Nutley HS ice hockey team routs Toms River East in state tournament opener

NUTLEY – Christian McCue had a hat trick; Danny Render had two goals and two assists and Brenden Ruiz scored twice to lead the 14th-seeded Nutley High School varsity ice hockey team to a 9-3 win over 19th-seeded Toms River East in the first round of the state Non-Public B tournament on Feb. 21.

Cullen McCormack had one goal and one assist; Andrew Spitalnik had one goal; Zach Vaughan collected three assists; Gerard LaFuria had two assists; and Joe Fontanals, Greg O’Connell, Ryan O’Mara and Eric Scalera each had one assist for the Raiders, who improved to a 12-7-3 record.

Joe Hoarle made nine saves for the Raiders, who will face third-seeded Lakeland in the second round on Feb. 26 at the Ice Vault in Wayne at a time to be determined.

In their previous game, the Raiders defeated Millburn, 5-3, Feb. 18, at Codey Arena. LaFuria had two goals; McCue had one goal and one assist; and O’Mara and Vaughan each had one goal.