Woodbridge Township School District boys’ ice hockey team had a tremendous year coming in second place at states as well as in the Greater Middlesex Conference. They ended the 2017-2018 year with a record of 24-4-1. The team was also named GMC Team of the Year.
This was the first year that all three Woodbridge Township teams (Colonia, John F. Kennedy, and Woodbridge) all have merge together. However, it didn’t seem to stop the team from success. They won their first five games by a significant number of goals.
“These first games set the tone for the season,” Coach Monticollo said, “I knew that with all three schools coming together we would make something big happen”
Indeed it did, Woodbridge Township School District (WTSD) showed Group A division that they are a force to reckon with. However, after a tie against Old Bridge and a loss against Bayonne fans were unsure if their wins were a fluke, or if they were really as amazing as they were said out to be. The next step was the conference finals.
WTSD fought long and hard in this game, with goals by Dante Amato, TJ Evan, and Luca Filocamo. Also, assists by Amato and Matthew Haggerty. Unfortunately, their efforts were not strong enough and they lost this game 6-3.
With the upsetting loss at the conference championships, the WTSD team decided to put it behind them and move forward onto states. This was going to be a tough battle considering they had to go up against number 1 seed Montclair.
The Road to State Championships
WTSD knew that this game wasn’t going to be easy. Adam Godfrey (WTSD Goalie) had an impressive game with a total of 45 saves. Also, with goals by Travis Beni, Drew Galea, and Evan (WTSD players) they showed that they were better than just the number 7 seed. However, Pat Ledgett, John Painter, and Eamon Thall (Montclair players) didn’t make it easy for WTSD and this game went into overtime. In the first period of overtime with 11 minutes on the clock and an assist by Galea, Evan scored the winning goal.
“When I saw we won I skated as fast as I could to my bench,” Galea said. “My teammates and I freaked out,we were so excited.” Along with Monroe’s Kyle Lange, Galea was named Home News Tribune Co-Ice Hockey Players of the Year.
Just coming off an amazing victory, the next team they needed to compete against was Malabro and Holmdel. According to nj.com WTSD was down 2-0 in the 3rd period but Evan managed to score 2 goals in the matter of seconds. Once again WTSD went into overtime. With 11:58 on the clock Beni scored the game winning goal.
“First thing I wanted to do was to go celebrate with the team,” Beni said. “I saw it go in and instantly went for the bench.”
WTSD official qualified for the state championships at the prudential center against Hunterdon Central.
Hunterdon took the early lead with goals by Scott Schnell and Chris Del Gaizo. Beni answered this with a goal at 4:52 on a power play. Erik Szanto and Schnell once again came back and scored another goal.
Reported by nj.com, WTSD ended up losing the game by a final score of 5-1.
“Although the outcome wasn’t what we wanted I am so proud of how we played this year,”Amato said, “If you were to tell me that we would qualify for the state and conference championships I would not be able to believe you.”
