ROBBINSVILLE: Ravens skate to 3-0 start

Ice hockey team eyes another record season

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   A 3-0 start for the Robbinsville High School ice hockey team confirmed what Dan Bergan already believed.
   This year’s Ravens team has the potential to be great.
   ”I think this could be our best team ever,” said Bergan, who has seen the Ravens steadily improve through their first six seasons in existence.
   Last year’s Robbinsville team set a new program record for wins while going 15-9 and winning the Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division championship. They won their first-round state tournament game before falling to Bridgewater-Raritan.
   ”First and foremost, it’s all about who can play the game the fastest and be comfortable,” Bergan said. “Against Bridgewater, we lost 4-1. They just played the game faster than we did, and when we tried to match it, we were bobbling the puck and passes were going off our sticks and things like that. I scheduled some tougher teams out there to see if I can raise the speed of our game.
   ”We’ve got non-conference games with Chatham, Bridgewater-Raritan, Wall, Middletown North, South Brunswick and an improved Livingston team.”
   The Ravens stayed unbeaten in their first three games with a 5-0 win over Hopewell Valley on Monday. Kellen Anker made 15 saves for his second straight shutout. Keith Allen, Dan Cox and Rich Francis each had a goal and assist in the win. Logan Fredericks and Coleman Anker also scored for Robbinsville.
   ”This senior group, when we started four years ago, I think Hopewell beat us 5-0 when they were freshmen,” Bergan said. “For them to come back and turn it around and win 5-0, it means a lot.”
   The Ravens opened the year with a 6-1 win over Lawrence behind four goals from Eric Hildebrand. Coleman Anker had a goal and three assists, and Cox had three assists. In the 6-0 win over Steinert that followed the next day, Kellen Anker made 25 saves, Francis had a pair of goals, Fredericks had a pair of assists and John Martin and Matt Reed recorded assists. Allen had a goal and assist, as did Hildebrand. They try to stay unbeaten when they face Princeton High today.
   ”We have Princeton which is always tough game and then (West Windsor-Plainsboro) South on Friday, so back-to-back so that will be a challenge,” Bergan said. He feels his team is well suited to take on those sorts of challenges. They have a deep group, and they’ve been working hard.
   ”This team has one of the best battle quotients that I’ve ever seen,” Bergan said. “They keep coming at you and coming at you. Folks put me in that category because I’m out there battling with them, and when you see it out there on the ice, it’s gratifying.”
   Captains are senior Chris Deck and junior Eric Hildebrand, with Allen, Cox and Fredericks serving as assistant captains. They lead a team that has seniors Kellen Anker and Zack Bryan, if he is not pulled away by Junior Titans B commitments; juniors Coleman Anker, Francis, Scott Kurzeja, Matt Reed and Cole Sousa; sophomores Jimmy Kenna, Dom Rubino and Anthony Pluchino; and freshmen John Martin, John Francis, Ben Solomon, John Kolaski, Alex Sherman, Joey Nolan and Matt Kalcynski. Allen, Fredericks, Reed, Rubino, Sousa, Nolan and Pluchino are Allentown High School students on the team.
   ”It’s not like we’re terribly deep, but we can throw three pretty good strong lines out there with anybody,” Bergan said. “Our top four are standout players. You have a goalie who’s given up one goal in three games. He has the capability of shutting teams down.
   ”We had a little extra motivation for us (Monday). The Anker brothers lost their grandmother this weekend. That’s the first time they’re dealing with that. The boys rallied around them. They were going to win it for the brothers. They wanted to put forth their best effort and rally around them.”
   It’s the sort of effort that Bergan has come to expect of this group. He loves their camaraderie and support for each other.
   ”They’re all thinking the right way and they’re all good boys and they have character and heart,” Bergan said. “Hopefully we’ve done something to shape them that way, but they bring a certain amount of that to the table to start with.”
The Ravens aren’t perfect, and Bergan isn’t letting his team get complacent in the early going. They have started fast, but he wants to make sure that they finish just as well.
   ”A couple practices ago, I had to lay the lumber on them because they didn’t have the focus,” Bergan said. “That’s tough when you’re dealing with a bunch of teenage kids. But they took it to heart and came focused and ready to practice (Sunday) night and ready to play (Monday).
   ”I do see incremental progress from them, and I don’t think we’ve played our best hockey yet.”
   Robbinsville figures to only get better as they shore up a couple areas of concern. It’s nit-picking with a team that is 3-0, but there are worries.
   ”Even though they only gave up one goal in three games, the defense gets a little scrambly at our end,” Bergan said. “I was pleased to see how they played late (Monday). When they were up, they chipped it out, chipped it in. They went to work, lunch-pail type of guys. They never gave them a sustained attack.
   ”Our breakouts could be a little cleaner and I think the defense in our end could be a little crisper. But we were down 5-on-3 a bit, and when their backs are against the wall, they played their technique perfectly.”
   The Ravens have the leaders to push their younger players to new levels, and the drive to want to put together another record-setting season. After a 3-0 start, Robbinsville is on its way.
   ”Every year I renew my contract with them and tell them if they do this and this and this in the summer and preseason, this is what they can accomplish in a given year,” Bergan said. “As it’s turned out, they’ve done that and my predictions have come true. They have a lot of faith in the coaching staff. They won 15 games last year, that was our high water mark. I said they can win 16, 17, 18 games this year, and if they do what they can, they can come through.”