Despite the cross-town rivalry between JP Stevens and Edison High, the two schools combine forces and play together as one team along with Metuchen High: hockey. The Edison Township Ice Hockey team is an extraordinary team in more ways than one; in addition to being a coalition of three schools playing as one team, it is also one of the few co-ed teams with girls and boys playing on the ice at the same time. 

“Our team brings people together from all over Edison and Metuchen,” said senior Andrew Dasilva. “Without hockey, I would not have such a great family.”

Coach Vincent Mondano also highlights that the team has a lot of young players this year who he looks forward to developing. Sophomore Zachary Chuck, the December Athlete of the Month, scored four JV hat-tricks this season and has a combined 18 goals. Sophomore defenseman Brooks Yang ended the season with 2 JV goals, 3 JV assists, and 6 varsity assists. In addition, senior Dev Parikh scored 4 JV goals this season.

Another extraordinary aspect of the team was that the Edison Township Ice Hockey team has seen the highest number of girls on the team this year since its founding in 2006 with six girls on the team.

“I am really proud of the team, and especially the ladies on the squad,” said Coach Russel Berner. “It is not an easy sport by any means, nor is it an easy one to make the commitment in time and effort to or to break into a traditionally male-dominated sport. And the girls have really done their best to break down that stereotype in so many ways.”

The girls on the team all agree that it has been especially challenging being a girl on the team and having to work twice as hard to establish themselves over the past years. They hope that with an increasing amount of girls, they can make hockey more accessible for others who might consider joining.

This season, the team has been focusing on working cohesively and collaborating better with their teammates on the ice. With better collaboration, the team is sure that they can achieve greater success in the future.

“Before every game, every player is individually hungry for a win, or for a personal goal, or assist,” said sophomore Zachary Chuck. “However, our strength lies in numbers and to win we must all work as a team and trust each other.”

The team agrees that they have had a great season with many milestones reached. 

“Although it may not have shown up in the win and loss column, I’m proud of how hard the guys and gals on our squad have been working and improving every day with their loyalty to each other, and the perseverance the team members are showing, we have already had a successful season,” said Coach Russell Berner. “Although it would be nice to hang a championship banner, the lessons and work ethic our players are learning will result in lifelong success for them, which is a bigger win than any championship ring in my book.”