Good news, hockey fans- the Shore Conference Ice Hockey Tournament is officially ready to debut.
After the implementation of a successful regular season for the first-year league, administrators and coaches have been busy trying to launch a conference tournament that could help highlight a growing conference with some very strong teams.
In recent weeks, the Shore Conference ExecutiveCommittee has been exploring different format options, and according to Jim Rochford, the Shore Conference’s tournament manager, a decision has been made, setting the stage for the first SCT in ice hockey.
The original plan that was rumored to be close to adoption involved an eightteam tournament comprised of squads from all four of the Conference’s divisions (A North, B North, A South and B South), with the division winners getting automatic bids, leaving four at-large bids (three public and one non-public).
However, a second, more recent proposal was eventually chosen – one that involves two separate tournaments, with six A division teams playing for one cup, and four B Division teams playing for another. This format reportedly gives all division winners automatic bids, leaving six at-large bids for the remainder of the teams.
Regardless of the format, the fact that the tournament is ready to go is good news for the Shore Conference hockey community, as it will add some needed juice to the sport. There are several teams local teams that likely will not qualify for the NJSIAA state tournament, but may still have a shot at making the SCT, which is likely to begin on Feb. 18, with first-round games.
According to Rochford, the championship games (a double-header) are tentatively set for Feb. 22 at Winding River.
One thing about the SCT that is all but certain is that the top seed in the A Division bracket will go to the St. John Vianney Lancers. SJV (11-1-1) remained undefeated against Shore Conference foes, by knocking offMonsignor Donovan (11-3- 1), 6-3, on Friday in a battle of two of the league’s top teams.
This game was as good as advertised, as SJV’s Andrew Canitano opened the scoring on a deflection of aMike VanHorn shot during a first-period power play. The Griffins then scored a late goal to tie the score near the end of the first period. However, after MonDon took a penalty in the second period, SJV’s Kyle Earley put the Lancers back on top with a blast from the face-off circle, sparking a three-goal onslaught that gave the Shore’s top-ranked teama 4-1 lead.
Less than three minutes after Earley’s goal, Tyler Ribsam extended the Lancers’ lead to 3-1 when he drove down the left wing and took a shot that squirted through the Griffins’ goalie’s pads. Steve Trimboli then scored 50 seconds into the third period off a feed fromMike Canitano to make it 4-1.
To their credit, however, Mon Don did not give up, getting two straight goals to cut the lead to 4-3. However, with just over two minutes to play in the game, SJV sealed the deal when Andrew Canitano found the net from the left side. Mick Kolbasowski then closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with one second left.
With the win, the Lancers reaffirmed their status as the Shore’s team to beat. Their only loss this year has come to the state’s top-ranked team, Christian Brothers Academy, which still plays in the Gordon Conference.
SJV now has just four games left against conference teams, including three before the Feb. 11 cutoff for the NJSIAA state tournament.
With first-year head coach Jay Monteverdi making a seamless transition after replacing longtime coach Mike Dowd, the Lancers are firing on all cylinders. They have looked strong at both ends of the ice, coming a long way since last season’s disappointing
3-15-2 (1-13-1 in the Gordon
Conference) campaign.
With a senior-heavy line-up, SJVhas the experience tomatch
its talent, making the Lancers the obvious favorite in the upcoming
SCT.
While SJV is certain to qualify for both the state and Shore tournaments, several other
local teams still have their work cut out for them.
Red Bank Catholic, ranked third in the Shore behind CBA and SJV, is another team that will be in both postseason tournaments, as the Caseys are in the midst of another strong season. RBC (11-2-2) is in the midst of a tough stretch of its schedule, with games this week against Manasquan, Wall and Notre Dame scheduled for this week. Last week, the Caseys won three impressive games, as the team appears to be playing its best hockey of the season at the right time.
Middletown North beat Wall, 4-2, and tied Bridgewater-Raritan, 2-2, last week to improve to 10-7-1 on the season. The Lions are another team that has played a tough schedule, andwith a talented roster, is being viewed as a very dangerous team once the postseason rolls around. North squared off with another team that looks postseasonbound from Rumson-Fair Haven yesterday, and will get a shot at SJV in a highly anticipated game on Friday.
Both Red Bank Regional and RFH are chasing Manasquan for the B North division title, while simultaneously trying to secure their spots in the postseason.
RBR got back to the .500 mark last week with a win over Point Boro on Friday to get to 6-6-2, while RFH is 8-5-1 overall. Both teams are two games back of Manasquan (5-8-2) in the divisional race, with plenty of time left to challenge for that title.