For the past couple of years Monroe-Woodbury has had trouble putting together a team for one of the big four sports in the United States: ice hockey. However, hockey returned to Monroe-Woodbury in 2023 and the new athletic director, Mr. Harrison, is very excited to have brought the team back.

“I’m excited to see where the program is going; I do see it thriving, but it depends on the student athletes participating and staying eligible,” said Mr. Harrison.

The last season Monroe-Woodbury had a varsity hockey team was 2021-2022, and so with the transition in athletic directors, Mr. Harrison felt it was important to secure the team’s future.

“I know once we didn’t have hockey, it was still in the budget, it was still in planning, so we were always looking to bring hockey back,” said Mr. Harrison, “Once there wasn’t a team last year, I spoke with the previous athletic director and he made sure to let me know we had money in the budget in order to bring back hockey.”

The 2021-2022 Monroe-Woodbury team faced many hardships throughout the season. They lost their star player, Jacob Castana, as he transferred to Don Bosco Preparatory High School. They also lost Eric Abrosikov to an undisclosed injury that took him out for the entire season.

Although they faced all of these challenges, the team is coming off of a Section IX title in 2021-22 after posting an underwhelming 0-13 record and a blow out loss in the regional game against Shenendehowa.

Shenendehowa ended up losing to the eventual state champions, Suffern. Last year however, 2022-23, there wasn’t a team due to the fact that there was a lack of participation. With this year’s large amount of freshman participation, and the growth of participation in general, the team is back and looking to improve.

The players are very excited to be back on the ice to represent Monroe-Woodbury.

“I am thrilled to have the experience of playing on a school team and meeting new people and making more friends,” said team member Matthew Foresteri.

“Having this team is a great opportunity for students to be a part of extracurricular activities,” said Sheikh Uddin, a student at Monroe-Woodbury High School.

Other students shared similar messages about the hockey program coming back to the district.

“It’s great having more opportunities for students to learn and grow,” said Max Carner, a freshman.