The Montclair State University Ice Hockey team started the first month of their rebuilding season with one win, six losses, and two ties. Last weekend, the same team of Red Hawks came together and won the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Title when they beat both the second placed University of Maryland Baltimore County, and first placed Rider University.Finishing the MACHA season strong with four wins in their final five games, the Hawks were able to clinch third place in the league. Head Coach Matthew Maniscalco comments on the teams late season wins, It was perfect timing! It again shows on how hard work pays off in the end! It just was a NICE way to end a rebuilding season! After a disappointing season last year, we have weeded out some bad apples and have brought in eager , fresh faced players that have helped this squad play as a team!
Placing third in the league meant that the Hawks would get a first round bye, but it also meant that they would have to play and beat the league's second and first placed team to win the championship. The playoff tournament which was held at Iceworks in Aston, Pennsylvania, would house the top five teams in the league: Rider U., Maryland Baltimore County, Montclair State, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton U.
Before their first game against the Maryland Terriers in the semi-finals, Hawks goalie Joe Ballance received an award for being the best goalie in the league this year with a 2.69 GAA. After the award was given, Ballance went in net and the game got underway. Entering the game as the underdog, the Hawks immediately showed that they were not going to identify with that kind of name tag when with just over a minute into the game the Hawks scored. The goal was scored when Adam LePore deflected a shot from James Manganaro which came off a pass from Lee Elias.
The goal immediately gave the Red Hawks a boost. After nine minutes of domination, the Hawks were given a power play when Maryland's Gaeton Castiglione was called for roughing. Just one minute into the Hawks power play, Ryan Bourke gave Paul Janick a pass which he immediately shot towards Maryland's net. The shot was deflected by Tim Dybus and quickly went past Maryland's goalie giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead which would hold till the end of the first period.
As the second period got underway, the Hawks continued to create Havoc on the ice. In the midst of all the chaos, the Terriers were able to notch a goal when Gaeton Castiglione tapped a quick goal off a rebound. However the Hawks were not deflated by the goal for in just three minutes, James Manganaro made a pass up the ice to Lee Elias. Elias jetted towards the Maryland net on a breakaway and after a great block by Nick Lawson, Elias quickly deeked the goalie, and scored through the five hole giving the Hawks a 3-1 lead. The goal was shorthanded. The two goal lead would last until four minutes were left in the second period when Maryland scored another goal keeping the score close at 3-2. The score would remain that way until the end of the second.
As the third period got underway the Hawks looked to crush the Terrier's hopes of a comeback. Just four minutes in, Byron Finnegen gave a smooth pass to Nick Lawson who quickly slapped the puck into the net making the lead 4-2. Three minutes later, the Hawks found themselves on another power play. The team set up and just one minute into the power play, Mike Augistitus gave the puck to Adam Lepore, who in turn, sent the puck to Tim Dybus. Dybus shot and scored giving the Hawks a three goal lead. The game would continue with the 5-2 score until Maryland began to show some life late in the third, scoring two goals four minutes apart. The score was narrowed to 5-4 with five minutes left.
The two teams battled hard as the Terriers pulled their goalie with a minute left. After a barrage of shots from Maryland which were all met by the waiting Ballance, the Hawks were able to get the puck and skate down the ice where Mike Grey tapped the puck in the open net giving the Hawks a two goal lead and eventually the victory. Ballance stopped 37 of 41 shots keeping the Terriers from beating this group of underdogs. The following evening the Hawks would battle The Rider University Broncos for the MACHA championship. Rider who defeated the fourth placed University of Penn the night before, came into the game confident that the league standings would foretell the story of the game.
The first period started with the Hawks dominating the action. With Joe Ballance in net, the Hawks were able to keep an offensive threat alive the entire first period. The Broncos held off the smothering attack of the Hawks for almost the entire period until one minute was left when team Captain Ed Caldwell took a blistering shot from the point which was deflected by Rider's goalie Jeff Moyer. The puck found its way to the stick of Ryan Bourke who skated past the stunned Moyer and buried the puck in the open net giving the hawks the lead.
The Red Hawks started the second period energized and scored twice in the first ten minutes. Nick Lawson buried a shot off of a pass from Ryan Bourke. Another goal was scored when Mike Grey cut towards the net and faked out Moyer with a soft shot at the top of the net expanded the score to three to nothing. The Broncos tried to gain some life when Mike Cianfrani scored with 9:42 left. This counter strike did not give the Broncos enough momentum for they would be stopped continuously after that. The Hawks continued to press the stunned Broncos and scored with less than a minute left when Mike Grey slammed a rebound into the net created by the shot from Mike Augustitus giving the Hawks a 4-1 lead going into the third.
Coming into the third, the Broncos sought to regain some composure but it was crushed less than a minute in when Lee Elias softly saucered a backhanded pass right to the stick of the heavily covered Bourke who managed to shoot the puck past the glove of Moyer, giving the Hawks a commanding 5-2 lead. The rest of the period belonged to the Hawks as they dominated the play. Rider was able to tap in a goal with 1:32 left in the third, but their last hoorah would not be enough. Time expired and the Montclair State Red Hawks all skated to meet each other, celebrating in a rain shower of sticks and gloves, they were the new 2002- 2003 MACHA Champions.
After the game, Mike Grey was named the tournament MVP and the Red Hawks Captains Ed Caldwell and Keith Graussam were awarded the MACHA cup on behalf of the entire team. Coach Matt comments on the victory, I felt it to be a pleasant surprise in winning the MACHA. It goes to show when you play together as a team and you buy into what the coaches are preaching anything can happen. We went in with NO ONE expecting a thing out of us! We finally started believing in ourselves and it paid OFF BIG TIME. Next season we will go on to WIN more games in the SUPER EAST (the Hawks other league) and BRING HOME THE TITLE AGAIN. It came down to ALL 3 lines and ALL DEFENSEMAN, and goalies playing as a unit! THAT WAS THE KEY, NEXT YEAR WILL BE A VERY EXCITING YEAR FOR MSU ICE HOCKEY!
Going into next season the Hawks will lose just one player to graduation, John Baumgartner. Baumer has been associated with Montclair hockey for its entire five year existence. Freshman Lee Elias comments on Baumer's influence, Aside from being a great player, John is someone I look up to. He's a guy I can go to if I have a problem with anything. The guys all respect him a lot and were gonna miss his on ice presence next year. John will return next year as a coach.
The teams Captain Ed Caldwell and Keith Graussam will both be eligible to play next year. Maniscalco comments on their presence. "The captains this season were great! You have the VOCAL player Caldwell who pulled everyone together and then you had the SEMI vocal player Conigliaro who picked up the pieces for Caldwell! Then you have the LEADER by actions DYBUS! HE JUST PLAYED THE GAME AT HIS BEST GAME IN AND GAME OUT! The late addition of GRAUSSAM to me was the final piece to my core players! He is the kid who works his butt off on the ice, off the ice and appreciated every minute he was able to play! Especially, now that he has been deployed (by the Marines) to KUWAIT, I DEDICATE THIS CHAMPIONSHIP TO KEITH!"
The Red Hawks finished the last month of their season with five wins and one loss, making their first month seem like a typo. The Hawks came together at the right time and were able to execute team play on the ice. They won the championship without having one player in the top twenty scoring and proved that hard work, determination, and TEAM WORK will prove victorious.
