Bernards’ ice hockey team has struggled so far during their 2015-16 season, starting off with a 4-14-1 record. Sophomore Trevor Clemson scored 24 points in the team’s first 19 games, including a team-leading 18 goals. Senior Connor O’Neill is second on the team in points with 12, scoring six goals and six assists. Sophomore Ryan McGriskin also scored 12 points in that period of time, scoring three goals and providing nine assists.
On December 26, 27 and 29, the team played their final three games of the calendar year of 2015 against South Brunswick and Westfield, losing both games by scores of 8-2 and 10-2, respectively. Two days later, the team held Hillsborough to a 4-4 tie in a game that saw Clemson score a hat trick and added an assist, including a late equalizer in the third period to give the team a well-deserved tie. In this game, the team rallied from deficits of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 to force a tie.
After a long layoff from December 30 to January 5, the team was back in action against West Windsor on January 6, and they began the new calendar year with a big 10-2 victory. Connor O’Neill scored two goals and added two assists, and Clemson added another two-goal game to his impressive record for the 2015-16 season. One big factor in the team scoring ten goals was the fact that they put 39 shots on West Windsor’s goal.
“A huge part of our offense is getting low shots on goal,” O’Neill said of the team’s offensive strategy. “This definitely helps us generate scoring chances and rebounds”.
The team followed up the great effort against West Windsor with a 6-2 loss to Watchung Hills, but they bounced back with a victory over rivals Pingry by a score of 3-1. O’Neill and Clemson again scored for Bernards, and Ryan McGriskin added an assist on the game-winning goal to lead Bernards to a win.
Unfortunately, the team couldn’t ride the momentum gained after the big win over Pingry into their next two games, losing to Montgomery and Ridge by scores of 6-2 and 6-1, followed by losses to Tenafly by a score of 7-3 and Pingry by a score of 3-2. O’Neill scored the opening goal in the Pingry game, and Clemson scored three of the four goals for Bernards in the loss to Tenafly, recording his second hat trick of the season.
The team unfortunately continued their run of bad form with losses to Hillsborough by a score of 4-1 on January 28 and a loss to Bridgewater-Raritan on the next night. At print, the team faced Hunterdon Central on February 5 and Pasack Valley on the following night.
