Ramapo Saints win big in Rhode Island in preparation for the N.J. State Hockey playoffs
WARWICK The Ramapo Saints Pee-Wee hockey team, comprised of 11- and 12-year-old boys from Warwick, Monroe, Goshen, Middletown, and Washingtonville, won the Ocean State Classic held in Cranston, R.I., over the Presidents Day weekend.
The Saints won the championship by defeating Darien Connecticut 6-2 .
The Saints defeated all six teams they faced from across New England including Greenwich, which is coached by the Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup winner, goalie Mike Richter.
The next challenge for the Saints will be to compete for the New Jersey State Hockey Championship scheduled to start on Feb. 25-26, in Hackensack, N.J.
The Saints finished second overall in the N.J. Youth Hockey League behind the Red Bank Generals, who are currently ranked third in the nation. The Saints currently hold an impressive record of 42-6-6 after 54 games and are ranked 28 in the nation.
The Saints have scored 300 goals and have allowed only 110 this season.
The Saints offense is explosive, their defense gritty and the goal tending impenetrable. The team has a per game average of scoring five goals and allowing only two. Their success is evident in their results and driven by the teams philosophy which can be heard chanted before every game: Defense wins games and everyone plays defense.
The top two teams from New Jersey will play a three-game series with the winner advancing to the USA National Hockey Tournament in Reston, Va., on March 28.
The Saints are coached by Steve Pelosi, Paul Cavallaro, Rob Molota and Steve Garabed.