Earlier this month, the Colonial States College Hockey Conference announced it was canceling the 2020-21 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision comes as The College of New Jersey also announced that all club sports that compete off campus, which includes ice hockey, have been cancelled.

TCNJ was one of the first institutions in the state of New Jersey to cancel fall sports earlier this year during the first wave of the pandemic. The school has continued to put student safety first and the ice hockey program stands by the decision made by school President Kathryn A. Foster.

Head coach Andrew Ducko had this to say.

“We are very disappointed that the student-athletes will not have the opportunity to compete together, especially the seniors (Forwards: Andrew Lem, Dan Martin, Matt Lojeski, JP Kelly, Lawrence Krugliak, Kevin Broskie, Defenseman Matt Kimak and Goaltender Nick Pontoriero).”

“The news was understandable considering the current situation regarding COVID-19, and we will remain optimistic that we can get the group together at some point in the future. As for the underclassmen and the program's future, we have a strong team returning for the Fall of 2021 building on our successful tradition.”

Over the next few months, the Colonial will explore options to host a small scale competition sometime in Spring 2021. The conference and member schools will continue to watch as both school and state restrictions adapt over the next few months. Any updates will be posted on league social media and by TCNJ Hockey as well.

Since joining the Colonial as a founding member in 2014, the Lions have worked to become one of the conference’s top competitors. This includes appearances in five straight conference finals with the team being a four-time defending Colonial Cup champion. The Lions will look to make it five straight titles and return to the ACHA Division II Southeast Regionals in 2021-22.

The past few seasons have seen the TCNJ club ice hockey program expand and succeed on multiple levels. To the eight seniors mentioned above; thank you for your dedication and hard work. Your commitments have helped the Lions compete both locally and regionally, including earning the Colonial’s first win in the 2019 Southeast Regional tournament.

Despite not finishing it out on the ice, your impacts and legacies with the team will be honored over the next few months.

CC: Michael Battista - CSCHC Writer