Despite dealing with six injuries, Robbinsville-Allentown is thriving thanks to the massive chip on its shoulder.
This squad entered the 2025-26 season desperate to put the ghosts of tournaments past to rest. Last winter, they were bounced from the CVC Tournament in the semifinals and the state tournament in the opening round in a span of two weeks.
As the sixth week of the 2025-26 season is winding down, this team has yet to taste defeat in regulation.
Robbinsville-Allentown fell behind twice on Friday, but both responses were imminent. The second reply was effectively a knockout punch.
Alexander Margolin and Reilly Halpin (twice) scored 4:08 apart to turn a one-goal deficit into a 5-3 lead and Robbinsville-Allentown paced to an 8-4 win over Paul VI at Flyers Training Center in Voorhees.
| 1/9 - 4:40 PM Boys Ice Hockey | Final |
|---|
| Robbinsville | 8 |
| Paul VI | 4 |
“We were down to 10 due to injuries, just playing our first two lines and first two (defensive pairings),” said Halpin. “We just had to keep pushing and pushing against their first, second and third line, playing the whole game, grinding in front of the net, showing we got to screen the front of the net. We just kept pushing through. Even though we were all tired and exhausted, we just kept playing.”
Margolin’s tally came just 2:17 after Jason Bloor gave Paul VI its second lead of the game. Halpin then scored twice in the final 4:16 of the second period to put Robbinsville-Allentown (11-2) in the lead for good. Cole Martinez stretched the lead to three goals with 8:34 to go in the game.
This was Halpin’s second multi-goal game of the season.
“That’s a kid that’s just been grinding, grinding, grinding,” said Robbinsville-Allentown head coach Dan Bergan. “The injuries have given him an opportunity and he has jumped all over it. He’s had two or three real important goals and real good games for us.”
The first comeback was keyed by one of the team’s stars.
Brock Mission put Paul VI ahead 3:44 into the game, but Jake Lachance tied the game just 77 seconds later. Lachance then scored on the power play minutes later and capped the ninth hat trick of his career with an empty-netter late in the third period to make it a 7-4 game. Jack Lawrence would add another empty-netter 1:50 later.
Lachance is up to 22 goals on the season and 81 for his career.
“Jake’s a great teammate all around,” Halpin said. “You can feed him anywhere on the ice. You’ll know he’ll be open. If he has the puck, he’s looking for other people, but he’s also looking to score.”
Nick Aversa buried two goals for Paul VI (10-2), which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
Friday’s win puts Robbinsville-Allentown in the driver’s seat for the top spot in the CVC Tournament.
This team won the final Mercer County Tournament in 2024, but this year’s version is more complete.
If it can overcome the six injuries and get healthy in time for the state playoffs, the Public Co-Op group will be put on notice.
“We’re looking back at the years before, we kind of got a chip on our shoulder that we’re going to push through,” Halpin said. “This year, we’re going to hopefully go far in playoffs. Our confidence level is really high because we’ve been playing good. Only two overtime losses this season and we’ve been playing good competition. So, it’s kind of pushing us forward, keeping our confidence level high.”
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