Beyond the Scoresheet

rainy Thursday in Houston

I’m enjoying a lazy day off today, updating and preparing schedule pages and emailing coaches about my Hockey Night in Boston preview. For the record, I have to turn in my preview before practices even start.

Giants – Cowboys
I’m lucky enough that one of my best friends/college roommates has Dallas Cowboys season tickets, so I drove up to Big D for the Giants-Cowboys MNF showdown this week. And despite ridiculous traffic problems, I emerged without having beer dumped on me and with bragging rights over both of my Dallas-residing college roomies and a certain NBIAL athletic director who will remain anonymous.

Due to traffic and the parking situation, we missed the opening kickoff and the Giants’ first possession, so it was already 7-0 when we got to our seats. I enjoyed the half, but when the Cowboys were driving down 12-0, I turned to my buddy and said, “You know, 12-7 would be a bad half-time score for the Giants.” He replied, “14-12 would be worse.” And wouldn’t you know it, the Cowboys were about to do just that when Bledsoe threw that wonderful interception in the front of the end zone. Just priceless.

I was stuck in line waiting for food when the second half started, but I got to watch the interception and Shockey touchdown on a nearby TV. I celebrated with a Giants fan next to me in line; he flew in from Connecticut because it was easier to get tickets in Dallas than East Rutherford. Crazy stuff.

So I missed two Giants touchdowns, but I saw plenty of good stuff and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Moreso than my roommate, that’s for sure.

Scheduling Stuff
I spent much of today working on Southern Conference schedules. Props to St. Joseph (Hammonton) for putting five non-league games on its schedule — its first non-league games ever in its third season. St. Joe has home-and-home series with fellow low-budget program Gloucester Catholic and first-year program Paul VI and a road game against Johnson.

And not that I hadn’t noticed this before, but the Shore Conference alignment is just moronic. If you’re unaware, the Shore ‘A’ division (which they tried to name a confusing color, as if we needed conflicting color scales) contains the two Gordon teams, the Bricks, and the Middletowns. That means CBA and St. John Vianney are required to schedule Brick Memorial, a Southern Blue team! Shore ‘B’ includes the Red Division privates (MonDon, RBC); the Toms Rivers; and RFH. Not a bad division, but why aren’t MonDon, RBC, and TRN in the top division? Shore ‘C’ includes RBR, Wall, Point, Southern, Manasquan, and St. Rose. Why are RBR and Wall playing in the Shore C when they’ve clearly earned the right to move up a division? Finally, here’s hoping newby Jackson Memorial gets on the schedule with Wall and Manasquan, thereby de facto adding it to the Shore C Division.

Misc.
Can anybody shed any light on Monroe Township? The school is listed on three varsity schedules even though I’ve never heard of it having a varsity program … Check out Lufkin-The Woodlands on ESPN2 tonight at 7 pm ET for a taste of Texas high school football. I haven’t seen either team, but Lufkin is in the top 10 in the country and The Woodlands is a legit program in a northern suburb of Houston.

dabbling in high-school football

so y’all know those posts, usually at least once a season, when I come back from a game and just gush about how cool it was and how much I love New Jersey hockey? (try this one or this one or this one if you don’t know what I’m talking about) I’ve got one of those tonight for Texas high school football, and since the game was not in the coverage area of my newspaper, y’all get to hear about it.

I’ve started broadcasting high-school games here for TSRN Sports, and tonight was my first play-by-play assignment. I was dreading more than anticipating the game, however, because doing play-by-play means bringing and setting up the equipment, which is always a hassle, and just a lot more responsibility in general. And I was already stressed from starting my job this week and knowing that I have to go to work at 9 am on a Saturday morning.

So I wasn’t in the greatest mood heading to Thorne Stadium for the intra-Aldine ISD matchup between Eisenhower and Nimitz. And it just turned out to be awesome.

I got there early, loved the stadium (I think small college football stadiums should be built in its image), and set up the equipment without too much trouble. My partner was an inexperienced guy, and we had our problems, and the place was really cold (for football in Texas, not for hockey of course), but the game made up for it.

Nimitz came in 5-1 and Eisenhower 1-5, but the Eagles had played maybe the toughest schedule in the state, including three undefeated teams and the district leader, and Nimitz was only ahead by one game in the District 19-5A standings. Nimitz dominated the first quarter and into the second with a decent running game, but Eisenhower pulled to within 14-10 at halftime.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the game was the fact that Eisenhower had at least five players making major contributions at skill positions as sophomores – virtually unheard of in Texas 5A football. And they seemed to mature before our eyes, taking leads of 17-14 and 24-21 in the second half. Nimitz rallied to tie it 24-24 with 3:20 remaining, setting up a dramatic finish.

When Eisenhower took over, its sophomore quarterback dropped back and never took his eyes off the receiver in the right flat, allowing a linebacker to read it all the way and pick off the pass for an easy touchdown to give Nimitz the lead out of nowhere. It could have crushed the quarterback (making his first career start), but instead he led Eisenhower 70 yards, without a timeout, including two fourth-down conversions, for a touchdown to tie the game with nine seconds remaining. It was amazing.

Eisenhower then won in overtime 38-31, scoring on the first possession and stuffing Nimitz’s excellent quarterback on back-to-back short-yardage situations to finish it off. If you’re really curious, check out this video clip. Sorry there’s no crowd noise; there was on the broadcast. (I had an awesome shot of the tying touchdown, but my battery ran out.)
Anyway, it just restored my faith in high school sports and their worth, even if nobody was listening to the game. It was just plain fun, and definitely made me want to keep doing one game a weekend, even if it costs me part of my social life.

But I still have to go to work in the morning.

Addition

Oh yeah, before I forget. Of course I plan to maintain that new schedule page for all divisions if I decide it can be done. But I don’t know the algorithm or whatever that allowed the guys at www.5atexasfootball.com (the inspiration for the page, which I created myself) to make theirs automated, so it would be a third set of things I would have to manually update, which is really difficult.

H-town update

Just checking in from Houston while watching my A’s in the playoffs. As you may have noticed, I’m preparing to maintain my site for another season and am enjoying tracking down schedules and the like. My find of the day? Lawrenceville and Delbarton will meet for the first time since the 1999-2000 season in a February matchup at Aspen Ice in Randolph. Although the biggest news on campus may have been this gem: Lawrenceville’s Trees Begin Magnificent Fall Show. I guess fall can officially begin now that Lawrenceville’s trees have decided to observe the season. (Big Red fans, pardon my sarcasm, but c’mon. That press release is a bit much.)
On a personal note, I spent the 2006 baseball season working full-time and broadcasting for the Alexandria Aces in the independent United League. It was a tremendous season, capped off by the United League championship, which I had the pleasure of announcing. After the season, lonely for big-city life, Rice athletics, and my friends in Houston, I moved back to the Space City and searched for employment. I have recently been hired as assistant sports editor for the Observer Newspaper Group, part of Houston Community Newspapers. I still plan to pursue broadcasting opportunities for next season – I will be broadcasting high school football games for TSRN Sports this fall – but Houston is the plan for now.

As for the high school ice hockey season, we’ll see what happens. I am committed to maintaining the standings and schedule pages, as I have in years past. I hope to post updates and miscellani on this blog, although entries will be more whimsical in the absence of first-person game recaps. I have not yet decided about rankings other than HNIB Top 10s. So that’s the plan. I hope you will continue reading this site, clicking on ads, and sending me e-mails with facts, reasonable opinions, and suggestions.

Speaking of suggestions, check out this article about a former New Jersey high school opponent of mine … it’s good reading: Wayne’s Coyne Journeys to Botswana. And I’ve enjoyed reading Dan Rosen and co.’s Varsity Aces blog when I miss my NJ HS sports … here’s hoping it makes for good hockey coverage come December. Finally, it’s been great to hear from writers, coaches, parents, and fans again, and I really appreciate the inquiries about my life and even the occasional job offers. I’ll be writing again as the season approaches.

taking up more webspace

For those of you who like baseball, my latest creation (I handle the content, not the graphics) is up and running at http://www.myacesbaseball.com. Once our season starts May 16, the curious among you should be able to listen in to my games on the internet.

view from down South

Sup, y’all. Before I write a bit about the state tournaments and the season, I want to take a second to thank all the people who took the time to drop me a line, either by commenting on this site or by sending me an email, wishing me luck. There are ups and downs associated with every and any move, and I’ve had plenty of both already, but those emails made dealing with the downs a bit easier. I really missed being around for the culmination of the hockey season, and although I kept informed – writers and coaches called me and I listened to some of the Continental games online – it could not top the excitement of actually being there. It’s safe to say I already miss New Jersey high school hockey and all the people that are a part of it.

That said, a big shout-out to newspapers around the state for their coverage of the end of the state tournament. Everybody in the hockey community laments the lack of space given to hockey during the season in favor of basketball and wrestling and the other winter sports (bowling, really?), but I thought coverage of the state tournament was very good. In particular, props to Mike Morreale and Paul Bruno, colleagues and friends, for their hard work. Trying to cover four games in one day and two late games in another – while dealing with deadlines and editors – is pretty out of control and deserves some respect. And one more shout-out to the Ledger for getting the job done by sending two additional writers and by posting video highlights (that just happened to be lifesaving for those of us who have to write about games we haven’t seen).

My final Top 20s are posted, and while I’m sure they will not be without controversy, I hope they are consistent with the style and system I used all season. I’m not going to recap the final few games here – they’ve been well covered already and I didn’t even see them. A few notes, however: You have to love the irony of Morris County sweeping the titles in the name of Aspen Ice, not Mennen Arena; Pope John became only the second coed private school to reach the semifinals; Randolph has reached the public final in four of the last five years and gone 2-2 in those games; never bet against Tenafly or Fair Lawn in the state tournament; Chris Volonnino is a beast around the net; and both championship goalies appeared to sport playoff beards, if I saw things correctly.

Embarrassing Note of the Week: When submitting my Top 20 to HNIB this morning, I noted that I totally overlooked Ridge’s state tournament performance when doing the rankings, so the Red Devils are in there where they belong, and adjustments made accordingly. Careless mistake on my part, so my apologies to all.

quarterfinal times

through a bit of sleuthing this afternoon while watching the Dominican Republic hammer Italy in baseball, I believe I have figured out the schedule for this weekend’s quarterfinals:

Saturday – South Mountain
4:15 pm (11) Notre Dame vs. (3) Pope John
6:15 pm (10) St. Augustine Prep vs. (2) Delbarton
Sunday – South Mountain
5:30 pm (5) Morristown-Beard vs. (4) Don Bosco Prep
7:30 pm (8) Bishop Eustace vs. (1) Seton Hall Prep
Sunday – Mennen Arena
6:00 pm (13) Clifton vs. (5) Montgomery
8:00 pm (9) Ridge vs. (1) Morris Knolls
Monday – Mennen Arena
6:00 pm (6) Bridgewater-Raritan vs. (3) Toms River North
8:00 pm (10) Indian Hills vs. (2) Randolph

Additionally, I am leaving the state tomorrow and moving to take a broadcasting job with the Alexandria Aces, an independent minor-league team in Alexandria, Louisiana. The timing is not great, since I will not be able to cover any of the 14 remaining hockey games, but I will try to keep results as up-to-date as possible and, internet connection permitting, will put together final rankings after the state title games.

I want to thank all the people who have asked about my job situation and wished me well or offered advice and suggestions, and maybe some of you will listen in this summer when our season gets underway May 16. As for next year, I cannot promise anything. I hope to continue hosting scores and standings at www.njhockey.org, as I did in college, but I imagine rankings and more detailed coverage will be beyond me.

round of 16 action

MCSSIHL representation in the state tournaments was reduced to three Wednesday night, as 13th-seeded Clifton knocked off Chatham in the opening game at Mennen before Randolph rallied to crush Mountain Lakes 8-3.

NJSIAA Public round of 16: Clifton 3, Chatham 2
Although the game was held on Chatham’s home ice at Mennen Arena, Clifton seemed right at home. After all, the Mustangs pulled off one of the biggest upsets in state tournament history at Mennen Arena in 2001, and Clifton had a sizable advantage in terms of fans.

Chatham had a major advantage in terms of possession and chances in the opening stanza, but Chris Donini in the Clifton goal was up to the task. More importantly in terms of positioning itself for an upset, Clifton got the first goal. Against the run of play, Craig Junda won an offensive zone face-off and headed for the net, where he redirected a slap shot from standout forward Anthony Yelovich (how was he not Northern Red MVP, by the way?) through the legs of Chatham goalie James Stolfi. The Cougars drew level four minutes later on a nifty play by forward Jeff Chatterton. With a loose puck in the slot, Chatterton beat Donini’s pokecheck to the puck, flipped it into the air, and backhanded the puck out of mid-air behind the sprawling goalie.

Although Chatham started the second period on the power play, Clifton struck first nearly four minutes into the period. To nobody’s surprise, Yelovich was the architect, deking around two defensemen high in the right circle before backhanding a pass that left both defenseman and goalie stranded, setting up Junda for a high finish past Stolfi.

Stolfi, starting in place of the injured Michael Infante, made two saves to deny Clifton shorthanded chances in the middle of the period, diving to cut off Junda and stopping a sharp Yelovich shot. And after Chatham killed off Clifton’s first power play, the Cougars tied the game. The puck came off the end-boards to Chatterton parked to the left of the net, and he wristed a shot from a tight angle to beat Donini up high at the near post. Before anyone had caught their breath, however, Clifton responded with a goal from its second line, as Sean Yip’s shot from the left circle beat Stolfi up high for a 3-2 Clifton advantage. Just as in Chatham’s Mennen Cup semifinal win over Morris Knolls, a goal from either team’s second line was going to be a difference-maker, and you could tell from the Mustang celebrations they knew this one was key.

Chatham continued to try to wear down Clifton, skating its third line for regular shifts halfway into the third period, but Clifton seemed unaffected. Donini displayed great lateral movement to stop Mario Bronzino at the left post early in the period, but Chatham did not show true offensive initiative until the final minutes. Given a power play with 1:21 remaining, Chatham struggled to set up in the offensive zone and only pulled Stolfi with 22 seconds remaining, getting two shots before time expired.

Clifton advances to play Montgomery in the quarterfinals this weekend, again at Mennen Arena, and you have to give the Mustangs a decent chance at making some more Mennen magic.

Randolph 8, Mountain Lakes 3
The second game was the much anticipated rematch between Randolph and Mountain Lakes after a pair of tense one-goal battles earlier in the season. And it lived up to its billing for two periods before Randolph pulled away in the third.

Mountain Lakes came out feeding on adrenalin and emotion and had the lead within a minute, as Dan Lio stole the puck behind the net and fed a wide-open Nick Simone in the low slot, who one-timed it past a motionless Dan Diamond. Predictably, Randolph controlled much of the period and Lakes goalie Matt Lowell responded well to the pressure, holding onto the 1-0 lead.

With first-line forward Jacob Sutker’s shifts limited, Mountain Lakes was essentially rotating five forwards to Randolph’s ten. Yet the Lakers went on top 2-0 at the 9:13 mark when James Putney’s blue-line wrist shot hit Diamond’s pads and slowly trickled just over the goal line. Dan Swenson came off the Randolph bench to replace Diamond, but even he could not prevent the pumped-up Lakers from going ahead 3-0 late in the period. Putney stole the puck from a Randolph defenseman at the blue line and, with a 2-on-1 break, fed Lio for a breakaway. Swenson forced Lio wide, but the Lakers’ most dangerous offensive player kept his composure to get around Swenson and finish just inside the far post.

The ice cut could not have come at a better time for Randolph, and the Rams found their scoring touch in the second period, doing so (as usual) in front of their student fans. The first goal had an element of luck about it, as Rob Kral popped up in the slot to bang a shot that immediately deflected off a skate and shot through the legs of Lowell to make it 3-1. Probably the most important goal came at the 4:06 mark, as Ed Keenan fed Ryan Bannon in the right circle, and his wrist shot slipped through the legs of Lowell.

Lakes clung to its 3-2 lead through the middle of the period and was frustrated by penalty calls, with Randolph finally taking advantage on its fourth power play of the night. After a point shot by defenseman Kyle Krannich, the Rams converged on the net, and Ed Keenan finally slotted the third rebound past Lowell to tie the game. The Rams struck again less than a minute later, as captain Jason Kleinwaks found a streaking Greg DaSilva at the back post for an emotional tiebreaking goal.

Mountain Lakes trailed only 4-3 into the third period, but you had to be skeptical about its chances, given the lack of depth. And Randolph did not disappoint, as Kral sored with a perfect wrist shot less than three minutes into the period. Kral completed his hat trick late in the game, sandwiched between goals from Kleinwaks and Derek Ranger, as the Rams eliminated Mountain Lakes from the state tournament for the second consecutive season, once again by a five-goal margin. The Rams advance to a quarterfinal matchup with Indian Hills, whom they beat 6-1 during the regular season.

Clifton 3, Chatham 2

Scoring

Shots

1st
6:23 Cli #18 Craig Junda (#27 Anthony Yelovich)
10:33 Cha #12 Jeff Chatterton (#23 Pat Coyne)
2nd
3:40 Cli #18 Craig Junda (#27 Anthony Yelovich, #17 Maran Roszowski)
10:37 Cha #12 Jeff Chatterton (unassisted)
10:59 Cli #21 Sean Yip (#9 Oscar Jaramillo)
3rd
none

Goalies
#30 Chris Donini (Cli) 36-34
#37 James Stolfi (Cha) 18-15

Power plays: Cli 0-1, Cha 0-3

Randolph 8, Mountain Lakes 3

Scoring

Shots

1st
0:46 ML #77 Nick Simone (#23 Dan Lio)
9:13 ML #9 James Putney (#44 Clint McDonough)
11:56 ML #23 Dan Lio (#9 James Putney)
2nd
1:44 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#29 Ryan Bannon)
4:06 Ran #29 Ryan Bannon (#16 Ed Keenan, #9 Rob Kral)
9:12 Ran (pp) #16 Ed Keenan (#29 Ryan Bannon, #21 Kyle Krannich)
10:03 Ran #26 Greg DaSilva (#25 Jason Kleinwaks)
3rd
2:53 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#29 Ryan Bannon)
6:52 Ran #25 Jason Kleinwaks (#11 Mike Turner)
10:59 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#29 Ryan Bannon, #16 Ed Keenan)
13:54 Ran (pp) #10 Derek Ranger (#25 Jason Kleinwaks)

Goalies
#30 Matt Lowell (ML) 41-34
#15 Ray Reynolds (ML) 2-1
#1 Dan Diamond (Ran) 5-3
#31 Dan Swenson (Ran) 12-11

Power plays: ML 0-2, Ran 2-7