Seton Hall Prep ice hockey team wins three straight games to improve to 5-3-2

WEST ORANGE, NJ – The Seton Hall Prep ice hockey team won its last three games in a row over the last several weeks to improve its season record to 5-3-2 through Jan. 3.

On Dec. 20, the Pirates lost a heartbreaker to Christian Brothers Academy at Codey Arena in West Orange 4-3 when CBA broke a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal with :19 left in the third period. CBA scored in the first period and the Pirates tied it up with 7:10 left in the second period when Patrick Zincone scored on assists by Ryan Rodrigues and Brendan Waivada. CBA took a 3-1 lead in the third period before Aidan D’Urso scored a short-handed goal with 4:33 left and Zincone scored with 3:04 left on assists by Harrison Rocheville and Rodrigues to tie the score at 3-3.

On Dec. 23, they traveled to Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell to take on Gloucester Catholic and lost 3-0. Jake Schunke stopped 34 shots in defeat.

After Christmas, the Pirates participated in the Ice Vault Classic at the Ice Vault in Wayne. In their opener they came from behind and played Msgr. Farrell (Staten Island, N.Y.) to a 1-1 tie. After a scoreless first period, Msgr. Farrell scored with 1:56 left in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Seton Hall tied the score with 2:19 left in the third period when Will Robinson scored on an assist by Jack Schneider. The Pirates outshot Msgr. Farrell 46-14. In their second game, they came from behind again to defeat Indian Hills 4-1. The Braves took a 1-0 lead with 1:00 left in the first period. Just :39 into the second period Waivada scored on an assist by Rodrigues and Zincone gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead on an assist by Rodrigues with 6:54 left in the second period. In the third period, Lucas Confalonieri extended the Pirates lead to 3-1 on an assist by Will Underwood and Zincone closed out the scoring with 1:31 left on an assist by Rodrigues. Seton Hall outshot Indian Hills 56-20.

In their third game, the Pirates came from behind again to defeat Summit 3-2. Seton Hall took a 1-0 lead with 2:33 left in the first period when Schneider connected on assists by Robinson and Confalonieri. The Hilltoppers tied the score with 9:04 left in the second period and took a 2-1 lead with 8:01 left in the third period. Just three minutes later, the Pirates tied the score on a power-play goal by Rodrigues on assists by Zincone and Waivada. Zincone scored the game winner with :31 left on assists by Rodrigues and Waivada. Seton Hall outshot Summit 36-20. After the final game, head coach Mike Atkinson said, “We took a lot of shots on goal (138) which is what we wanted to do to create scoring chances. Our goal-tending was very good by Daniel Lynes and Jake Schunke. The seniors really stepped up by helping our younger players get comfortable with our team concepts during these three games.”

The Pirates JV team won their Ice Vault Classic with a 4-0 record to improve to 9-2 on the season, defeating Msgr. Farrell (N.Y.) 6-0, St. Joseph of Montvale 5-0, Morris Knolls 7-1, and Mahwah 3-2.

On Friday, Jan. 3, SHP defeated St. Augustine 2-1. Sal Betro opened the scoring 4:39 into the first period on assists by Schneider and D’Urso to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Rodrigues scored a powe-play goal on an assist by Zincone to make it 2-0 after two periods. In the third period, St. Augustine scored a shorthanded goal to close out the scoring.