Westfield Icemen Win Anthony Grasso JV Jamboree

On Monday, Feb. 18 at Woodbridge Community Center, the Cranford, Dayton, Scotch Plains, Summit and Westfield JV ice hockey teams participated in the Anthony Grasso JV Ice Hockey Jamboree.

The event, in memory of former Westfield High School teacher Anthony Grasso, is a fitting end to the Union County JV Hockey season and wasn’t decided until a thrilling shootout in the Championship Game saw Westfield squeak past Cranford by a 2-1 score.

Cranford beat Dayton in the first game by a 3-0 count on the backs of goals by Tim Padden, Jordan Marchese (assisted by Mark Christiano), and Richie Hurley.

In Game 2, Westfield prevailed over the Bulldogs by a 2-1 count. Goal scorers were Danny Bungerz and Drew Hopper, assisted by Joe Mele, Matt Friedman and Stephen DellaFera while Dayton’s goal was scored by Jason Hoens, assisted by Lorenzo Nucci.

In a preview of the championship game, Game 3 saw Westfield beat Cranford 1-0 as Matt Macik notched the game’s only tally supported by the strong play of Westfield netminder Christian Mancheno.

The next game saw Dayton beat Scotch Plains by a 1-0 count as Larry Boyle scored off an assist from Connor Krumholz.

In Game 5, Summit prevailed over the Raiders by the same 1-0 count as Sam Griffith popped home the winner, assisted by Nick Lioudis. Cranford then beat Summit 2-0 with Brendan Halpin chipping in a goal and an assist, James Harris scoring and Marc Colucci notching a helper.

In the 7th game, Westfield beat Scotch Plains by a 3-0 count. Sean Bohrod scored, assisted by Aaron Tavasi. Macik and Friedman also tallied for Westfield, DellaFera contributed two more assists and Michael Armento was solid in the cage.

In the championship game, Westfield and Cranford skated to a 1-1 tie with Hopper and Hurley the goals scorers for their respective teams while Ben Fleschler was superb in net for the Blue Devils.

The suspense was building as the teams moved to a shootout which was tied through 3 rounds. Finally, Westfield freshman Macik picked the top corner for the game winner to end a fun, spirited day of hockey.

Congratulations go out to all the teams and coaches on a great season.