CROCE CAPTURES CENTRAL CROWN

This afternoon at the Ritacco Center, senior wrestler Charlie Croce took home the Region VI Central Championship by defeating Point Boro's Matt Nobbs. He will move on to the state tournament in Atlantic City. More info will be available here later tonight and tomorrow.

YOU GOTTA BELIEVE

With a goal by sophomore Jason Zimmel with 3:18 remaining in the game, the incredible run by Middletown South ended with a Handchen Cup Championship after a 4-3 win over Brick Memorial at the Red Bank Armory.

Playing in front of a packed house dominated by South fans, the Eagles jumped out to a quick lead on a goal by senior Joe Demaio, assisted by senior Pat O’Donnell, four minutes in to the game. Later in the period, junior Matt Johnson broke away from the defenders and scored to put the Eagles up by two. Tyler Ralph then ended the period on a high note for South by putting a goal in with 57 seconds left in the period.

Sophomore Chris Marsillo was tested in the second period, facing 14 shots on goal. A power-play goal 4 minutes into the period brought the Mustangs to within two with the score at 3-1.

At the beginning of the third period, Brick Memorial showed that they would not go quietly into the night. Eleven seconds in, the Mustangs closed the lead to one with a slap shot off the faceoff. Six minutes later, they scored again to tie the game.

With the Mustangs holding all the momentum, Eagles head coach Stan Gutt called his timeout right before the ensuing faceoff, to calm his team down.

After Zimmel’s (pictured above) goal, Marsillo and the South defense held off the Mustangs, even with the extra defender. The fans counted the seconds off the clock, and the Eagles mobbed Marsillo in the crease in celebration of the first “A” Division championship for the program since its inception in 2000.

(PHOTO COURTESY HOCKEY IN MIDDLETOWN)

HOCKEY TEAM GOES FOR HANDCHEN CUP

The Eagles look to become the Shore Conference version of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team tomorrow when they take on Brick Memorial in the Handchen Cup Championship. The game will take place at the Red Bank Armory at 6:00 PM. I'm expecting there to be a pretty big crowd because of the magnitude of the game and what a great story this is, so get there early.

EAGLES HOCKEY CONTINUES CINDERALL RUN, BEATS SJV TO MOVE ON TO FINAL

The improbable run by the ice hockey team of Middletown South continued tonight by pulling off another upset with a 3-1 win over Saint John Vianney. The Eagles will play Friday night at the Red Bank Armory for the Handchen Cup Championship. I will have more information before the next game.

BROOKDALE BOUND

The Eagles held off Freehold Township 77-75 in overtime in the Round of 16 of the Shore Conference Tournament to move on to the Elite 8 at Brookdale Community College.

Senior Matt Callori led the way with a team-high 20 points, while juniors Jake Brodsky and Kyle Cancilleiri added 14 each. Junior Pat O'Connell had 12 points, while senior Will Low played a huge game on the boards while scoring 11 points.

The game on Sunday is 12:45, and South takes on fourth-seeded Freehold Boro, who the Eagles defeated 58-45 on February 5.

The girls basketball team, after beating RBC last night, will play Neptune at Brookdale in the Elite 8 at Brookdale at 2:30.

EAGLES HOLD OFF MANCHESTER, MOVE ON IN SCT

With a 65-53 win over Manchester, the boys basketball team moved on to the second round of the Shore Conference Tournament, where they will face divisional rival Freehold Township. The Eagles defeated the Patriots twice during the regular season. The game will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at South.

Tomorrow the girls host RBC in the second round of the SCT after earning a bye in the first round of the tournament. The game will start at 6:30 p.m.

MIRACLE ON ICE

Click here for All-Shore Media Correspondent Chris Ippolito's story about Middletown South's improbable 4-3 win over top-seeded Red Bank Catholic last night, complete with video highlights. The Eagles move on to the semi-finals on February 23 against the winner of St. John Vianney and Brick Memorial.




You may have seen this in the news already but since professional athletes have not given anyone a chance to feel good over the past couple of weeks, this is just a great story.

SOUTH HOCKEY UPENDS RBC IN SCT

The Middletown South hockey team defeated RBC in the first round of the Shore Conference Tournament by a score of 4-3. After being down 2-0, the Eagles scored four unanswered goals to take the lead and the game. More info to come.

Tomorrow the boys basketball team plays Manchester in the preliminary round of the Shore Conference tournament. Scott Stump of All-Shore Media named junior Kyle Cancilleiri his Overall Shore Conference Boys Basketball Player of the Week for the week of February 8-14. Senior Danielle Pankey was also named Girls Basketball Player of the Week for the A-North Division.

EAGLES BASKETBALL TEAMS TAKE ON TOWNSHIP

Tonight, the boys and girls basketball teams face the Freehold Township Patriots in a Class A-North divisionall game. The seventh-ranked girls travel to Freehold at 5:30. The number 8 boys team looks to clinch at least a tie of the public A-North title at home at 6:30.

EAGLES BOUNCE BACK WITH IMPRESSIVE WIN OVER COLONIALS

Middletown South took down No. 3 Freehold Boro 58-45 in a nondivisional game that will have big implications for seeding in the Shore Conference Tournament.

The teams played an even first half, with the Eagles leading 28-25 at the break. But South came out in the third quarter and began to pull away with a 22-point outburst.

Kyle Cancilleiri came back from his broken nose to lead the Eagles with a game-high 18 points.

“Kyle makes a huge difference on both ends of the floor,” head coach Kevin Cullen said. “He’s big for us down low and driving to the basket. He’s our best defensive rebounder and he alters people shots going to the basket.”

Matt Callori and Jake Brodsky each contributed 13 points, while Pat O’Connell continued making a difference with 8 of his own.

“Pat just sees the floor so well,” Cullen said. “He’s really learned our system well, and he’s doing well setting us up in the halfcourt.”

With the win, South ends a two-game skid, as they look to improve their chances for a high seed in the SCT.

“We need to battle some tough teams in the next two weeks,” Cullen said. “But, we’re focused on our goals of securing a good seed in the tournament and getting to Brookdale and the Ritacco Center.”

Freehold Boro, who played without standout Christian Garcia, were led by Lance McKenzie with 12 points. Andrew Gerbehy and Will Howarth each had 10 points in the losing effort.

“We knew we could exploit the blocks with Garcia being out,” Cullen said. “He’s a great player underneath for them, and we just came out and executed our gameplan.”

The No. 8 Eagles take on Marlboro tomorrow to take another step towards their first Public A-North title since 2001.

“We’ve been improving every day since a little bit of a rough start,” Cullen said. “But our intensity about our defense is starting to show in games, and it’s making a big difference.”