Brick hockey team better than its results

BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

WALL — Vin LaRosa couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

He had just scored his 10th goal of the season to pull Brick Township’s hockey team to 3-2 in the midst of a shift of momentum in which the Green Dragons dominated play over the final eight minutes. But Middletown South had enough left to hang on and put in an empty net goal in the closing seconds of a 4-2 victory at the American Sports Arena last Thursday, its fourth victory against eight losses.

“We have the talent to play with any team in the state,” said LaRosa. “We have to go out there and make things happen.”

“We have to play as a team, which we didn’t do in this game,” said Joe Lantieri. “We have to finish our plays.”

Certainly, the Green Dragons have had their opportunities to do even better than their 3-5-3 start.

“We play in fits and spurts. We were flat in this game,” said coach Bob Auriemma, whose team had come off a 4-1 victory over township rival Brick Memorial the previous Sunday. “We get our power plays and then we panic and throw the puck away.”

LaRosa’s goal was an exception, coming off a power play with 1:02 left when he picked up a loose puck sent in by James Murphy in front of the goal. Mike Guarino then went for the equalizer on a rocket that ricocheted off the goalie’s pads, and Anthony Zipfel fired in another threat that the Middletown South goalie would stop on a dive.

Lantieri and LaRosa got assists on a goal by Mike Gumina with 2:04 left in the first period before Middletown South would score three goals in a 3:11 stretch early in the second period. Middletown South tied it on a shorthanded goal with 13:59 left and followed it with an even strength score 44 seconds later on one of its many well-executed rushes to the net.

Then came the most painful one of all, a shot in which goalie Mike Mulcahy made one of his many sharp saves, only to kick this one in with the back of his right skate after the puck squirted loose behind him.

“If you seal the post, the puck won’t be able to go behind you,” said Auriemma. “But I can’t fault Mike for this loss. He played another solid game overall for us.”

As the Green Dragons got a second wind midway through the final period, they also suffered a tough setback when freshman Mike Graf left the game with a badly injured ankle that Auriemma feels could leave him out indefinitely pending a look by the doctor.

“He’s a big part of our team,” said Lantieri. “He has matured quickly as only a freshman.”

Lantieri and his mates picked up the slack after the long stoppage as he stickhandled the puck in front of the goal, only to have it knocked away by the Middletown South goalie. It came after a diving stop of a shot in front by Gumina on a power play. Matt Dornacker also had a good rebound opportunity in front with two minutes left that was stopped.

But Brick Township needs to start winning some games if it is to make the state tournament. Playing in the Southern Red Division for the first time, the Green Dragons no longer get an automatic berth as they did playing in the Gordon Division. They played Wall on Monday this week and travel to Toms River South on Thursday before a Sunday night game at home against Rumson-Fair Haven.

Meanwhile, undermanned Brick Memorial lost three players for different reasons in its last two games — one for a two-game suspension; another, freshman forward John Bartolomei, with a fractured ankle; and a third player, Chris James, who has decided to switch sports to wrestling.

As a result, first-year coach Chip Bruce is moving forwards Frank Ryan and Tom Brow back on defense. The move helped somewhat against Gloucester Catholic when it pulled out a 4-2 victory in Brick Memorial’s first game after its loss to Brick Township. Bret Eker scored the first goal of the game for the Mustangs and Ryan pulled the team to 3-2 before Gloucester Catholic put in an empty net goal.

“We’re working on a more defensive style,” said Bruce. “We dominated the game for most of the second and third periods. And Justin Ferguson has been playing real well in goal for us. He’s the backbone of our team. He’s made saves when we needed them to turn the momentum of games.”

And then came what could be the turning point of the season, a 2-2 tie with Old Bridge on Sunday night at Ocean Ice Palace on a goal by Anthony Santangelo with just one second left. Brick Memorial (1-5-2), which lost to Old Bridge, 8-2, in its season opener, pulled its goalie in the closing seconds and it paid off. The play started when Brandon Person took the puck out of the corner and fed it to Tom Brow, whose shot was knocked away before he rebounded it for the shot and again had the puck knocked away and onto the stick of Santangelo.

Person scored the first goal at 14:14 of the second period off a pass from Brow. Brick Memorial outshot Old Bridge, 26-24, as Ryan excelled on defense.