Lancers left to gear up for the state playoffs
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff St. John Vianney’s Lou Licari tries to blast a rebound past Brick Memorial goalie Nick Colangelo during the Lancers’ win over the Mustangs on Friday at the Ocean Ice Palace in Brick.

Entering this week, the St. John Vianney High School ice hockey team needed a win or a tie over one of the state’s elite teams to qualify for the Gordon Cup Playoffs.

The Lancers, 8-9-1 overall and 4-8-1 in the New Jersey Interscholastic Hockey League’s Gordon Conference, took on Don Bosco Prep on Monday in a must-win game. Unfortunately, the Lancers fell a bit short against the state’s fifth-ranked team, dropping a 2-1 contest, and ultimatley missing out on the division playoffs.

Vianney was hoping to get another shot at the playoffs with a game against Bergen Catholic, a game that was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed as a result of the snowstorm that blanketed the area. However, that game has been rescheduled for today, meaning the Lancers hit the division-playoff cutoff a point shy of qualifying.

Earlier in the season, Don Bosco downed SJV 4-1, while Bergen Catholic won 5-0.

Nevertheless, the Lancers have been far more competitive than last winter’s 7-12-2 squad. St. John’s has picked up important wins over Delbarton (4-3), Pope John, 5-4, and St. Peter’s Prep, 4-2 and 5-3. SJV also played Christian Brothers Academy to a hard-fought 2-2 deadlock. Coach Mike Dowd’s team has picked up nonconference triumphs against Middletown North, Middletown South, Red Bank Catholic and Brick. In total, SJV has scored 56 goals while allowing 54 goals against.

One area where Dowd would like to see improvement is penalties, or more accurately, fewer of them. Simply put, the Lancers spend too much time in the sin bin.

For example, SJV took a 3-2 lead into the third period in its rematch against Pope John only to fall, 4-3, following a series of penalties.

“Penalties have hurt us all season long,” Dowd explained. “They’re part of the game, but we just take too many undisciplined penalties. If we can find a way to discipline ourselves, we’ll be fine; otherwise, we’ll be in trouble.”

To illustrate his point, the coach noted that in its nine wins, SJV has allowed just one power play goal against. However, in the eight losses, the Lancers have permitted a total of 11 power play goals.

“It’s made a difference and it’s really unacceptable, because it’s selfish,” Dowd said.

Overall, the Lancers have performed pretty well on defense, led by junior netminder Matt Deering, who owns a solid 3.32 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. Fellow junior John Mazza has also played well, compiling a 2.45 goals-against average to go with a .904 save percentage.

Junior Corey Earley has been solid on the blue line, where he is plus four for the campaign. Connor Field has helped provide offense with a pair of goals to go with eight assists, and Andrew Dzurita has done a good job as well.

Andrew Mazza tops SJV in scoring with 14 goals and 12 assists and also leads the team in plus/minus with plus six. Mick Kolbasowski has contributed 12 goals and 13 assists and owns a plus five mark, while Rich Wong has netted nine goals to go with 12 assists.

Dowd said that juniors Andrew Sabia and Lance Schlegal and sophomores Matt and Andrew Canitano have shown promise and have gradually earned more ice time.

While the Lancers will not be particiapting in the Gordon Cup playoffs, which are scheduled to begin later this week, Dowd’s club has qualified for the state playoffs to follow the end of this month.

“Like most teams, the key for us comes when we score early,” Dowd explained.

“When we do that, we’re usually fine, and we play a smarter game and don’t go to the box as often. That’s the key for us, though. If we play smart, disciplined hockey, we won’t be going to the box and we’re a more dangerous team to play against.”