Nutley vs. Montclair 1-1 tie Feb. 3
NUTLEY – Success in sports is all about peaking at the right time.
And with a current six-game unbeaten streak on the line heading into the conference playoffs, there is no doubt that the Nutley High School varsity ice hockey team has been hot at the perfect moment.
As of Feb. 8, the team is currently 10-6-3 and received the fifth seed for the conference playoffs, where the team will face Verona/Glen Ridge in the quarterfinals with the winner of that game slated to play Montclair in the semifinals.
“We are finally starting to understand the plan and the infrastructure that we want to take hold and because of that, now we’re starting to see some success,” said the team’s first-year head coach Anthony Yelovich.
As of right now, Yelovich said the team’s focus was on the Verona game.
“We didn’t start off great so we got the fifth seed, but we certainly like the way we’re playing now and think we can make some noise,” he said.
Coincidentally, a win against Verona/Glen Ridge would bring about another match against Montclair, which Nutley tied 1-1 last week.
“That was a great game for us against one of our rivalry teams,” Yelovich said. “We played well, very well. We stayed out of the box. We played a very tight game and it was a well executed game on our part.”
Prior to that game, Yelovich said his team started its run with a win at No. 6 Chatham.
“That win started our run and we also had a nice win against Hillsborough after that,” said the coach, whose squad then defeated Red Bank Regional by a score of 12-2.
The coach said a handful of players have contributed to the team’s recent success.
“We have a number of players who have been leading the way and everyone on the team has been stepping up at different times,” said Yelovich, noting the seedings for the state playoffs will be released on Feb. 17. “Now, we are focused on Verona and on the upcoming state playoffs after that, and hopefully we can make a run in both.”
McInnis Cup NJIHL American playoff championship
Quarterfinals
at Richard J. Codey Arena, West Orange
Feb. 13
5-Nutley vs. 4-Verona/Glen Ridge, 3:45 p.m.
6-Millburn vs. 3-Livingston
Semifinals
Feb. 17
at Clary Anderson Arena, Montclair
winner of 6-Millburn/3-Livingston vs. 2-Montclair Kimberley Academy, 7:45 p.m.
Feb. 18
winner of 5-Nutley/4-Verona/Glen Ridge vs. 1-Montclair, 7 p.m.
Final
Feb. 20
at Codey Arena, 5:45 p.m.
About the Author
