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The Falcons are featured in The Cranbury Press this week. Below is the article, courtesy of The Cranbury Press.
Falcons hockey looks to reach .500
The Monroe Township High ice hockey team will attempt to get over the .500 mark during a key stretch of matches the rest of the month.
Entering today’s game against Freehold Boro, the Falcons were 3-5-1. Monroe also faces Point Pleasant Boro (Jan. 22) and Edison (Jan. 29) before turning the calendar to February.
"Those are all toss ups," Monroe coach Jerry Minter said. "We have to come out on top in all the toss-up games; make sure we do everything correct defensively and do everything correct offensively so we don’t get caught with odd-man rushes."
"You’d like to get to .500 sooner rather than later, but with a young team it is not the whole focus. The important thing is to be a team. I think they’ve embraced that concept. I like where they are right now."
Monroe is coming off a 10-3 win over Colonia in which Stan Monak had four goals and three assists. Monak leads the Falcons in points with 25 (12 goals-13 assists) while Ed Stulak leads the squad with 14 goals.
"When we have the opportunity, we can put the puck in the net, that’s for sure," Minter said.
Last month, the Falcons’ John Carroll made history when he became the first Monroe goaltender to register a shutout in a varsity game. Carroll stopped 11 shots as MTHS blanked West Orange, 8-0.
"It always seemed to elude us," said Minter, who has been the program’s only coach during its four-season run. "It was nice to see it finally happen."
Unfortunately, Carroll suffered a groin injury in early January and might miss the remainder of the campaign. He had posted a 2.45 goals-against average in four games. Roger Ezri, who was splitting time with Carroll, will see the bulk of the work the rest of the way.
Speaking of work, no one does more of it than defenseman Nick Modugno. The junior rarely, if ever, leaves the ice during matches. Modugno is second on the team in assists, with 11.
"He solidifies the defensive position," Minter said. "He takes on 45 minutes a game and does his best to stay out of the penalty box. It helps us a lot to have him out there the whole game and for him to have the endurance to do it."
ELSEWHERE: The Monroe Township boys basketball team was 8-2 after a 64-61 victory Tuesday over Cardinal McCarrick, giving the Falcons sole possession of first place in the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division. Timmy Brix led Monroe with 15 points while Zach Batchelor added 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kenny Pace and Danny Brix also reached double digits in points, with 13 and 12, respectively.
Three Falcons from the girls bowling team advanced from Wednesday’s qualifying round to next week’s GMC individual tournament final. Lauren Hoffman rolled games of 268 and 237 on her way to a 694 series and was third among all qualifiers. Also advancing were Kelsie Chasan with a 488 series (182 high game) and Jessica Dipierro (485-195).
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