Livingston Iced by West Essex

WEST ORANGE—There could not have been any more of a difference in emotions between the West Essex and Livingston ice hockey teams after Monday night's battle.

With the two dressing rooms just a few doors apart at Codey Arena, there was one room with elation and the other was deadly dreary.

There was no need to look at the scoreboard, which read West Essex 7, Livingston 0 to know the outcome of this game.

"We played very hard," West Essex coach Mike Giampapa said. "We told the boys to stay focused."

Travis Trent had a hat trick and a pair of assists to lead West Essex to the NJIHL Central victory, while goaltender Mike Cuozzo stopped all 14 Livingston shots for the shutout.

"Trent played very well," Giampapa said. "I told him that he had to put the puck into the net for us to do well."

In addition, John Fox contributed a goal and two assists for West Essex. Jack Boyd-Dias, Ryan Colx and David Chemielewsky chipped in with a goal each for the Knights.

West Essex raised its record to 11-5-2, while Livingston dropped to 8-10-2.

Livingston coach Dave Conklin was shaking his head following his team's performance after winning each of its last two games, including Sunday's 4-3 victory over Parsippany.

"I went in there and I didn't know what to tell them," Conklin said. "We did not do anything right."

The Livingston did credit his goalie, Abe Matar, who made 25 saves in the game and faced several minutes of pressure even when the Lancers were on the power play.

"When we had a 5-on-3 advantage, they outnumbered us in the corner," Conklin said.

The coach said the team strayed from its brand of hockey.

"When we play our game, we do well," Conklin said. "Today, we did not play our system."

If West Essex beats Verona on Feb. 8, the Knights will clinch the NJIHL Central title, the team's first league crown since 2004.

"It would be very nice," said Giampapa, whose team is also trying to improve its seeding before the state playoff cutoff on Feb. 15.

"Every win helps us getting a better seed," Giampapa said.

On the other hand, Livingston is aiming to reach .500 before the deadline.

West Essex set the tone from the start when Boyd-Dias fed Fox, who placed it past Matar and a 1-0 West Essex lead just 1:30 into the game. A pair of goals from Trent and Cox's goal made it 4-0 after 15 minutes.

In the second period, Chemielewsky and Trent each added a goal for a 6-0 West Essex lead. Boyd-Dias rounded out the scoring off a pass from Fox on the power play in the third period.

Livingston's offense had several opportunities to score, but Cuozzo kept the Lancers off the scoreboard. Amid a scramble in front of the Knights' net, the Lancers thought they scored early in the second period, but the officials disallowed the goal.