Rowan Brennan keeps the puck away from a defender.
GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Verona–Glen Ridge ice hockey team, under head coach Ken Lilien, ended another great season.
Verona–Glen Ridge, seeded fifth, lost to top-seeded Governor Livingston High School of Berkeley Heights 4-1 in the semifinals of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Public C state tournament at Mennen Arena in Morristown on Wednesday, March 1.
Verona–Glen Ridge trailed 2-0 when freshman James Benson scored a goal to cut it to 2-1. Junior Pyotr Sysak and senior Will Benson had the assists. Governor Livingston scored two goals in the third period for the final score. Glen Ridge senior goalie Eli Gottlieb made 18 saves.
In the quarterfinals, Verona–Glen Ridge upset fourth-seeded Morris Knolls–Morris Hills 4-3 in a shootout on Sunday Feb. 26, at Mennen Arena, avening last season’s 3-2 overtime loss to Morris Knolls–Morris Hills in the Public C semifinals to end its 21-5-3 season.
Verona—Glen Ridge, under longtime head coach Ken Lilien, finished this season with a 10-10-3 record.
The team featured 21 GR players and seven Verona players.
The other GR players on the rosters were seniors Rowan Brennan, Cara Brett, Mateo Burke, Jeremy Grisafi, Derek Hart, Evan Twitchell, Ryan Weissman, James Kostas and Ava Otterbein; juniors Abigail McCarthy and Jaden Segal; sophomores Jack Budinick and Griffin Kim; and freshmen Max Cohen, Gavin Farrell, Brandon Grisafi and Cooper Hughes.
In an email to the Glen Ridge Paper, Lilien said, “I could not be more proud of the entire group for what they did this season, especially my seniors who have given so much to VGR over their four years.”
Governor Livingston defeated third-seeded Woodbridge–Colonia–Iselin Kennedy high school 5-4 in four overtimes in the final at the Prudential Center in Newark on Monday, March 6.
Photos Courtesy of Chris Troyano
Verona—Glen Ridge vs. Governor Livingston (Public C state tournament)
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