By Wayne Witkowski
Christian Brothers Academy’s (CBA) ice hockey team is not looking back when it comes to seeking an NJSIAA Non-Public A state championship three-peat.
That may seem hard to do after the Colts knocked off top-seeded Delbarton School, 3-1, for the Gordon Cup championship Feb. 20 at Codey Arena in West Orange. CBA goalie Michael Cernero, who made 17 saves, said the Colts learned from losing both games in the Gordon Division against Delbarton, 2-1 and 3-1 — the last loss it has suffered in a 22-4 season.
The other two losses came to Don Bosco Preparatory High School, 4-3 and 3-1, in the Gordon Division, and coach Ryan Bogan is well aware that his team could face those teams again in the state tournament.
CBA has won its last nine games, which included the Gordon Cup victory over Delbarton (21-3-2) in which CBA junior forward Derek Contessa scored all three goals, including an empty-netter with half-a-minute left. Contessa, who has 18 goals this season, spotted CBA a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal late in the first period and then struck again with a little over five minutes left in the second period. Delbarton’s Hunter Macy scored from the point at 6:29 of the third period to cut the lead to 2-1.
A year ago, CBA closed its season with a dramatic 4-3 state championship victory in overtime against the same Delbarton team, coming back from a 3-0 deficit. It knows facing a fired-up Delbarton team with some painful memories from last weekend and the end of last season will make it a steep challenge.
“The state tournament’s a little different, so we’re going to approach it different,” Bogan said. “We know we can do it.”
Anthony Cucich with 17 goals and Cristian Winters with 15 help fuel the attack.
Cernero on the other end has a .911 save percentage and 10 shutouts.
Joe Marsicano has provided senior leadership on a tightly knit defense — a group that earned the praise from Cernero for limiting Delbarton’s opportunities. Bogan had charged his seniors with under-performing until the late-season stretch, which the coach expressed confidence would improve at the biggest part of the schedule and that the lines would do a better job of finishing off opportunities at the net than it did in the earlier part of the season.
Bogan knows his team needs to refocus through this week, which is why none of CBA’s players would touch the Gordon Cup in the post-game celebration after the Delbarton game. They have a bigger trophy in mind for next month.
CBA’s quest for a state title repeat will begin the end of this week against either 19th-seeded St. Rose/Donovan Catholic or 14th-seeded Seton Hall Preparatory School. CBA, the No. 3 seed, drew a first-round bye.