Brent Beswick has ice hockey in his blood.
This sport has definitely been the biggest constant in his life since he was born. His mother, Caryn, is a figure skating coach, and his father, Jason, is a longtime hockey coach and currently coaches Brent at Northern Highlands High School. The two first met at the Sports-O-Rama Ice Rink in Monsey, New York, which ironically is home to the Northern Highlands.
The ice rink is like a second home to Beswick, and he has had the opportunity to grow and thrive while spending hours there throughout his life. He has continued to improve over the past three seasons and has developed into one of the most dangerous players in New Jersey.
Everything came to a head this year. Beswick entered this season as the preseason Player of the Year, but his name didn't float around in the conversation from December to March.
Beswick, a junior, put together one of the most dominant seasons in Northern Highlands history, helping lead the program to its second state title in three years. Beswick has 37 goals and 85 assists this season. 2023-24 NJ.com Male Ice Hockey Player of the Year.
“From the first game of the season to the state championship against Manalapan, Brent worked harder than ever to compete for the front of his jersey and his current Highlanders teammates,” Jason Beswick said. “His performance this season was not only special for him, but also for everyone who has ever worn the same jersey. I take great pride in competing.”
Beswick was the one who ultimately drove the play with the best line in the state this season between himself, Vincenzo Capano and Jake Baratta. The trio ultimately put together a memorable state championship performance. In five playoff games, Baratta had six goals and 16 points, Capano had 10 goals and 23 points, and Beswick had 12 goals and 22 points.
In Northern Highlands' 4-3 win over Manalapan in the Public State final, Beswick had key assists on both Baratta's opening goal and Capano's game-winning goal, and scored a short-handed goal in the second period. Ta. In the sequence leading up to Capano's winner, Beswick deceptively slowed down on the right side and surprisingly cut all the way to the front of the net before Capano smashed in the rebound, beating every Manalapan defender within range. .
Breaking down the season-long stats a bit more, Beswick averaged 1.42 goals per game and 3.27 points per game. He has 208 shots on goal, meaning approximately every fifth shot he takes goes on goal. He posted a plus/minus of plus-71 and won 61 percent of the faceoffs he took.
“I definitely expect a lot from myself,” Beswick said. “Obviously there were high expectations for me and the team this year. But at the same time, I try to blur everything else out and just go out there. I know what I'm capable of. So I just go out there and play my game and control what I can control. That's all I'm trying to do.”
While Beswick entered the state tournament as a high-profile player, Northern Highlands had to overcome some initial hurdles. The Highlanders had earned the No. 2 seed in the Public South Division, but were coming off their only two-game losing streak of the season.
The first was a 6-3 loss to Bergen Catholic in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals. Next up was a surprise, as the Highlanders lost 3-0 to Pascack Valley Hills in the Big North Gold Cup quarterfinals, the biggest upset of the season.
The Highlanders shook off their second loss with the understanding that most of the roster had fulfilled their commitments to the club, but Beswick had played their previous two games that day in a club tournament in Utica, New York. He played against the North Jersey Rockets, who showed up late and didn't even warm up. However, after both losses, Beswick and the rest of the team began to realize that the only game left was the state tournament. The Highlanders entered the week of February 5th scheduled to play in three tournaments, but had lost two tournaments in five days.
“later [Bergen] We had some real team moments in the game, but it was like, oh, crap,” Beswick said. “At that point, there were no more regular season games left. There were only two tournaments left. I actually thought something was going to change there, but obviously that Friday we were missing a lot of players. However, the Bergen game was a game that made us think seriously about how we wanted to end it. Me, Vincenzo, Jake, and JT. [Gandara], we all somehow said we had to lead. We're going to win this. We have to lead and we have to play our game. We do our best and everyone needs to follow our lead and we just do our thing. ”
They took the lead, and it was Beswick who continued his frenetic pace, going up and down the ice time and time again, putting constant pressure on the opposing defense and goaltender. While the number of losses this season is low, we won't see them for the rest of the year.
Beswick and the rest of the team began to seriously believe they could return to the Prudential Center in the de facto state quarterfinals with a 5-1 victory over third-seeded Chatham in the sectional semifinals. The win was a revenge game for the Highlanders, who lost to the Cougars in the state semifinals the previous year. In the next round, the Highlanders used an offensive showing to defeat then-undefeated Randolph 8-3, winning the Public South Section and advancing to the state finals.
“We were firing on all cylinders and were like, okay, we really have a team that can accomplish this this year, and a lot of us can win our second state championship,” Beswick said. Ta. “When we scored that goal and made it 5-1 against Chatham, myself, Vincenzo and Jake all looked at each other. We started to feel like, 'Who's going to stop us?' You can do something like this for the rest of the year. ”
No one answered, even though Manalapan approached. After Beswick scored shorthanded to extend the Highlanders' lead to 3-1, the Braves scored twice in the third period to tie the game. With six minutes left, Beswick raced up the right side and his shot was stopped by Braves standout goaltender Christian Esposito, but Capano followed up and Northern Highlands retook the lead.
This goal may go down as Beswick's last for Northern Highlands. Beswick, a standout player for the Rockets, could get a chance to play in the junior league as early as next year. Like his former teammate Daniel Moore, he could potentially play in the North American Hockey League or the United States Hockey League.
Beswick is currently considering what to do next season, but leaving to play in the juniors next season will likely benefit his career in the long run. And while next year is still up in the air, he knows he'll definitely be playing junior hockey at some point.
If Beswick were to return to Northern Highlands for his senior season, there is a strong chance he would eventually break the program's scoring record and reach 200 career points. His record currently stands at 180, with the record being 197 held by his 2010 graduate Patrick Elstring.
If he leaves, his exploits in the Northern Highlands will be lost to the history books. In three years he won two state championships and helped put his father's program on the map after Jason failed to win a state title in his 15 seasons. The elder Mr. Beswick has now won three times in six years.
No matter where he turns next year, Brent Beswick will be a name that will long be remembered in the Northern Highlands.
“Playing for Northern Highlands was great,” Beswick said. “I love coming to the rink with my teammates and competing for the top of the jersey for them. The best part was playing with my best friends with the sole goal of winning. This year I tried to embrace every moment to the fullest, thinking it might be the last time I wore the jersey.”
Donovan Hugel can be contacted at: dhugel@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @Donohugel.
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