four starters returning, including senior Steve Charney (1, 9) and Hunter Dowd (1, 2), and sophomore John Meyer (3, 9). Sophomore Sean Savage will also see action on defense.
"Our defense is very smart, and they play well together," the coach said. "Our goalies are experienced."
In goal, Stolarz is coming off an 8-3-1 season with an excellent 0.905 save percentage and 2.06 goals against average.
Dan Tacopino, another sophomore, will also see time in net. He was 1-01 with a 1.91 goals against average last season.
The Lancers returned to action Friday, when they faced off against Brick at home.The game ended in a tie, as the two teams battled throughout the contest.
On Monday, Dowd’s club beat a strong Notre Dame team to up their record to 2-0-1. The Lancers will face Summit today at 5:15 p.m., before hosting Christian Brothers Academy on Friday in one of the season’s most anticipated matchups.
St. John plays its home games at American Hockey in Wall.