Robbinsville was the biggest story in the Trenton times area this season as the Ravens won their first Mercer County Tournament championship after winning the CVC Tournament in 2020-21.
While no other teams won championships, several scored impressive wins throughout the season. Lawrenceville, which was the Two Nations Prep League champions last season, lost in the league semifinals but over the course of the year defeated such New England powers as Taft, Millbrook, Choate and Gunnery. Princeton Day finished fifth in the Gordon Conference’s American Division, but handed No. 1 Don Bosco its only conference loss of the season.
These are some of the top performers from the 2023-24 season:
Player of the Year: Han Shin, Princeton Day
Princeton Day defenseman Han Shin has been a fixture on the Panther defense for the past four seasons but his contributions to the PDS program have extended far beyond the defensive end of the ice. Shin has been an asset on offense, on the bench and away from the rink, providing significant leadership as one of four senior captains.
He concluded a stellar high school career with an eight goal, nine assist season that included four game winning goals in some of the team’s biggest contests. His performance this season earned him a first team berth on the All-Gordon Conference Team, voted on by the coaches of the state’s toughest, high school ice hockey circuit.
That is why Princeton Day’s Han Shin is the Trenton Times Ice Hockey Player of the Year for 2023-24.
For PDS coach Scott Bertoli, Shin’s ability to contribute in so many different ways on the ice is what sets him apart from other players.
“Being first team All-Gordon Conference speaks to the fact that all the other coaches of very good teams feel he’s worthy of being one of the best in our conference,” he said of Shin. “What Han brings offensively is that he is so dynamic. He’s arguably as skilled as any of the top forwards in the conference. He’s physical when he needs to be physical. I’ve seen him stick up for some of his younger teammates this year.
“His skill level is off the charts. It is really his ability to beat people one on one and to attack off the rush like a high level forward, as well as his anticipation and his ability to get the shot off. He’s impressive. He can single handedly take games over.”
That’s high praise coming from a coach who played Division I hockey at Princeton University and pro hockey in the AHL and ECHL. But Shin earned the accolades over his time playing on McGraw Rink and proved this season, that in addition to being a clutch defensive player, he could also deliver in the important moments on the offensive end of the ice.
Shin scored the game winner in the Panthers’ 3-2 win over Lawrenceville, scoring a short handed goal in the third period that broke the 2-2 tie. He also delivered the game winner for PDS against No. 11 Seton Hall Prep, scoring an overtime goal to give No. 7 Princeton Day a 3-2 victory.
He delivered the crushing blow to LaSalle (PA) when he broke a 4-4 tie with a third period score and then added an empty net goal to cap off a 6-4 win. He also played a scoring role in his team’s 7-4 victory over No. 1 Don Bosco, netting the opening goal. It was the only conference loss for the Ironmen all season.
Shin showed up on campus at the same time as fellow senior defenseman Connor Stratton and for the past four seasons, Bertoli has relied on the duo to be impact players.
“Their senior year, those kids were on the ice, it felt like, the entire time,” Bertoli said of the duo. “One of them was always on the ice and that was very intentional on our part. They were both committed to playing the way we wanted them to. Most impressive for me is that, in our most meaningful games, against our top opponents, they played their best hockey.
“They left it on the ice. They played 20 to 25 minutes, on power plays and penalty killls, they contributed offensively and blocked shots. As a coach, you can’t ask or expect anything more.”
Shin’s contributions to the team involved times when he wasn’t touching the puck or blocking shots and Bertoli points to Princeton Day’s 3-2 overtime loss to eventual state champion, No. 5 St. Augustine, in the quarterfinal of the NJSIAA Non-Public State Tournament, as a prime example.
“All these kids mature at different points,” Bertoli said. “He’s come a long way as a team leader. He’s one of our captains, along with Connor Stratton, Liam Jackson, and Wyatt Ewanchyna. St. Augustine would go on to win the state championship and I would argue that for two periods, we were the better team. We were short handed and ran out of gas in the third period and overtime but Han had our kids ready to go and had us believing we had every opportunity to win. His energy and on ice play really sets the table for us.”
Shin completes his high school career with 39 points, including 30 over the past two seasons. He will now head off to Wesleyan University to play high level Division III hockey.
“It’s interesting,” Bertoli said of Shin’s move to Wesleyan next season. “Most kids play a year or two of junior hockey (before playing in college). His going right in after he graduates to play is pretty telling of his ability and what they think of him.”
With Shin, and his cohort Stratton, heading out the door after graduation, the Panthers will have to get used to life without the talented and versatile defensemen. Bertoli ticked off the names of some of his most prized impact players previously lost to graduation before assessing the task of replacing the two defenders.
“With both of them walking out the door at the same time,” Bertoli said. “We’re going to figure a way to fill 20 to 25 minutes of ice time every game in high level minutes. And generate offense. It’s going to be a tall order.”
Team of the Year: Robbinsville
Four years ago, when the soon to graduate seniors were just entering the Robbinsville program as freshmen, Ravens coach Dan Bergan thought that the 2023-24 season was going to be their year. He turned out to be absolutely correct as Robbinsville had a banner season, going 18-6 and winning the Mercer County Tournament for the first time.
That makes Robbinsville the Trenton Times Ice Hockey Team of the Year for 2023-24.
While the MCT victory was the first time that the Ravens had captured that title, Robbinsville had previously won the CVC Tournament held during the COVID year of 2020-21. With the departure of Hun since then, the lineup of teams in the current MCT looks similar but Bergan points out a significant difference between the two titles.
“Winning the MCT is a much bigger accomplishment, because it comes with a trophy,” he laughed . “It’s stamped in history now. Winning the Mercer County Tournament was special because there were three or four teams that were very capable of winning that tournament. We were the last team standing two of the last four years. That’s a tribute to our seniors.”
While the MCT championship may have been the crowning achievement, Robbinsville’s success extended throughout the season as the Ravens scored a 4-1 win in December over No. 18 Rumson-Fair Haven and defeated their MCT final opponent, Notre Dame, three times during the season.
Robbinsville got the job done with a deep and talented lineup that included three lines, including a powerfully productive first line, as well as four strong defensemen and one of the CVC’s best goalies.
“It was our most balanced team in years,” Bergan said. “We had the full compliment. We had a tremendous first line that scored 74 percent of our points. But at the same token, the second and third lines were critical. If you are running three, they are going to get out against the first and second lines at some point and they have to be able to perform.
“What didn’t get noticed was the fact that our defensemen are the pillars of our team, together protecting Zander Wiley, who is an outstanding goalie in his own right. It was our most complete team since 2010-2011.”
While the Robbinsville defensive duos of Colin Rubin (3g., 14a.) and Brendan Goddeyne (1g., 6a.) and Mike Buchanan (2g., 13a.) and Jack Morgan (1g., 7a.) were doing the heavy lifting in the trenches, the front line of forwards consisting of Luke Gensinger, Zach Duggan and Charlie Luizza made the biggest splash, lighting up the scoreboard at an alarming rate.
The trio amazingly held three of the top four spots in the CVC for points scored and assists and were three of the top six in goals scored. It was a tremendous amount of offensive production among just three players. Duggan led the way, leading the team in all three categories as well as leading the conference in both points and assists. He finished the year with 62 points on 31 goals and 31 assists.
Luizza and Gensinger were right behind, with Gensinger scoring 56 points on 27 goals and 29 assists and Luizza scoring 55 points on 20 goals and 35 assists.
When that trio was off the ice, two other lines made their contributions. Jake Lachance (11g., 7a.), Jamison Pike (5g., 12a.) and Jack Lawrence (2g., 2a.) held down the second line and James Morino (3g., 6a.), Cole Martinez (1g., 4a.) and Alexander Margolin (4g., 5a.) were on the third line.
Backing them all up was Wiley, who spent all but 15 minutes of this season’s action in goal. He finished the year with 550 saves and a save percentage of .912.
Even in a season as successful as Robbinsville’s, there can be rough patches, and the Ravens hit one in mid January, losing three straight games to Wall 6-2, and conference foes Hopewell and Paul VI, 4-1 and 5-3, respectively.
Robbinsville would come back a week later to avenge the loss to the Bulldogs with a decisive 6-2 victory. While the Ravens would go on to win the county tournament title with a 3-1 win in the final over Notre Dame, it was their rubber match with Hopewell in the MCT semifinal that posed the toughest test.
In that game, Hopewell had wiped out Robbinsville’s 5-1 lead with four unanswered third period goals before the Ravens advanced on an overtime goal by Gensinger, on assists from Luizza and Duggan.
“Every team on the way to doing something great is going to have that moment when they are challenged,” Bergan said of the overtime win. “We were back on our heels and they found a way to pull it out.”
Robbinsville’s season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the sectional tournament with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ocean Township. The Ravens had defeated Ocean 4-3 in early January but had no answer for a spectacular performance from Spartan goalie Roman Leonardi.
Robbinsville outshot Ocean 48-26 but Leonardi stopped all 48 Raven shots, while the Spartans got a third period goal when a shot bounced off a defender and skipped into the goal.
With the MCT Trophy in hand, Bergan is ready to place this squad alongside some of the strongest teams he has coached over the years at Robbinsville.
“It’s tough to compete against the private schools,” Bergan pointed out. “Very few public teams have won this. We had a great team in 2010, 2011, 2012, and ran into some great Notre Dame teams. This was kind of my white whale. To finally track it down as a public school, I think, was a tremendous accomplishment for my kids.”
Coach of the Year: Jeff Radice, Hopewell Valley
Hopewell Valley’s Jeff Radice has been the head coach of the Bulldogs for eight seasons and spent a couple of years before that as an assistant. But for the past three years he has been working to return the team to a competitive footing after a 2020-21 season when it won only two games.
He clearly has succeeded in that quest, winning 13 games in each of the past two seasons and splitting a pair of regular season games with MCT champ Robbinsville, before pushing the Ravens to the limit in the Mercer County Tournament semifinal, falling 6-5 in overtime.
The Bulldogs also defeated a tough Lacey team 5-2 in the first round of the sectional tournament and didn’t bow out until Manasquan got a third period goal to defeat Hopewell 3-2 in the quarterfinals.
That coaching effort is why Hopewell Valley’s Jeff Radice is the Trenton Times Ice Hockey Coach of the Year for 2023-24.
Radice has been around the block a few times in his career, including playing on Hopewell Valley’s last MCT championship team back in 2008. So he understood what it would take to move the Bulldogs back to a competitive stance. He credits his players for their effort.
“It takes strong leadership, honestly,” Radice said of his team. “Kids, of course, respond to the coaching staff. But if their peers aren’t buying in, they’re not buying in. You have to have strong leadership at the top. We have had it the past couple of years and that’s something we rely on. They have to buy in and play disciplined hockey. We play best when we play as a team and when we didn’t, we struggled.”
That mid season struggle that Radice refers to occurred from mid December to mid January when Hopewell went 1-6-1 over an eight game stretch. It tested both the Hopewell coaching staff and the players alike, but the Bulldogs were able to pull out of their funk and rebound by sweeping Robbinsville, Mendham and Princeton in three straight games.
“When I look back at that stretch, it was definitely frustrating,” Radice said. “I kept telling our kids to grab a shovel and start digging ourselves out. At the time, it seemed like the world was against us. The media, parents and school mates, everybody seemed to have lost hope in us. To their credit they grabbed their shovels and dug out. They believed in themselves and knew what they were capable of. It was difficult when they were in it, but they didn’t lose sight of the big picture.”
After a pair of losses, Hopewell entered the MCT with three straight wins, including a 4-2 victory over Notre Dame. One of those two losses had come at the hands of Robbinsville 6-2. But after scoring an opening round win over Lawrenceville “B” 6-2, Hopewell gave the Ravens all it could handle in the semifinal of the MCT, overcoming a 5-1 deficit with four straight third period goals before losing in overtime 6-5.
“That was definitely a microcosm of our season,” Radice said of the wild contest. “There were lots of ups and downs (this year) and we went from extreme highs to extreme lows all in one hockey game. To be honest, I was really proud of them, the way they pulled themselves out of the midseason rut and got back on track and finished strong the way they did.”
Radice says he will be back for season nine as head coach next year. With virtually the entire team back, there is plenty of reason for optimism.
“We’re growing,” Radice said. “We’re losing one senior, so pretty much the whole group is back. It has taken some time to grow, and taken time to mature and figure out exactly what our identity is. This team is hungry. We came into this year with a goal and we fell short of it, but they will definitely have a one track mind next year, for sure.
“We need to take home some hardware. We’ve got a bunch of seniors next year that are very hungry and don’t want to leave their high school careers without something to show for it. Getting to the top of the mountain is something we’re looking for.”
Trenton Times All-Area Team
Luke Benitez, Lawrenceville, Fwd., Sr.
He didn’t get quite the attention that fellow Big Red forward Porter Byrd-Leitner got this season, but Benitez was a significant offensive force for Lawrenceville this year. A play making forward with a high hockey IQ, Benitez scored 26 points in 25 games, scoring 12 goals and adding 14 assists.
Porter Byrd-Leitner, Lawrenceville, Fwd., Sr.
Unquestionably the area’s most feared offensive player, Byrd-Leitner took it up a notch this season. Physical, athletic, talented and blessed with both size and speed, Byrd-Leitner was the Big Red’s leading point scorer against a brutally tough schedule of New England boarding schools. He registered his 40 points on the season by scoring 13 goals and adding 27 assists.
Zach Duggan, Robbinsville, Fwd., Jr.
Duggan was the most dominant offensive player on the most dominant line in the Colonial Valley Conference this season as he helped lead the Ravens to the Mercer County Tournament title. Duggan led the conference in points, with 62, and assists, with 31. He was also the second leading goal scorer in the CVC, with 31.
Wyatt Ewanchyna, Princeton Day, Fwd., Jr.
Ewanchyna was the most productive offensive player for the Panthers this season. His seven goals was fourth most on the team but no player could match his play making ability. He contributed 20 assists over the course of the season, finishing with 27 points in just 19 games.
Filip Kacmarsky, Princeton Day, Fwd., So.
Teamed with Wyatt Ewanchyna and Jake Harrison, Kacmarsky was part of a powerful first line for PDS this season. He scored 10 goals and had four assists on the year, and was a clutch performer for the Panthers, including scoring both goals in the 3-2 state quarterfinal overtime loss to St. Augustine Prep.
Ryan Levesque, Hun, Fwd., Sr.
The Raiders struggled through a three win season but remained competitive throughout the year, thanks in no small part to Levesque. The senior led the Hun squad in all three top offensive categories. He scored 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists.
Kyle Ozgun, Lawrenceville, Goalie, Sr.
Ozgun was a monster in the net for the big Red this season, proving to be a game changer with 707 saves. Competitive and poised, especially in the big games, Ozgun finished the season with an impressive save percentage of .928.
DJ Parouse, Lawrenceville, Def., Sr.
The quarterback of the Big Red’s first power play, Parouse was as smooth moving the puck as any offensive player, thanks to his good first pass and great vision. He finished the season with 15 points on two goals and 13 assists.
Han Shin, Princeton Day, Def., Sr.
A first team All-Gordon Conference selection, there wasn’t much that Shin couldn’t do for the Panthers both on and off the ice. An essential team leader and a skilled defenseman, Shin was also a serious offensive weapon for PDS. The Wesleyan-bound senior finished his high school career with 39 points on 16 goals and 23 assists.
All-CVC Team
Nick Aversa, Paul VI, Fwd., So.
Brendan Beatty, Princeton, Fwd., Jr.
Zach Duggan, Robbinsville, Fwd., Jr.
Luke Gensinger, Robbinsville, Fwd., Sr.
Charlie Luizza, Robbinsville, Fwd. Sr.
Zach Meseroll, Hamilton, Fwd., Jr.
Oisin O’Dell, Princeton, Def. Sr.
Colin Rubin, Robbinsville, Def., Sr.
Zander Wiley, Robbinsville, Goalie, Sr.
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Michael Holcombe can be reached at hssports@njadvancemedia.com
