Cunningham nets goal

in 8-1 loss to Chatham

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     ROCKAWAY TWP. - Playing without five skaters, the Rockaway Township squirts division team lost an 8-1 decision to Chatham in a Morris County Youth Hockey League game played at Mennen Arena in Morris Township on Saturday, Nov. 6.
     Liam Cunningham's unassisted goal in the first period - his first of the season - was Rockaway Township's only score of the game.
      Chatham held a 2-1 lead after one period, scored the only four goals of the second period, and then put the game out of reach with a two-goal third period.
      "We started out slowly on offense with only seven shots on goal over the first two periods," said head coach Murray Rabeno after the game. "We picked up the pace a little in the third period with 11 shots on net but unfortunately, we didn't score."
      Rabeno pointed out that, even though the team didn't have its usual complement of skaters, he was more than satisfied with the line play of Cunningham, Jacob Salzman and Jason Kwestel.
      "They worked together very well and should prove to be a very good line as we go along," Rabeno said. "Anthony Figueroa, Brandon Kwestel and Dylan Idland were also able to hold their own at times in the defensive end.
      "We also got solid performances from Kevin Casperson and Sophia Reed on offense and Finn Peng on defense and Idland's game continues to improve in goal."
       Next up for the squirts is a 4:15 p.m. game on Sunday, Nov. 14, against Hanover at Mennen.

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Squirt coach happy with effort despite loss

      ROCKAWAY TWP. - Murray Rabeno, the head coach of the Rockaway Township Squirts in the Morris County Youth Hockey League, will be the first to tell you that the team's 9-0 opening-day loss to Long Valley  "... wasn't the way we wanted to start  the season."
      But then he'll start talking about all the good things that came out of the game that was played at Mennen Arena in Morris Township on Saturday, Oct. 23.
      "I was VERY happy with the way the kids kept plugging and never gave up," Rabeno said. "I'm sure that with a few more practices and gmes and a lot of hard work we'll be OK." 
       There are several new players on this year's Squirts team, including players such as James Betz, Sophia Reed and Dillion Idland who are up from the Mites squad and are "... skating very well with the older players," according to Rabeno.
       "This was the first time that we were all on the ice as a team for a game," Rabeno added. "We had a rough first period but started to play better together as the game went forward."
       Long Valley scored five times in the first period and Rabeno is quick to point out that his goaltender Jacob Idland was playing his first game and "... had a bad case of the butterfies at first, but he settled down and we're sure he'll continue to improve from game to game."
       Rabeno also likes the way the line of Liam Cunningham, Jacob Salzman and Joseph Rabeno played together and added that the combination of Kevin Caperson, Bradon Kwestel and Antony Figueroa showed a lot of promise, too.
       On defense, Jake Lissy and Finn Peng, who played together on last year's Mites team, were paired together as was Kyle Burns and Dylan Idland.
       "Lissy and Peng were very reliable on defense for the Mites last year," Rabeno said. "And the Burns-Idland pairing played well in spite of the fact Idland never before played defense."
       The Squirts are scheduled to get their next taste of competition on Saturday, Oct. 30, when they face Kinnelon at Mennen in a 9:15 a.m. game.