Three So. Jersey ice hockey teams make top 10

The NJSIAA ice hockey season begins tomorrow and three teams from South Jersey are expected to be among the state's best.

St. Augustine, Gloucester Catholic and Bishop Eustace are all ranked in the top 10 in the state, according to NJpowerranking.com.

In the preseason rankings, St. Augustine (3-19-2) is No. 6, Gloucester Catholic (21-2-1) is No. 8 and Eustace (22-6) is 10th. Records are from last season.

In another New Jersey preseason rating that appeared in Hockey Night in Boston, a publication that covers the sport on the east coast, Eustace was ranked fifth, St. Augustine was eighth and Gloucester Catholic was ninth.

Not bad, considering there are only five teams from South Jersey with NJSIAA teams. The other two are Paul VI and St. Joseph. Last season, there were 123 NJSIAA ice hockey teams statewide.

Last season, as the record indicates, St. Augustine was in a rebuilding mode, but the Hermits are expected to return to the ranks of the elite.

Eustace is an interesting team because the Crusaders lost 13 seniors and four underclassmen to junior hockey. Still, the preseason ranking suggests that the Crusaders are expected to be more than competitive.

"The past few years, it used to be one team from South Jersey was in an elite class and then two and now we definitely have three from South Jersey that are as strong as anybody in the state," said Eustace coach Mike Green, whose team opens Wednesday at Christian Brothers Academy, which is ranked No. 3 by njpowerranking.com

Eustace has one of the top players in the state, senior forward Mark Constantine.

"Mark has been a first-line center for two years and he is a terrific player drawing Division I interest," Green said.

Constantine and senior defenseman Michael Durelli will lead a young team that may not have the experience as past Eustace squads, but based on the preseason state rankings, the expectations haven't lowered that much.

   - Marc Narducci