CVC teams hoping to provide exciting season
The high school hockey sea- son is upon us and the Colonial Valley Conference will once again produce some exciting hockey.
Princeton seems ready to make another great run, Notre Dame has long been a contender, Hopewell Valley and Valley Division champ Paul VI are ready to take another positive step.
Robbinsville will be young and aggressive, Nottingham and Steinert will be improved with West Windsor-Plainsboro and Lawrence ready to challenge in the Valley.
There are some coaching changes as Bob Weiss returns at Steinert and James Nobilio, who was at Steinert, moves to West Windsor-Plainsboro.
Andrew Dudich takes over at Lawrence and Mike McVey replaces Andrew Ducko at Notre Dame.
Here is a look at the CVC teams:
Hopewell Valley
Coach: Jeff Radice (3rd year) Assistant Coaches: Paul Martori, Ray Altieri, Chris Beyer
Last Year: 9-8-5
Roster: Derek Doldy (So.), Ethan Block(Jr.), Joe Vafis (Sr.), Cal Fleming (Jr.), Trent Demers (Jr.) Mason Orfe (Sr.), Lucas Gaissert (Fr.) Lindsey Anderson (Jr.), Cole Widman (Sr.), Livi Bruno (So.), Christian Domboski (Sr.), Alex Jing (So.), Henry McMahon (Jr.), Adrien (Fr.), Ryan Kinney (Sr.), Nick Vagott (Sr.), Sean Amon (So.), Dylan Hobson (Sr.), Aaron Lieboff (Sr.), Michael Boyer (Fr.), Rowan Short (Fr.), Cade Jones (Sr.), Steven Doldy (Sr.), Max Hayden (Fr.).
Outlook: The Bulldogs are a team that always plays smart hockey and plays a physical game. They have a lot of senior leadership that has been through the grueling season and that will pay dividends. They are strong on both ends of the ice and should have another successful season.
Lawrence
Coach: Andrew Dudich (1st year) Assistant Coaches: Cliff Higgins
Last Year: 2-12-2
Roster: Jack Yemniuk (Fr., F), Zaki Hindash (So., GK), MaksyMillian Kulaga (Jr., F), Jeffrey Christensen (Jr., F), Sophia Szelag (So., GK), Will Kocsis (So., D), Thomas Rotman (Sr., F), Tucker Simpson (Jr., D), Lucas Solvibile (Sr., F), Thomas Manacchio (Fr., D), Jason Keller (Fr., F), Kyle Doherty (Sr., D), Dan Cobb (Jr., GK), Cody Doherty (Sr., D), Mark Penafiel (Fr., F), Matt Rotman (Sr., F), Chris Eden (Sr., F), Ian Massaro (So., F), Adin Anderson (Jr., F), Spencer Cohen (So., F). Outlook: The Lawrence/Hightstown/Ewing co-op brings back a lot of talent from last year and they will be a stronger group this season especially on defense. The senior leadership will play a role as they look to stay in division contention.
Notre Dame
Coach: Mike McVey (1st year)
Last Year: 13-11
Roster: Cam Holbrook (Jr., GK), Mike Fitzpatrick (So., GK), Dan Brady (Sr., D), Ryan Burns (Sr., F), Corey Walsh (Sr., D), Aiden O’Reilly (Sr., D), T.J. Sinchak (Sr., D), Tyler Doyle (Sr., F), Ryan Scharko (Sr., F), Anthony Cappetta (Sr., D), Josh Neville (Jr., F), Nate Goldberg (Jr., F), Ryan Nemec (Jr., F), Jack Govan (Jr., F), Mike Rogalski (Jr., D), Carson Skove (So., F), Payton Miller (So., F), Jacob Papiez (So., F), Sam Kraus (So., D), Will Celli (Fr., F), Michael McVey (Fr., F).
Outlook: McVey takes over the reins at ND, but he’s no stranger to the program having served as junior varsity coach for several years. The Irish bring a nice mix of veterans and newcomers to continue to contend.
Nottingham
Coach: John Russo (6th year) Last Year: 1-14-1 Key Returners: Nick Fry (Sr., D), Nick DeAngelo (Sr, D.), Connor Luckie (Jr., F), Trevor Bolton (Jr., D).
Outlook: The Northstars/Hornets co-op will look to be improved this season as they return several key veterans that should help. The offense will be led by Luckie and it will be a team that is looking to improve each game.
Paul VI
Coach: Nick Miller (2nd year) Assistant Coaches: Brandon Iacometta, Charlie Hall
Last Year: 9-4-1, Valley Division Champions Roster: Paul Dunn (Jr., F), Andrew Shannon (Fr., F), Jim Goffredo (So., D), C.J. Howe (Jr., D), Sean Martin (So., F), Angelo Taormina (Sr., F), Victor Marchiano (So., F), Dalton Foster (Jr., F), Tyler Mason (Fr., F), Owen Brodzik (Jr., F), Matt Carson (So., D), David Dopke (So., F), Tyler Cudeyro (Jr., F), Cameron Chandler (Sr., D), Alex Cudeyro (Fr., D), Bailey Guetens (Jr., F), Cameron Briere (Sr., F), Jackson Price (Sr., F), Giovanni Varano (Jr., F), Patrick Voight (Sr., F), Antonio Marchiano (Fr., D), Santino Varano (Fr., F), John Lenox (Fr., D), Eddie Lutz (Fr., F), Giovanni Loperfido (Jr., GK), Robert Kane (Jr., GK), Brendan Rogers (Jr., GK), Kyle Borger, Trey Cataldo.
Outlook: This is another strong Eagles team and one that should begin the season as the favorite once again in the Valley Division. Chandler, the captain, is a solid leader and along with several other returning players this should be another positive season at Paul VI.
Princeton
Coach: Tim Chase (2nd year)
Last Year: 18-9-4, Colonial Champs, MCT Finalists, State B semifinalists
Roster: Stephen Avis (Jr., F), Collin Beatty Sr., D), Charlie Caruso (So., F), Matteo Constantine (Sr., F), Benjamin Drezner (Sr., F), Will Erickson (Fr., D), Luke Fernandez (So., F), Keith Goldberg (Sr., F), Jeffrey Kim (Jr., D), Alex Leung (Jr., F), Elijah Levine (Sr., F), Scott Mayers (Sr., GK), Ryan McCormick (Jr., F), Patrick McDonald (So., D), Austin Micale (So., F), Danny Mulligan (Sr., D), John O’Donnell (Fr., F), Andreas Oskiper (Fr., F), Nathan Podgulsky (Sr., D), Daniel Prokoshin (Fr., GK), Calvin Rogers (Jr., F), Rocco Salvato (Jr., D), Aaron Silverstein (Sr., F), Harry Skopas (Sr., GK), Aidan Trainor (Jr., F), Colm Trainor (So., F), Robert Trainor (Sr., F), John Christopher Zammit (Fr., F).
Outlook: The Little Tigers run to the state semifinals last year was no fluke and they are primed and ready to make another. They have many players returning like Aiden Trainor, the Trentonian CVC Player of the Year, along with Rocco Salvato and goalie Harry Skopas. This should be another banner year for Princeton.
Robbinsville
Coach: Robert Davis (2nd year) Assistant Coaches: Mark Phillips, Dan Greb
Last Year: 6-12-4
Roster: Jack Battistelli (Fr., F), Paul Cacace (Jr., F), Justin Cooper (Sr., GK), Ryan D’Auria (Sr., D), Mitchell Ducalo (So., F), Marcu Gallicchio (Fr., F), Jason Gallucci (Fr., F), Caroline Gensinger (Fr., D), Robert Grimes (So., F), Tyler Guttormsen (So., D), Pedro Ferreira (Fr., F), Liam Hartmann (Sr., F), Nicholas Lawrence (Jr., F), Mateeo Mancini (Jr., F), Shane Martin (So., F), Saige Moore (Jr., F), Sierra Moore (Jr., F), Charlie Pallitto (Fr., F), Jack Pallitto (Jr., F), Alex Stavrou (Fr., F), Dalton Tillman (Fr., F), Ty Thomas (So., F), Jeremy VanDuren (Jr., F), Chase Williams (Fr. GK), Teddy Wittenborn (So., F), Michael Zuppa (So., GK).
Outlook: The Ravens has just three senior, but they are ones that have been key to the program the last three years and will provide solid leadership. The key for this group is how quickly it meshes together. Once that occurs the Ravens will be a team with plenty of surprises.
Steinert
Coach: Bob Weiss (12th year) Assistant Coaches: Bobby Weiss
Last Year: 6-10-4
Roster: Anatoli Gischler (Fr.), James Cordani (So.), Brian Klabbatz (So.), Noah St. John (So.), Cole Woodward (So.), Mason Fenton (Jr.), Ryan Kieffer (Jr.), J.T. McQuigg (Jr.), Ryan Possert (Jr.), Billy Taggart (Jr.) Shane Barry (Sr.), Nick Gonzalez (Sr.), Ryan McAdams (Sr.), Dano Malik (Sr.), Mike Miller (Sr.), Tim Toomer (Sr.), Trevor Malik (SO.)
Outlook: Weiss returns behind the bench for the Spartans and the veteran coach will look to keep Steinert in the chase. They return plenty of talent from last year and will be one of the most potent offenses in the league. Dano Malik and Mike Miller give the Spartans a solid duo with the puck.
West Windsor-Plainsboro
Co-Coaches: James Nobilio (2nd year, 1st at WWP) and Glen Binger (1st year)
Assistant Coach: Matt Strober
Last Year: 11-10-4
Roster: Valentin Alynik (Jr.), Justin Alpaslan (Fr.), Siddharth Balaji (So.), Ryan Chi (Sr.) Christopher Cordasco (Fr.), Aidan Crichton (Jr.), Alec Doody (So.), C.J. DiCostanzo (Jr.), Anuj Dutta (Sr.), Nicholas Flissar (Jr.), Thomas Gardner (So.), Adam Huang (So.), Spencer Huang (So.), Ronan Keenan (So.), Rose Litvak (So.), Dylan Palmer (Fr.). Tianyi Peng (Sr.), Andrew Schwalb (Fr.), Senan Shannon (Jr.), Dominik Szoldrowski (So.), Amir Umarov (Sr.)
Outlook: The WW-P North/South co-op is going to be young and will look to the three seniors for leadership as the newcomers blend together. There is talent on this team and they will challenge for a division title and look to make the states again.