February 14 - The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School ice hockey team ended their regular season with a 3-game win streak, knocking off Governor Livingston 9-4 and Bayonne 3-2 this week after taking down the Johnson Crusaders last Sunday, giving them some good momentum as they head into the Union County Tournament. The Raiders’ fourth place finish in the UCIHL makes them the fourth seed and gets them a rematch against the fifth seeded Crusaders whom they beat 4-2 earlier in the season.
In the last league game of the year game against Governor Livingston, the Highlanders were hamstrung from the start as their first string goalie was out with a broken thumb. The Raiders took advantage of that right away, with senior Eric Hogan striking for two quick goals. Raider senior goalie Alex Montagna was holding his own and it was all Raiders from then on as several junior varsity players got a good taste of varsity action.
In their last regular season game against Bayonne, the Raiders and Hogan struck first again building a 3-1 lead. They had to hold on for the win though, after Bayonne pulled their goalie to get within a goal at 3-2.
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The Raiders had a chance to get one last win against Johnson in the first round of the County tournament and might have had senior captain Michael Rothman #18 back in the lineup. Rothman suffered a concussion several weeks ago, but was cleared for practice last week and would given the Raiders a big boost if he could have played.
After Johnson, next up would have been the 18th ranked, 2012 state champions and 2013-14 UCIHL first place Summit Hilltoppers who finished with a county record of 11-0-1. Pending another “Miracle on Ice” for the Raiders, a Summit-Westfield county final would be in order unless Cranford could pull off an upset against the Blue Devils in the semi-finals.
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The Raider Icers and the SPF Ice Hockey Association would like to thank everyone who supported the team this year whether it was cheering them on, donating to a canister drive, buying a raffle ticket or chuck-a-puck. Please keep following the SPFHS Raider Icers at www.leaguelineup.com/spficehockey and the state play-offs for all New Jersey high school hockey at www.njhockey.org.
