HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J.— Hun School waited a month to play its first Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game of the season. When the opportunity presented itself Wednesday evening, the Raiders were quick to take advantage.
Elian Estulin and Justin Laplante scored two goals each in a 7-0 rout of St. Joseph’s Prep at Ice Land.
The win lifted the Raiders’ record to 4-3 overall. The Hawks (6-2-1, 0-2-1-0 in the APAC) saw a four-game unbeaten streak come to an end.
“We just wanted to come out hard,” Estulin said. “We had a good warmup, we had all the guys going today, we brought a couple guys up (from the junior varsity). So, we just came out hard, there was no quit, we didn’t let them get anything.”
Brendan Marino scored the only goal of the first period at the 6:21 mark off a setup from Laplante and Estulin.
The Raiders broke the game open in the second frame as Charles-Etienne Jette, Laplante, and Estulin all scored goals.
St. Joseph’s Prep took the ice minus four regulars (Jeffrey Hammond, Dante Passio, Joey Samango, Gareth McDonald), for varying reasons and goaltender Ajay White found himself facing heavy incoming fire; the Raiders outshot the Hawks 34-13 over the first two periods.
St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin offered a straightforward assessment of his team’s performance.
“I don’t think we were ready to play from the very beginning,” he said. “I think the boys quite frankly saw who we were missing and thought we were out of the game. We really didn’t skate at all the first two periods.”
Laplante, Ryan Levesque, and Estulin all scored third-period goals for the Raiders. At the other end of the ice, Stephen Chen had a relatively sedate afternoon, stopping all 18 shots he saw.
The Raiders went 1-3 in the Shady Side tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend with two of the losses coming in shootouts. Coach Ian McNally feels that experience taught his team the importance of a fast start and it showed against the Hawks.
“I feel like we kind of learned a lesson from that,” he said. “We came out strong, the middle was strong, and we finished strong. We just played well the whole game, which is nice.”
The Raiders feature 18 upperclassmen on their varsity roster but some in that group have found themselves in new roles.
Estulin said the experience of playing in the Shady Side tournament against elite competition accelerated the team’s maturation process.
“The Shady Side was just to let our boys get the chemistry going,” he said. “We played pretty good teams.
“We’re a fresh team, we’ve got a lot of new players this year, so we just wanted to get the chemistry going and get the boys pumping.”
Elian Estulin is one of Hun School’s captains. He spoke to the importance of motivating and encouraging his teammates.
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0—0
Hun School 1 3 3—7
First-period goal: Brendan Marino (HS) from Justin Laplante and Elian Estulin, 6:21
Second-period goals: Charles-Etienne Jette (HS) from Josh Sosner, 2:55 Laplante (HS) from Marino and Estulin, 12:41; Estulin (HS) from Marino and Scott Richmond, 14:23
Third-period goals: Laplante (HS) from Estulin, 3:41; Ryan Levesque (HS) from Mark Gall and Richmond, 14:40; Estulin (HS) unassisted, 16:52 (pp)
Shots: St. Joseph’ Prep 18, Hun School 44; Saves: Ajay White (SJP) 37
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