Seton Hall Prep ice hockey team battles hard in state semis loss to Don Bosco to end season

MORRISTOWN, NJ — The sixth-seeded Seton Hall Prep ice hockey team played an outstanding game, but fell to second-seeded Don Bosco Prep, 5-3, in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA Non-Public tournament at Mennen Arena in Morristown on March 5. That loss made the Prep’s final record of 11-13-2.

The Pirates opened the scoring with 8:42 left in the first period when Kyle Bishop scored an unassisted goal. Don Bosco tied the score with 3:03 left in the period. The Ironmen scored two goals in the second period before Sal Betro cut the lead to 3-2 with 3:14 left in the period on assists by Aidan D’Urso and Sal Micciche.

In the third period, Don Bosco scored with 11:45 left to increase its lead to 5-2. But Seton Hall came back again just 1:30 later when Daniel Sieman scored a power-play goal on assists by Timothy O’Connell and Will Robinson to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Following the game, SHP head coach Mike Atkinson said, “I’m extremely happy with the way we competed. We fought until the last second. The way we competed, the attitude and the effort was there all game. I have to give a lot of credit to our seniors; they carried a ton of weight. We haven’t been in a game like this in 14 years and I am glad they got to experience this. The crowd that showed up to see our game tonight was simply outstanding, especially Pirate Nation” (Seton Hall Prep students).

O’Connell, a senior, said, “Both teams came to play tonight. It was a physical game and we never quit.” Greg Toskos, the head coach from Don Bosco Prep, said, “Seton Hall deserved every bit to be here. I give them a ton of credit. They worked their butts off to give us a game and it took every bit of our depth to pull this one out.”