On Saturday, February 1, the Roxbury High School hockey team hosted their senior night, honoring seniors Ryan VanZile, Griffin Warsaw, Michael Guadagnino, Alexis Oliveira, Julia Katz, Justin Katz, and Vito Martinelli. Also acknowledged last night were Parsippany Regional seniors, Alex Kumar, William Shoemaker, Maxwell Ingersoll, Joseph Gasparro, and Nicholas Spada. The night celebrated these dedicated seniors, but the waters grew murky towards the end of the second period.
The first period began with a goal for Roxbury by Ryan VanZile, assisted by Chase Alven and Griffin Warsaw. This was not a setback for the Vikings, as Kaden Bland answered back, putting Parsippany Regional on the board. Both goalies Michael Guadagnino and Andrew Nicholas worked hard to keep the puck out of their nets, but Roxbury’s Brody Ozga found a way to score for the Gaels, who ended the period with a 2-1 lead.
The second period was when things grew messy. The first nine minutes were scoreless, as both teams kept sending the puck back and forth across the ice. With a little less than seven minutes left in the period, Ozga scored again on the power play, assisted by Warsaw. This was when the game began to escalate. A player from Parsippany Regional earned a penalty, and the Parsippany Regional fans let their disagreement with the call be known. This led to a heated argument between the Parsippany Regional parents, and the referees. After delaying the game, the referees believed there was only one viable solution: eject the whole Parsippany Regional fan section. That is exactly what happened, in the middle of Roxbury High School’s senior night, the Parsippany Regional fan section was denied entrance to the rink for the rest of the night. Despite this, the players did not let this affect them. Minutes later, Warsaw scored for Roxbury on the powerplay, assisted by Ozga and Van Zile. That was not all. With one second remaining in the period Michael Nelson earned another goal for Roxbury, once again assisted by Ozga and VanZile. The period came to a close with a score of 5-1.
As the game drew to a close, the third period was moderately tame. Both teams were fighting for each and every opportunity to add another digit to the board. Unfortunately for Parsippany Regional, the Gaels scored once again, VanZile notched his second goal of the game (assisted by Warsaw), finalizing Roxbury’s victory over Parsippany Hills.
This game was both exhilarating and intense. With the high intensity in the rink, as well as the tension between both fan sections, this game was one for the books. The game ended with a score of 6-1, Roxbury High School taking home the win. Congratulations to both Roxbury and Parsippany Regional seniors as they move on to the next journey of their lives.
