West Orange High School ice hockey team.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School ice hockey team continues to build its legacy. The Mountaineers’ 5-1 victory over Bayonne on Saturday, Feb. 5, clinched a berth in the state tournament.
“The Bayonne win was a great effort from my team,” WOHS head coach Eddie Scafidi said. “Everyone who hit the ice gave maximum effort. We knew we were playing a great goalie, Sydney Fogu, so our strategy was to wear her down.
“The game was tied 1-1 going into the third period. Dominic Locricchio scored a shorthanded goal early in the third to give us the lead. Reid Tenzer scored on a rebound to give us a two-goal lead and give us a little breathing room. Jack Olsen scored an empty-net goal, his second goal of the game, to extend the lead. The game ended when Anthony Pondillo scored his first career goal with one second left, and the team erupted into celebration.
“We were able to score four goals in the third, all from wearing their goalie down,” added Scafidi. “Jack Olsen and Dominic Locricchio up front did a great job of keeping the pressure on the Bayonne goalie the whole game. Our defense, Anthony Pondillo, Eitan Nativ, Andrew Raymon and Ayan Flowers, did a great job stopping Bayonne’s best player. The defense kept Bayonne’s shot total down, making the game easier for our goalie, Jackson Pruksarnukul, who was solid in a close game.”
The team, which competes in the New Jersey Interscholastic Hockey League’s McMullen Division, improved to a 7-6-3 overall record.
The development of the hockey team is a testament to the efforts of Mountain Top League and WOHS, which partnered to develop a competitive program over the past several years. In fact, many of the athletes on the WOHS hockey team were part of the MTL program.
The team this season had three leads late in games and ended up settling for ties. “But we know we have a young roster, where most of our playing time comes from freshmen and juniors,” Scafidi said.
COVID-19 presented challenges. Missing three weeks in a hockey season is like starting over, and it took the team a few weeks to get into a good rhythm. They are now on a three-game winning streak, finishing third in the conference, only a few points out of first.
“We’ve had an incredibly successful season, and it’s been so long since we qualified for states. I’m very proud of the team,” Scafidi said.
Photo Courtesy of Cynthia Cumming
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