The 2021 regular season came to a close yesterday with the Ironmen doing it in dramatic fashion, coming from behind twice to beat rival Delbarton, 4-2 on the road.
Bosco Celebrates Joe Bossolina’s first period goal
Delbarton got on the board first early in the opening frame, converting on an odd man rush. But Bosco would battle right back, as Joe Bossolina (1g, 0a) netted his first career Ironman goal, cashing in on a Michael Pappachristou (0g, 3a) and Nick Milmore (2g, 2a) feed from behind the net to tie the score at one at the end of the first period.
The Green Wave would re-take the lead five minutes into the second frame, in what Coach Toskos described as, “one of our worst periods of hockey.”
Following the second intermission, Bosco got the equalizer, as Senior Captain, Zack Hammond (5g, 7a) converted for his fifth goal of the season on a pass from Connor Sedlak (14g, 8a) and Drew Fortescue (2g, 7a). Later in the third, with Delbarton in the box, the Bosco power play went to work, where Junior Matt Imbriano (3g, 11a) got the go ahead goal off another Drew Fortescue assist. As the final period drew to a close, Delbarton put out an extra attacker, but a Ty Oller (6g, 8a) blocked shot, leads to his second assist of the night, feeding Connor Sedlak who sealed the victory with an empty net goal.
With this win, Bosco earned the third seed in the Gordon Conference tournament and will host the Green Wave this Thursday at the Ice Vault.
Congratulations to four year varsity letterman, 2019 State Champion and Captain Connor Sedlak, as he becomes the newest member of the Don Bosco 100 point club. Entering the Senior Night contest against St. Joe’s, Connor sat at 98 points (51g, 47a), but immediately got to work, scoring on the opening shift to give the Ironmen a 1-0 lead. With the first period nearing a close, Connor threaded a pass to fellow senior and line mate Brendan Flaherty on a two on one, who finished on the open net to give Bosco a 2-0 lead and Connor his 100th point. Connor added two more goals on the night, for his second career hat trick and now stands at 102 points (54g, 48a).
Connor joins 9 other varsity players, including his brother Tyler in the exclusive 100 point club. Connor and Tyler also become the first brother combo to each score over 100 points and combined have contributed 321 points and counting in their Ironmen careers.
Congrats to Connor and his family on a great achievement and a Bosco Hockey milestone!
Senior Joe Caldiero looks to make a play vs Pope John
The start to 2021 has been a lot like the last half of 2020… Lots of uncertainty with some hopeful optimism. After the Governor, the NJSIAA and State of New Jersey announcement allowing winter sports, the Ironmen got to work the week before Christmas with a 3 day mini camp at the outdoor Secaucus Arena. Pace was fast and furious and most importantly, the kids were extremely excited to be on the ice together. “It was great to finally see our guys back on the ice. Lots of excitement as the boys get ready for a shortened season”, Coach Toskos quipped.
After multiple revisions, the schedule finally presented itself with an opening night barn burner vs. Bergen Catholic. Unfortunately, for hockey fans on both sides, BC had to cancel an hour before game time and Ironmen were left waiting for opening night.
Fast forward two days later and Bosco Hockey was finally back on the ice facing St. Peters Prep to open Gordon Conference play. The boys came out on fire with Senior Captain Connor Sedlak registering his first hattrick of his career. A 4 point night from Junior Captain Lukas Klemm and career goal #1 for Freshman Dean Toskos. Senior Kevin Rose shut down the Maurerders with a 9 save shut out en route to a 10-0 win.
Freshman Dean Toskos
Following the opening win, Bosco would take on CBA in a rematch of the 2020 State Finals. Holding onto a 3-1 lead entering the third period, the Ironmen would eventually let CBA crawl back, surrending two third period goals and settling for a 3-3 tie.
After settling in to the season and continuing to adjust to the fluid schedule, Bosco would win five of their next seven contests, defeating non conference opponents St. Joe’s Metuchen and the Hun School, while taking down another 3 Gordon Conference opponents in St. Augustine Prep, Pope John and St. Joseph Regional, to move their record to 6-2-1.
With post season seeding still up for grabs, the Ironmen will close out the regular season against two of the Gordon Conferences storied programs in Seton Hall Prep on Monday Feb 22 and Delbarton Tuesday Feb 23.
The 56th season of Don Bosco Hockey finally opens this Friday vs rival Bergen Catholic. Looking to start the season off on the right foot, the Ironmen come into the season led by Senior Captains Connor Sedlak (83 GP 41g-41a), Zach Hammond (57 GP 17g, 12a) and Junior Lukas Klemm (16 GP 6g, 11a).
In addition to the three Captains, Seniors Brendan Flaherty (29 GP 4g, 6a), Joe Caldiero (26 GP 3g, 5a), Jack Noel (9 GP 1g, 1a) and Michael Papachristou anchor an offense that returns Juniors Matt Imbriano (44 GP 11g, 7a) and Nick Milmore (3 GP 1g). Joining the offensive attack, Sophomores Sal Guzzo (23 GP 10g, 15a), Ryan Fine (15 GP 10g, 13a) and Ty Oller (16 GP 3g, 1a) all return after a fantastic rookie campaign. Looking to help the team continue its run of success and contribute on the score sheet are Freshman Matthew Bossolina and Dean Toskos.
Senior Captain Zach Hammond
On the blueline, the Ironmen return Sophomore Drew Fortescue (20 GP 1g, 11a) to go along with Hammond and Klemm. Joining the three returning defenseman are newcomers, Juniors Joe Bossolina, Tyler Alesso and Marian Mosko, as well as Sophomore Andrew Chanfrau and Freshman Lukas Peterson and Kenny Kalman. Backstopping the Ironmen, both Senior Kevin Rose and Sophomore Ethan Marich return and will be joined by Senior Damien Blando and Freshman James Tarabacchia.
Entering his 15th season at the helm for Don Bosco, Head Coach Greg Toskos (234-107-26) will look to guide the Ironmen to once again claim post season success. “Look, we know this season is going to be different, its going to be fluid from day to day with what is happening, but we want to give our Seniors a great year, they deserve it,” said Toskos. “We return a strong core and expect to compete for a championship, the expectations remain the same.”
Despite the shortened season, Don Bosco will still play one of the toughest schedules in the state. Along with playing each of the Gordon teams, Bosco will play a home and home with Princeton Day School as well as a non-conference matchup against Morristown Beard.
Follow along all season on HockeyTV or via our social media; Twitter: @DBIronmenHockey and Instagram: @boscohockey and check back for frequent articles and video highlights.
Don Bosco Hockey is proud to announce that Seniors Zach Hammond and Connor Sedlak along with Junior Lukas Klemm have been named team captains for the 2020-21 season. Head Coach Greg Toskos is excited to get started in this unusual year, “We have a great core group coming back that we’re really excited about and we couldn’t be prouder as a program to feature these three players as our captains. Their leadership will be tested right away as we will play one of the toughest schedules in the state.”
The Ironmen open the season on the road, December 21st, in a State Semi-Finals re-match vs Seton Hall Prep, followed by Bergen Catholic two days before Christmas.
Bosco will close out 2020 with two more games against Gloucester Catholic on the 27th and Morristown Beard School on the 29th, before breaking for the new year. “It’s a different year for sure,” said Coach Toskos, “but our goal remains the same and we’re looking forward to getting the 2020-21 campaign under way.”
Coming off the an 8-3 quarterfinal win over Pingry, the Ironmen looked to keep their offensive momentum rolling into Mennen Arena for an NJSIAA Semi-finals showdown against six seeded Seton Hall Prep. The Pirates, fresh off their 3-2 win over three seed Bergen Catholic, were all that stood in Bosco’s way for a return trip to the Prudential Center and a chance to defend their 2019 State Title crown.
Merrimack College commit Michael Rubin with 3 assists vs SHP in Semi-Final action
After a scoreless opening few minutes, that saw each team trade scoring chances, Seton Hall Prep got on the board first to take a 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, leading scorer, Junior Connor Sedlak (20g, 22a) found a loose puck behind the SHP goal tender off a Lukas Klemm (6g, 11a) shot to even the score.
Coming out of the break, Bosco struck first, six minutes in as Freshman Sal Guzzo (10g, 15a) cashed in on the power play off a nice feed from Lukas Klemm and Junior Michael Rubin (7g, 18a) to put the Ironmen up 2-1. Shortly thereafter, Senior Arthur Tsimerman (4g, 4a) scored his second goal in as many games, taking a pass from Rubin to give Bosco a 3-2 lead. However, Seton Hall continued to play tough all night and answered right back two minutes later to pull within one going into the final period.
Jr. Connor Sedlak, 2 goals vs SHP, leads the rush
In the third, with the season on the line, the Ironmen rallied for two goals as Sedlak found the back of the net on the power play, for his second of the game. But the Pirates would continue to hang around, getting their third of the game a minute and a half later, to pull within one again. A minute later however, Bosco would strike again, as Freshman Ryan Fine (10g, 13) took a Drew Fortescue (1g, 9a) pass and went five hole, to secure a 5-3 win and the Ironmen were off to the Rock for the fourth straight year to defend their 2019 title.
Don Bosco looks to defend their title and repeat as NJSIAA Non-Public Champions against number one seed CBA, Monday March 9th, 6:30 pm at the Prudential Center. Please come out and support the Ironmen!
