Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield players gather on the ice during action this season.
The Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield high school ice hockey team had a good run this season.
Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield, under head coach Dave Macri, went 1-1 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Public Co-Op state tournament.
Bloomfield senior Alex Benkert had four goals and three assists and junior Christian Sherman had two goals and five assists to lead 14th-seeded Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield to a 7-6 upset win over No. 3 seed Fair Lawn/Dumont/Bergenfield in the first round on Monday, Feb. 24, at Montclair State University. Senior Liam Madsen had one goal and one assist, junior Angelo Albanese had two assists; and junior goalie Aiden Rosamilia stopped 52 of 58 shots.
Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield then lost to 11th-seeded West Milford/Pequannock/ Pompton Lakes, 12-5, in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Ice Vault in Wayne to end the season at 11-11-3.
Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield trailed 3-1 before scoring three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead. But West Milford scored the final three goals of the period to retake the lead, 6-4, and added six more goals for a 12-4 lead.
Sherman had three goals and one assist, Benkert had one goal and four assists, and Albanese had one goal and one assist. Madsen and junior Daniel Kopcha each had an assist. Rosamilia made 31 saves.
Benkert finished with 42 goals and 34 assists. Remarkably, he put up those gaudy numbers despite playing just 14 games, as he missed the first nine games due to an injury. The team was 8-4-2 in those 14 games.
Benkert finished with 249 points (137 goals and 112). Among current players, he was the state leader for career goals and career points, and was ranked No. 3 for career assists. He has drawn interest from several colleges, including some on the Division 1 level. Last year, he was drafted by the Westchester Wolves, from Pennsylvania, in the National Collegiate Development Conference.
Sherman had 38 goals and 34 assists, Albanese had 25 goals and 41 assists, and Madsen had eight goals and 30 assists on the season.
Sherman also has 147 points (67 goals and 80 assists) and Albanese has 158 points (65 goals and 93 assists) entering their senior seasons.
Rosamilia also went over 1,000 saves for his career and enters his senior season with 1,105 saves. He had an .890 save percentage on the season and a .888 percentage for his career thus far.
Photos Courtesy of Nutley/Columbia/Bloomfield Ice Hockey
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