Brick Memorial’s hockey team may not be playing past February. It all depends on how the NJSIAA rules on its appeal the middle of this week.
The Mustangs were eliminated from the Handchen Cup that they had won three years ago when they suffered an 8-2 loss to St. Augustine’s on Friday to slip to 8-11-2. They were 8-10-2 on the cutoff, but feel they deserve an at-large bid that the state association confers to hockey teams that play in a grueling schedule.
“We feel we should get approved for an at-large bid because of the tough schedule we play,” said coach George Kiernan.
Brett Eker scored early against St. Augustine, but the goal was disallowed because of high sticking.
St. Augustine took a 3-0 lead when Brick Memorial’s Bill Giersbach, who scored both goals to give him 18 for the season, hit a shot from the top of the circle and beat the goalie to his glove side into the corner.
With the score 4-1, Giersbach struck again when he rebounded in a shot by Matt Baker that was deflected away.
“We had two power play goals, but our biggest problem was giving up two shorthanded ones,” said Kiernan, who said he got another good goaltending effort from Justin Ferguson.
Brick Memorial had come into the game off an 11-1 loss to Bishop Eustace, a game resumed at 2-0 when deteriorating ice rink conditions forced postponement. Had the Mustangs won that game, they would have been at .500 at the cutoff, good enough to qualify for a state tournament berth.
— Wayne Witkowski