Beyond the Scoresheet

Opening Day at Mennen

December 1, 2005 on 11:18 pm | In game recap | 1 Comment

As usual, I spent my opening day at Mennen Arena as much as possible. I actually only got to see the first game, the beginning of the second, and the end of the third, but it was good to be back watching games that count. Mennen looked in good shape, with clean ice, fancy MCPC logos, and new nets. Roxbury even had new uniforms, refuting my Pope John comment from last week. And it’s always good to see little kids taunting high-schoolers for being too slow to a loose puck.

Roxbury 3, Pequannock 3
The first game was Roxbury-Pequannock in an early matchup of perceived Haas Division favorites. I thought Pequannock was the better passing team, but Roxbury had the better of play and a 35-25 shot advantage. After a 1-1 first period, Pequannock took a 2-1 lead early in the second period on a power-play goal from Matt McGee after a deft cross-ice pass. But Roxbury responded inside of five minutes, as Alicia Lepore jammed home a rebound and Brandon Davis followed with a quick wrist shot from the right wing. Kevin McCloskey was pretty solid in the Roxbury net while protecting the lead, but Pequannock really started applying pressure down the stretch in the third period. Finally, with McCloskey on the ground, Matt Iaccheo slotted in a rebound from a bad angle to tie the game with 1:24 remaining. In a bizarre twist, Iaccheo was then penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, but Roxbury could not take advantage of the power play, and the teams settled for a 3-3 tie.

Mt. Olive 7, Parsippany Hills 3

Morristown-Beard 4, Morris Hills 1
In the marquee game of the day, locally speaking, Morris Hills played its first game as a member of the Mennen Division against Morristown-Beard. I’m told Hills had the better of play in the first two periods, and the Scarlet Knights got a lead late in the first period on a Jon Gaffney goal. But Morristown-Beard snuck back into the game on a Sam Altiero goal late in the period and went ahead just 19 seconds into the second period on a Dan Shurts goal. Morris Hills had a 19-10 shot advantage through two periods, but tired in the third period, perhaps partially due to the absence of first-line forward Scott Shapiro.
On a penalty kill past the halfway mark in the third period, Hills got two men caught deep on the offensive forecheck, leaving Beard with a 3-on-2. Greg Alberti took it himself down the left wing, cutting inside and deking around Ilya Schuf to make it 3-1. Mike Jacquin added a goal with 2:10 left to seal the deal. John Yanchek finished with 21 saves for the Crimson, while Schuf made 15 stops. But it looks like the Mennen Division ought to be exciting once again this year.

Elsewhere
Okay, I got a confirmation of the 10-0 MonDon score … that’s pretty impressive. Second-line forward Luke Segreto hit for a hat trick, so it sounds like the Griffins were too deep. And it means I have to eat crow on the first day of the season. I got a (well-written) email from a MonDon fan last night explaining why that fan thought I was mistaken in leaving MonDon at the bottom of the division, and it looks like that fan was right. So mad props to MonDon, that’s a great opening performance. And St. Augustine Prep made a little statement of its own, too. Unfortunate opening night for the Middletowns.
Other than that, of the scores I’ve seen, I’d say the Brick-TRE score (2-2) surprised me the most; I thought Brick would come out flying against that division. And it sounds like Steinert and HoVal had no problem in the CVC. I’m still waiting on several scores though, so send me some emails, preferably with enough information to prove you were actually at the game … I much prefer emailed scores to getting results off the NJO forum.