Gloucester Catholic falls, 7-2, in state final

Just six years after its ice hockey program was elevated to varsity status, Gloucester Catholic made its first appearance in a state final yesterday, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The underdog Rams showed some spunk, overcoming a shaky start to wipe out an early two-goal deficit.

But experience eventually won out as Delbarton scored three times in the third period to salt away a 7-2 victory - giving the Green Wave a third consecutive NJSIAA State Non-Public championship.

Gloucester Catholic coach Guy Gaudreau, who said he felt his players got caught "watching too much hockey at times," credited Delbarton's depth and experience.

"They're deeper than we are, and they're very strong on the puck," he said. "Unfortunately, we didn't play very well, and they overwhelmed us."

Delbarton (27-1), whose lone loss over its last 42 games came at the hands of St. Augustine last month, got its attack on track when senior defenseman Tom Pesce opened the scoring with an unassisted goal 1 minute, 15 seconds into the contest. A little over three minutes later, star senior forward Kenny Agostino widened the Green Wave's lead to 2-0 with the first of his four goals.

Gloucester Catholic (15-4-2) answered with a flurry of its own, as Joe Crespo and fellow junior John Gaudreau each pumped in a goal over a 2-minute, 16-second span to tie the game.

Michael Ambrosia (two goals, three assists) set up Agostino for the go-ahead score with 3:42 to go in the opening period, and Delbarton led the rest of the way.

Rams goalie Pat McSparran turned in 29 saves.