A Long and Winding Road/ Varsity Boys Ice Hockey Team Overcomes Adversity of Travel to Build Some Strong Credentials

The Varsity Boys Ice Hockey teams will play somewhere around 23 games this year, and except for 7 games played at Beaver Dam, they will all be on the road. This extensive amount of travel and lack of "home cooking" has become a tradition of Portledge Hockey and something that makes it unique. The Portledge squads even seem to relish their roles as "road dogs", as they travel from school to school thinking of nothing but ruining the home team's night. There is just something about going into a hostile environment and coming out with a win that makes it all that much more special. If anything, the amount of road games the Panthers play make them a tougher and more focused unit. Both the historic, and recent, success of the Boys Ice Hockey Program bares this out.

The Portledge Varsity Boys team currently stands on a record of 9 wins and 2 losses, with one of those losses coming in overtime against a very highly ranked Junior team from New England. The Panthers are coming off of an impressive 5-2 victory over the Lawrenceville School (see the team page @ portledge.org for a recap) and plays an up tempo style of hockey committing two forwards to a high pressure forecheck that usually rattles the opposition and forces many turn- overs. To use this system a team must have strong skaters from top to bottom and be willing to play the game on the edge. This is exactly the type of team that Portledge coaches Coope and Sandos have put together. The Panthers feature two equally adept scoring lines centered by Juniors Tom Parisi and Yuri Benyamini, respectively. They also have an incredbly stout defense anchored by Juniors Pat Condon & Ron Fishman and supported by Sophomore Matt Sullivan & Junior Ryan Gottfried. The last thing that has separated the Portledge team from their oppenents has been the stellar goaltending of Senior/Captain Sal Magliocco. Mags has been incredible game in and game out, and always gives his team mates a chance to win the game. One thing that could really help the Panthers as they go down their final stretch of games towards the Empire Cup would be the healthy return of Senior Defensemen / Captain David Wilson. Wilson, who has been out of the line up since opening night with a badly separated shoulder, hits hard and has a nice set of hands, just like his grandfather the famous American amatuer Peter Bostwick. It would be tough to imagine the team without Captain Dave's presence at the Empire Cup Tournament in late February. So let's all hope for a sound recovery! Now let's see....with either 11 or 12 games remaining, depending on Empire Cup results, a 15 win season looks probable, and even the magic 20 win mark is not out of the question. The Panthers will play home games at Beaver Dam on Monday nights throughout the month of February, so check their schedule, and come on down to see the #1 ranked secondary school in New York State play some awesome puck.

Checking the Hardwood Compass / Where We Are with the Varsity Basketball Teams

As we take a short break this week for mid year exams it is a stark realization that we are two thirds of the way through the winter sports season. There are still all sorts of great games to be played, so no one is down in the dumps yet, but we are closer to the end than the start. The question I hear a lot is Hey Hills - How we doin? Well the answer to that is... pretty darn well. Let's take a quick look in on the Varsity Basketball teams shall we. The Portledge Varsity Girls Basketball team has an overall record of 10 wins and 3 losses and the Lady Panthers are 8 and 1 in IPPSAL play. They are well positioned to earn a home playoff game in the IPPSAL semi finals and have certainly shown themselves to be a legitimate threat to win the IPPSAL championship. The girls had a bit of a stumble against OSNA last week here at Wellington Gym, but they will have the opportunity to avenge that loss during the stretch run of the regular season in February. There is also a strong chance that the Portledge and OSNA will come up against each other somewhere in the playoffs. If the future meetings are anything like the first tussle, we are all in for some great hoops. The squad continues to be led by an exceptional group of seniors that include Monique Kelly at point guard and Akanksha Trivedi at center. While these two are the focus of the offense, maybe the most important aspect of the team is the defensive play of Senior forward/guard Claudia Rogers. When Claudia is getting steals and helping to generate fast breaks, the Lady Panthers get a lot of easy baskets. Also critical at the defensive end is the rebounding and all around fine play of Senior Marian Juste. " Air Juste" as she is sometimes called, really gets up on the glass and her rebounding is a key in the team's success. Senior Robyn Worrall hasn't been shooting as much lately, concentrating instead on keeping the ball moving and getting everyone else involved. Sophomore Alexa Lodenquai has scored some points off the bench and looks to be a key player in the future of Portledge Girls Basketball. The other impressive youngster is Freshman Ceci Mulry, who combines with Trivedi to give Portledge a twin towers effect, or simply takes over the pivot giving Akanksha a chance to catch a breather. The Lady Panthers still have to venture to Lawrence Woodmere and to OSNA, and a victory at at least one of those hostile barns is necessary for a first or second place regular season finish. The girls will take part in a big triple header at home on Saturday, January 30th when they and both the Varsity and JV Boys will host the respective teams from Evangel Christian, in what should be a fun day of basketball here at Wellington Gym. Please also note that we will host a special Senior Night when the Varsity Boys and Girls take on Lexington and Waldorf , respectively, on Monday, May 1st. The Boys team will play first v. Lexington @ 4:00pm, and the Girls will have the night cap when they take on Waldorf @ 5:30.

Moving on to Varsity Boys Basketball - we see a team right at the crossroads of its season. The Panthers overall record is 7 wins and 7 losses, and they are 4 up and 4 down in IPPSAL play. In league games remaining, they have a winnable away match at Knox followed by tough home games versus Lexington and Lake Grove, before finishing their regular season at Waldorf in a game that will be a featured broadcast on the MSG Varsity channel. To be assured of a spot in the IPPSAL playoffs the Panthers will need to make sure of things at Knox, and then go on to win at least two of their final three league games, if not all three, depending on other school's results. Each contest will be vital to the teams chances for post season play, but the home game with Lake Grove will probably be the most critical result of the season. Senior Ban Shapiro has been a dominant player in the paint for Portledge. He has scored over twenty points several times and has given the team a real presence down low. Senior swingmen Christian Sbarro and Mark Dourmashkin have traded off leading from the outside, but I think for the Panthers to really make a move down the stretch, the squad will need both of these talented players to get hot at the same time. The plot is set....now this interesting group of players must finish the script. I don't know about you all, but I like the finish to Hoosiers.

Come on down to Wellington Gym and catch a game as this exciting season of Portledge Basketball plays itself out!!