fter his ice hockey team escaped Hillsborough High School with a tie on Monday evening, December 22, Bridgewater-Raritan High School head coach Vincent Arnone knew his squad was taking a step up in class not even 24 hours later.
On paper, it looked to be a tall task on the road against undefeated and reigning state champion Westfield High School: New Jersey's seventh-ranked team overall, even for a No. 16 ranked Panthers squad undefeated in six straight games since a season-opening loss.
Its game against Hillsborough, however, was one the Panthers wished they could have back.
"We need to be ready to go and we need to change our game," Arnone explained of the Panthers' next challenge at Westfield immediately after Monday's 2-2 tie against Skyland Conference rival Hillsborough (2-4-1). "In order to win a game like this, we're going to have to get to the dirty areas, and we're not going to have pretty goals like we've had against other teams."
"It's going to take hard work and sacrifice from everybody and good defensive play in our own zone."
That, along with the heart and resiliency it demonstrated, helped Bridgewater-Raritan make a loud statement throughout the Garden State on Tuesday afternoon.
After conceding four consecutive goals to four different goal scorers, Bridgewater-Raritan (6-1-1) looked to be in big trouble in the final three minutes of the second period against Westfield (4-1). The Panthers then furiously rallied from a three-goal deficit with the game's final five goals, including a hat trick by junior Sasha Abolenskiy, to stun the reigning state champion Blue Devils after a 6-4 victory Tuesday, December 23, at The Club in Woodbridge.
Most importantly, the Panthers quickly made its 2-2 tie feel like a distant memory at Hillsborough, which did not trail for the game's first 40 minutes of regulation and had the game's lone goal heading into the tail end of the third period. Sophomore Jason Rutkowski then tied the game for Bridgewater-Raritan with five minutes remaining before Hillsborough sophomore Colton King answered with his second goal, which put the Raiders in the driver's seat up 2-1 with 3:54 to go.
After the Panthers emptied their net occupied by sophomore goalie Justin Madison (31 saves vs. Hillsborough, 30 saves against Westfield), they capitalized on their extra attacker when Abolenskiy netted the game-tying goal with 57.3 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Neither team scored over the final five-minute extra period, as Hillsborough sophomore goalie Danny Lernerman (38 saves) and the Raiders' defense ultimately denied the Panthers an outright victory.
At Westfield, Bridgewater-Raritan junior Stanley Xenakis (two goals) opened the game's scoring on a power-play goal for the Panthers with 4:27 left in the first period. The Blue Devils then tied the game, 1-1, on a goal with eight seconds left in the opening period before erupting for three more goals in an eight-minute stretch of the second period. After Westfield led 4-1 with 2:54 left in the second period, Abolenskiy scored on a Bridgewater-Raritan power play just over one minute later to cut the Blue Devils' lead to 4-2 after two periods.
Abolenskiy then tallied his second goal with 12:29 remaining to cut Bridgewater-Raritan to within 4-3, but a five-minute major penalty was assessed to Westfield with 8:30 left to open the door for the Panthers. With 5:42 remaining, Xenakis barged in with his second goal of the afternoon to tie the game, and Abolenskiy completed his hat trick with the go-ahead goal to give Bridgewater-Raritan a 5-4 lead with 3:58 left in regulation.
The Panthers then denied Westfield's last-minute attempt to tie the game and force overtime after the Blue Devils emptied their net. Senior forward Alex Kotelnikov then punctuated Bridgewater-Raritan's monumental 6-4 upset victory by scoring with 14.4 seconds remaining.
Now undefeated in its last seven games, Bridgewater-Raritan (6-1-1) will have a busy holiday break starting with a road matchup against No. 20 ranked Brick Township High School (5-1) at 6:30 p.m. Friday, December 26, at The Ice Palace in Brick. The Panthers will then ring in the New Year with a trip across state lines against No. 10 ranked Northern Highlands Regional High School (5-2) at 2 p.m. Thursday, January 1, at Sport-O-Rama Ice Rinks in Monsey, NY.
The Panthers will then return home to Rock Ice Arena against Skyland Conference rival Hunterdon Central Regional High School (4-2) at 3:30 p.m. Friday, January 2, in Dunellen to round out Bridgewater-Raritan High School's holiday recess.
"Our guys are going to have to sacrifice their bodies and really have to come to play," concluded Arnone of what it will continue to take for Bridgewater-Raritan to be successful against its fellow state championship contenders.
"They have to put themselves in a position where they are getting to the dirty areas that we talk about."