GL Hockey State Champs
April 4, 2023
Governor Livingston’s hockey team beat Colonia 5-4 at the beginning of the fourth overtime in the NJSIAA Tournament Public C championship game at the Prudential Center on Monday March 6, 2023. NPHS is a relatively small school, so it makes sense to have a co-op hockey team with the neighboring town. Berkeley Heights and New Providence have been a co-op team for the past seven years. This year was the second year in a row that Governor Livingston’s hockey team made it to the state finals.
The team practices at Warinanco Sports Center and Union Sports Arena about twice a week during their hockey season to prepare for the best. Head coach Greg Jensen and assistant coaches Travis Dilello and Matthew Altomare have made these boys practice long and hard this season, which paid off in the end.
Brandon Cuccaro, a senior captain said: “We have a lot of good chemistry on our team, even though it’s two different schools. We’re still really close and talk all the time. I have wanted to be a captain ever since I was a freshman. So getting that was good.”
Sophomore goalie Scott Capan agreed: “I like the camaraderie and everything. You can always improve and do better.”
Last year was the first year GL won state champs at the Prudential Center. The only difference this year was that they lost last year’s seniors and last year was more stressful since it was their first time playing at the Prudential Center for state finals. However this didn’t intimidate them. GL was prepared to take on the challenge and executed it perfectly.
“I feel like the main difference was that we had more pressure on us last year. We weren’t expected to be there. But there were people doubting us this year but we knew in our group that we would get there and we had more pressure being up for the second year in a row. So there was a lot of added pressure,” Cuccaro said.
The fourth overtime was filled with adrenaline in both the players on the ice and fans in the stands.
According to Cuccaro: “It was exhausting. I mean, it was the first time I’ve ever cramped playing hockey. Skating with the puck, my legs were just cramping so it was more like please someone score and we just kept throwing the puck, hoping one would go in, and eventually one went in for us.”
Cuccaro plans on playing hockey after high school for as long as he can: “I haven’t got recruited or anything but I’m looking to play club hockey in college if possible, because it’s still competitive.”
Capan is confident that GL will make it to the state finals again next year: “Even though we’re losing some key seniors and everything, we still have a bunch of great players. We also have a bunch of freshmen coming up. We’re all going to be getting better over the summer as well.”
Going into the final, he explained: “It was just so surreal, just being in the Prudential Center was so nerve racking.”
