Junior class leads Hillsborough on ice
By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
As Gary Biggs gets set for his third season as head coach of the Hillsborough High ice hockey team, his level of expectation has risen as far as what he thinks the Raiders can accomplish.
”We have 11 juniors this year that have a lot of experience and four seniors who should see a lot of playing time,” Biggs said. “This junior class is the one I walked in with when they were freshmen and I expect big things from them. What we have learned the past two years is you can’t take any opponent lightly. We had a lot of close games last year that we let slip away and we have to know how to close out those games. I am hoping we win those close games this year.”
The Raiders have the kind of veteran presence that should help them in close games. Marty Paro is back in goal and gives the defense a solid foundation to build around, while leading scorer Beuk Forrest is also back to lead the offense.
”This year I feel like this is the best team I have coached,” said Biggs, whose team finished 10-13-4 and reached the second round of the state tournament last year. “We have more upperclassmen than underclassmen for the first time and these kids have been with me two or three years. They know the system we have in place and I feel like we are ready for a big season.
”We have an All-Conference goalie with Marty Paro and I think he is poised to have another big year. Beuk Forrest is a captain and one of our leaders.”
Supporting Forrest at the offensive end will be Greg Bowers, Robbie Briant, Nick Cizin, David Ely, Nick Monticchio, Nick Palmer and Nick Volonnino. The defense will include Christian Alfaro, Steve Alboum, Matt Capodanno, Shavonne Leacy, Mike McGrath, Alex Macphee and Billy Webster.
The rest of the roster includes goaltenders Nolan Banfitch and Mike Ricciardi, as well as junior Owen Delesky and freshmen Aleksei Nesterov, Sean Ely, Frank Bason, Mike Lumbra, Max Lewicki, Domenick Mazzefarro, Garrett Behrje, Danny Volonnino and Alex Delesky.
”The guys keep asking what do we have to do to be great,” said Biggs, whose team was scheduled to open the season on Wednesday against Pingry. “I tell them we have to beat the best to be the best. We have to outwork the other teams to prepare ourselves for late February.
”We want to be playing our best in February and to do that you have to play and beat the best. We will be battle tested having played Bridgewater, Ridge and Hunterdon Central. Our whole conference is tough.”
With each season as a head coach Biggs feels more prepared for the challenges ahead. And this year he has added a role of coaching at Seton Hall to give him more experience.
”I am learning a lot from that experience and hopefully the new guys pick up on what we’re teaching,” Biggs said. “As a team I think this year we’re past the learning stage and ready to move on and beat the teams like Bridgewater or Ridge. We believe the conference is ours for the taking but we have to go out there and do it.
”The guys have worked hard in the off-season. They have been skating and working out to put the pieces together. We start out with a tough schedule with Bridgewater and Ridge twice right at the beginning. It will be grueling month but it will only make us better.”