Montville Hockey Falls to Roxbury

Maybe Santa will bring the hockey team some offense for Christmas.

As has been the case in previous games, the offense was lacking Thursday as the Mustangs were shutout by Roxbury, 2-0, at the Mennen Arena in Morris Township.

"We didn't come to play today. Our heads weren't in the game," Mustangs coach Chuck Fischer said. "We were shorthanded on many plays and that makes it tough to get going.

"We had too many people trying to stick-handle the puck," Fischer continued.

The Gaels scored two power-play goals—one during a 5-on-3 advantage—in the second period for the victory.

Andrew Irizarry made 29 saves in goal for Montville, which was outshot 31-6.

"We just weren't into this game," said Irizarry, who was making his first start in goal in more than a month. "We have to get something going.

Irizarry said he was rusty in the first period from the inactivity, but it didn't show as he stopped all eight Roxbury shots. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, the Mustangs had only one shot on Gaels goalie Jared Percevault.

"The rust didn't kick out until the third period," Irizarry said.

"Andrew had some pretty good saves tonight," Fischer said.

Roxbury got on the board 2:22 into the second period when Patrick O'Connor got the puck past Irizarry during a 5-on-3 advantage. Montville's Andy Danilack and Matt Crossen were both in the penalty box when O'Connor scored off an assist by Alex Tourinsky.

The Gaels made it 2-0 with 3:09 left in the period when Matt Pilanski scored on  power play off an assist from Joey Curto. Brian Andalaft was serving a two-minute tripping penalty when Pilanski scored.

Roxbury outshot Montville by a whopping 17-1 in the period.

The Mustangs managed four shots on goal in the third period, but it wasn't enough as the Montville offense continued to sputter.

"We have to put this loss behind us and get going," Irizarry said. "We have nothing to lose."

 The Mustangs have their work cut out for them over the Christmas break.

"We'll take it easy and work on our offense," Fischer said.

Fischer also acknowledged that December has been a tough month for the Mustangs. The team lost on Dec. 1 and a was held for him before Saturday's 2-1 loss to West Morris.

"We have been on an emotional roller coaster," Fischer said. "We're going to take a couple of days off."

Montville returns to the ice Monday when the Mustangs travel to Freehold High School for a non-conference game. They return to conference play next Thursday.