Sports Shorts

Registration is being accepted for the Old Bridge winter ice hockey youth instructional program, sponsored by the township Department of Parks, Recreation and Services. The program will be held on 11 Sunday evenings, beginning Jan. 2, (except for Jan. 9 and Feb. 5) through March 27, at the Old Bridge Sports Arena. Youngsters will be instructed on the fundamentals of hockey, including stick-handling, passing and shooting. Participants are required to wear full equipment. The sessions are broken into two age groups: 5-8 and 9-13. The 5-8 group runs from 5:15-6:30 p.m.; the older group runs from 6:45-8 p.m. The cost is $250 for Old Bridge residents and $300 for nonresidents. For more information, visit the arena Monday through Thursday from 7-8:30 p.m. or call John Piccolo at (732) 721-5600, ext. 4025, or at (732) 679-8339.

Tammy Wood, South River, a sophomore at Brookdale Community College, is the NJCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Goalie of the Week and the fourth leading goalie in the nation. In a 4-0 win over Division I Sussex Community College on Oct. 20, Wood had one save on the games only shot, which was a PK (penalty kick). In a 8-0 win over Middlesex County Community College on Oct. 23 she collected eight saves. Brookdale is 6-1-0 against Division III competition this season and Wood has four shutouts in that time.

Wood, a graduate of South River High School, has recorded three straight shutouts, six overall, and currently has a goals against average of 0.831 per game.

The Monroe Xtreme U13 boys continued their unbeaten streak with an exciting game Sunday against the South Plainfield Fire, winning 4-3. The Xtreme struck first with a goal from Timmy Brix, getting a great assist from Timmer Gandy. The Fire evened it up 1-1 at the half. In the second half the Xtreme turned up the pressure, with great midfield play from Harry Landy, Ryan Miller, Adam Peterson and Shane Santiago. Eric Paone got the go-ahead goal off a fine pass from Anthony Torres. The defense played a solid game with Kevin LeBrun, Francis Leferriere and John Dougherty holding the back line. Timmy Brix added two more goals, completing the hat trick for the second time this season. The assists went to Eric Palisay and Timmer Gandy with great setups. The goalkeeping duties were shared by Chris Pritzlaff and Jonathon Roman, who had many stops during the game.

The East Brunswick/Spotswood Golden Bear Chargers (GBC) Junior Pee Wee football team won the Central Jersey Division 2 Championship by defeating Elizabeth in the semifinals, 34-6, and the Plainfield Vikings, 13-12, at New Brunswick Memorial Stadium. In the semifinal game GBC fell behind 6-0 and proceeded to run off 34 unanswered points. Troy Zeiger and Vinny Fushetto capped two 60-yard drives with 2-yard runs. Dean Vitale and Zeiger converted extra points for a 15-6 halftime lead. In the second half Tyler Mataya and Vitale picked off Elizabeth’s QB Phil Walker to set up two more Zeiger and Fushetto scores. Mark Kukoda recorded the final TD for GBC. The defense was led by captains Rich Yura, James Wittkop and Blake Fredricks. In the finals against Plainfield, GBC came from behind twice. Down 6-0 in the first quarter, GBC drove 63 yards when Troy Zeiger plunged in from the 2-yard line. Dean Vitale converted the extra point for a 7-6 halftime lead. In the fourth quarter Plainfield took the lead 12-7 and left GBC with six minutes and 74 yards from the title.

GBC went on a 10-play drive, mixing up runs by halfbacks Rich Yura, Mark Kukoda and Troy Zeiger, and converted a key third down when Dean Vitale Jr. hit Anthony Varbellow with a 30-yard pass to extend the drive.

“We just put that play in the day before the game and did it ever come up big,” said head coach Dean Vitale Sr. “We were running well behind our big line — Jake Krantz, Ron Santana, Max Cratelli, James Wittkop and Blake Fredricks — but we needed a big play.”

GBC ended the drive, and clinched the win, when Zeiger broke through from the 2-yard line for the game-winning score.