ROXBURY GAELS
Head coach: Jonathan Benbow, 21st year (224-202-45 career record)
Division: MCSSIHL-Haas Charette
Last year: Roxbury finished with a 6-13-3 overall record and a 1-8-1 record in the Haas Division. It did not qualify for the Haas Cup, but it did make the NJSIAA North, Public state tournament. It defeated Montville, 6-3 in the play-in round, before losing to eventual Public champion Northern Highlands in the first round.
Key losses: Roxbury will be playing with a heavy heart this season after the tragic Nov. 28 death of Gavin Barooah, who graduated after last season. Roxbury graduated seven seniors from last year’s squad, led by Barooah, a defenseman who had 11 goals and four assists while earning Second Team All-Haas honors.
Forwards Sean Hardy (14 g., 8 a.) and A.J. Mancuso (8 g., 10 a.) were key scoring contributors as well and earned Haas Division Honorable Mention honors.
Forwards: While Hardy and Mancuso were key players up front, Roxbury does return its top line from last year of senior Ryan VanZile, junior Michael Nelson, and junior Chase Alven. VanZile will enter the year as one of the top scoring threats in the Haas-Charette Division after scoring 27 goals and adding 18 assists last season, and he stands just two points shy of 100 for his career. Nelson (10 g., 13 a.) and Alven (6 g., 8 a.) figure to be even better this year as well. Seniors Justin Katz (2 g,. 3 a.) and Alexis Oliveira, along with sophomores Thomas Sanders and Tim Farley should also contribute. Senior Julia Katz and freshman Brady Ozga are newcomers who figure to have an impact this year.
Defense: Roxbury graduated the majority of its blueliners from last year, but will still turn to senior Griffin Warsaw to lead the way (3 g., 8 a.). This figures to be a very young defense core, with freshmen Brayden Mackey, Jacob Henderson-Smith, and Jesse Ambrosi all expecting to see a lot of minutes.
Goalie: The Gaels will have an edge in goal with perhaps the top netminder in the Haas-Charette Division in Mikey Guadagnino. He is a four-year starter who missed the first month of last season but when he returned, the team clearly fed off of his play in net as four of the team’s six wins came with him between the pipes. He finished with an .860 save percentage last year. Sophomore Amanda Katz saw some time last year and will be back this year.
Outlook: Roxbury last won a cup title in 2017, when it finished off a back-to-back reign in the Halvorsen Cup. The two biggest question marks on this team are whether it can find production outside of the VanZile-Nelson-Alven line, and how quickly its young defense will adapt. What should help with that is having Guadagnino in net, who can steal games and take some pressure of the defensemen in front of him. But, if it can find sufficient secondary scoring and if its defense can grow throughout the year, Roxbury should be at or at least near the top of the Haas-Charette, and will be a serious contender to bring home its first cup title since 2017.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 