Freehold Raiders ice hockey team is growing

The numbers speak for themselves. In its third year of existence, the Freehold Independent Raiders ice hockey team has seen its numbers grow from 20 in its first year to 60 in 2007-08. Because of the increased interest in hockey in the Freehold Regional District (the team is made up exclusively of players from the District) they are fielding two varsity teams, Black and Red, this winter.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Above: Jordan Black (left), a member of the Freehold Region Independent Ice Hockey Raiders, and Aaron Manners (right) run through a drill in the White Rink at the Wall Sports Arena in Farmingdale last week. The Raiders are a team of students from the six Freehold Regional District Schools (Colts Neck, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro) competing together as one team. Below left: The Raiders practice in the White Rink. "It says the program is growing," said Oktay Armagan, head coach and director of hockey operations for the Raiders. "The talent keeps getting better and there is more interest."

The Black team has a solid core that has experience together for two years and it has shown.

"It's great to have all these kids here for two or three years," saidArmagan. "It's an added bonus. They know the system."

This familiarity is producing results on the ice. The Raiders Varsity Black team is 7-2-1 and outscored opponents by a 2-1 margin, 27-13.

"We have a very strong team," noted Armagan. "Our defense is young, but the kids have stepped it up. We have a high octane offense with a lot of playmakers.

"Compared to two years ago, we're playing more as a unit," he added. "The talent is a lot more balanced."

There is something else theRaiders have, according toArmagan, a "lot of speed."

The Raiders have compiled their impressive record while playing a beefed-up schedule that reflects the reputation they have gained for themselves. The schedule includes more out-of-state teams.

One of the highlights of the season was playing the Rutgers University freshman team to a 2-2 tie. Adam Cohen and Nick Lisciandro scored for the Raiders. Lisciandro's goal was late in the third period and tied the game at 2-2.

The Raiders finished second at the Aston High School Tournament in Pennsylvania, falling to Prep School power St. Mary's of New York, 2-0, in the final.

Goalie Mike Maczynski had three shutouts during the tournament. The third was in the semifinals, a 4-0 win over Ridley. He stopped 29 shots and was the Player of the Game. David Ramos and Trevor Black each scored two goals.

Maczynski and Bobby Ellis are the goalies for the Black team. In front of them on defense are Jared Minski, Trevor Black, Aaron Manner, Joe Bellotti, Andrew Frazzini, Chris Bianca, Jonathan Cleary and Michael Berry.

The forwards are David Reid, Jordan Black, Michael Friedman, Lisciandro, Serge Moiseyev, Kyle Nilsen, David Ramos, Rich Grande, Ryan Quinn and Daniel Kutschman. The Raiders talent offensively is so spread out that the team has several productive lines.

Lisciandro, a senior at Manalapan High School, is the only player remaining on the team who was there when the Raiders started out. In a short time, he noted, players have developed a pride in playing for the Raiders.

"Everyone on the team is happy we have something like the Raiders," Lisciandro said. "We all want to play.

"The team is so much better [than two years ago]," he added. "We all have pride knowing we're pretty good. We know we could compete with the high school teams."

Lisciandro sees the Raiders program continuing to grow.

"It's catching on now," he said. "More people know about us. There are a lot more kids interested."

The Raiders Varsity Red team is 4-4. They lost in a shoot-out in the semifinals of the Aston tourney.

"The Red team has new players and those that were up from jayvee,"Armagan pointed out. "These are guys in transition. They are learning to win, how to finish. They are underclassmen."

The varsity Red players are David Rubin (defense), Adam Cohen (forward), Joe Giuliana (goalie), Michael Jurkiewicz (forward), Nick Peras (forward), Jared Brown (forward), Jared Antman (forward), Dillon Balsomo (forward), Chris Francia (defense), John Kellner (defense), Ben Acquaviva (forward), Paul Camarda (forward), Darnell Millberry (forward), Ciro Saverino (goalie), Marc Broome (forward), Chase Delahanty (defense), Kevin Collins (forward), JonathanWeinstein (defense) and Patrick Rubenstein (forward).

The jayvee team is 3-3. Last winter, the Raider jayvee won the Wall JV championship.

The Raiders practice and play their games at the American Ice Hockey in Wall Township aswell as ProTech up in Somerset.