Beyond the Scoresheet

high-ranked battles

Delbarton 3, St. Peter’s Prep 1
No. 2 Delbarton validated its ranking and Gordon Cup seed with a 3-1 win Monday over No. 7 St. Peter’s Prep at Aspen Ice in Randolph. The Green Wave can also expect the second seed in the NJSIAA private state tournament after beating a Marauder team that had been on a roll until back-to-back losses to Pope John and Delbarton.

The teams, which tied 2-2 in Jersey City last week, traded early power plays in this contest, with St. Peter’s Prep goalie Kevin Fox making seven saves to keep the score 0-0. St. Peter’s Prep proceeded to get the next seven even-strength shots, but Delbarton took the lead with less than a minute to play in the period. Freshman Alex Velischek, skating on the top line backhanded a long pass out of the defensive zone to Dan Pressl at center ice, where Pressl sped by his defender and beat Fox with a low wrist shot.

Delbarton came out strong early in the second period, with the return of sophomore Zach Williams from injury solidfying the third line. But St. Peter’s Prep tied the game midway through the period when a long clearance by defenseman Justin Hudacko found Mike Dellutri sneaking behind his defenseman for a breakaway, and he shoveled it just inside the right post to tie the game. The Marauders continued to press play and take advantage of Delbarton’s poor defensive zone coverage for a few minutes, but rarely troubled Jeff Leone. Delbarton took control late in the period with two goals in 52 seconds. Captain Alex Smigelski, who was an ever-present playmaker most of the night, brought the puck out of the left corner, and although his shot was stopped by Fox, Velischek jammed in the rebound to make it 2-1. St. Peter’s Prep responded aggressively, but when the puck cycled around to the point, Matt Schillings stole it and took off with a breakaway, snapping a shot under Fox’s glove.

St. Peter’s Prep had the better of play in the third period, with Leone making 10 saves – including seven in the first four minutes – in one of the best periods by a Delbarton goalie all year, and the Green Wave held on for the victory. With NJIHL cup seeding meetings scheduled for tomorrow, half of the Gordon Conference finds itself without a completed schedule.

Morris Knolls 4, Randolph 2
No. 5 Morris Knolls ran its win streak against No. 11 Randolph to seven with a 4-2 win Monday at Mennen Arena, likely also securing the top seed in the upcoming public state tournament. Junior forward Tommy Tomensky scored all four goals for the Golden Eagles.

The result rarely seemed in doubt, probably because it took Morris Knolls just 16 seconds to get on the scoreboard, as Tomensky shook loose in the slot to slam home the rebound of a Dennis Cole shot from the point. The rest of the first period was unremarkable and, true to form, Randolph held a shot advantage without any meaningful scoring chances.

Knolls struck soon after the ice cut with a goal just 1:27 into the second period, as a centering pass trickled to Tomensky, wide open in the slot, and he whipped it by Randolph goalie Dan Diamond to make it a 2-0 game. Knolls went on the power play midway through the period, but Ram forward Rob Kral had the best chance with a shorthanded breakaway denied by Ofner. When a Knolls penalty evened things up at four-on-four, Randolph finally struck. Defenseman Kyle Krannich got the puck at the right point, stickhandled around one forward and then stickhandled all the way through the slot, avoiding players from both teams, before backhanding the puck past Josh Ofner. This was the only five-minute stretch where one really felt like Randolph could tie it, but Ofner stared down the Rams’ chances on a late power play to hold the 2-1 lead.

Tomensky wrapped up the game for Knolls in the first minute of the final stanza. His line created an immediate three-on-two rush, and when Duda left a drop pass in the left face-off circle, Tomensky took a full windup before ripping a slap shot past Diamond’s glove to make it 3-1. The Golden Eagles’ top line stayed on the ice, however, and Tomensky produced perhaps his most skilled goal of the night. The junior posted up at the top of the crease and deflected a pass from Dan Duda on net. Diamond went down and made the save, but Tomensky, with a defender draped all over him, deftly pulled the rebound to his backhand and slipped it around Diamond.

Randolph tried to prove the 4-1 lead was not insurmountable with a goal just 21 seconds later, as Derek Ranger backhanded a rebound over Ofner. Trailing by two goals, Mike Turner had one decent chance in the next few minutes before the game returned to fruitless dump-and-chase hockey. A deserved win for Knolls, which got 33 saves from Ofner, and it is tough to see any public (except maybe Chatham, if things stay the same) shutting down Tomensky, Duda, and Steven Jones.

Delbarton 3, St. Peter’s Prep 1

Scoring

Shots

1st
14:05 Del #17 Dan Pressl (#7 Alex Velischek, #9 Alex Smigelski)
2nd
7:34 SPP #14 Mike Dellutri (#27 Justin Hudacko)
13:06 Del #7 Alex Velischek (#9 Alex Smigelski)
13:58 Del #8 Matt Schillings (unassisted)
3rd
none

Goalies
#24 Kevin Fox (SPP) 23-20
#35 Jeff Leone (Del) 22-21

Power plays: SPP 0-2, Del 0-1

Morris Knolls 4, Randolph 2

Scoring

Shots

1st
0:16 MK #41 Tommy Tomensky (#5 Dennis Cole, #44 Steven Jones)
2nd
1:27 MK #41 Tommy Tomensky (#44 Steven Jones, #14 Dan Duda)
9:20 Ran (4-4) #3 Kyle Krannich
3rd
0:13 MK #41 Tommy Tomensky (#14 Dan Duda, #5 Dennis Cole)
0:59 MK #41 Tommy Tomensky (#14 Dan Duda, #44 Steven Jones)
1:20 Ran #10 Derek Ranger (#12 Chris Tamminga, #17 Chris Maloney)

Goalies
#1 Dan Diamond (Ran) 23-19
#33 Josh Ofner (MK) 35-33

Power plays: Ran 0-4, MK 0-2

lucky 13

Wow, I haven’t posted since Tuesday. A weird week. Let’s see if I can make up for it, especially since I’ll be out of town this weekend.

State tournament qualifiers
It’s state tournament cutoff day, and we all know the record snowfall this weekend had a major effect on some team’s chances. By my calculations, if make-up games are not played Monday, it got three teams in (Millburn, Southern, Montville) and cost Brick a chance to get in. Nutley and MKA must win today against River Dell and Verona, respectively, to make the tournament.

I’ve been wrong before, but I have 44 public teams in, plus the aforementioned three, plus either TRE or TRS – since they play each other today, only one can get in. TRE must win, while TRS will get in with a win or a tie. That makes 48 qualifiers , and Westfieldcould get in with a win or tie against Madison. That would be a record for public qualifiers; 47 teams qualified in 2004.
As for the privates, a record-tying 18 teams are already qualified. The private quarterfinals are going to be ridiculously competitive, as will many of the round-of-16 games.

At-large consideration
I have to think Red Bank Catholic (8-11-2) merits an at-large bid for the private tournament, and I wouldn’t have a problem with MKA (8-9-2) getting one, although the Cougars are 0-4 against private schools.
And this may be harsh, but I’m not sure if I can justify any at-large qualifiers in the public bracket. Paramus, Verona, Middletown South, and Morris Hills will all argue that they play in a tough division, but it seems harsh to take one of those without taking the others. Here’s a look at their cases:

Paramus (7-9-2, 2-8-2 Northern Red)
Key wins: Clifton 5-1; Morris Hills 1-0
Bad results: Bayonne 1-5, 1-3; Northern Highlands 1-4
Record vs. public qualifiers: 3-4-1 (plus win over TRE)
Verdict: No. The Spartans’ two marketable wins came in December, and they play in the weakest Red Division.

Verona (8-11-2, 4-7-1 Central Red)
Key wins: St. Joseph Metuchen 4-2
Bad results: Mah 2-4 (also won 8-5); Westfield 2-5; West Orange 3-6
Record vs. public qualifiers: 1-5 (plus loss to Westfield)
Verdict: Not bad considering the tough division, but splitting with Mahwah and failing to win the Hillbilly Tournament could really hurt them. Only major win was against a private.

Middletown South (7-11-2, 4-8 Southern Red)
Key wins: Red Bank Catholic 5-4, Monsignor Donovan 1-0, Brick Township 4-2
Bad results: Indian Hills 2-3, Wall 2-2 (tie)
Record vs. public qualifiers: 0-4-2
Verdict: With eight division games against privates (2-6), they recovered for a pair of big wins down the stretch and were very respectable in losses to Indian Hills and St. John Vianney and in tying Clifton. The team I consider most likely to get in.

Morris Hills (9-12, 3-10 MCSSIHL Mennen)
Key wins: Mountain Lakes 5-4
Bad results: Jefferson 4-5, Paramus 0-1, Princeton 5-8
Record vs. public qualifiers: 4-8
Verdict: A tough one. Hills was without its best player, Jon Gaffney, for probably a month. The three bad results, especially the loss to fellow at-large candidate Paramus, might sink Hills’ chances.

If it were up to me
Still a tough one. Having looked at their cases, I think I might go with the movie that initiated my affinity for Houston, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, and say “Let the kids play!” Middletown South, Verona, and Morris Hills all get in, in that order, for playing in tough leagues. The at-large bid exists because hockey’s divisions are aligned based on skill level, so reward the teams that play in the toughest divisions.

Public (47)
Clifton 14-2-4
Tenafly 10-6-4
Vernon 9-8
Ridgewood 14-1-3
West Milford 13-5-2
Lakeland 9-9-3
Glen Rock 14-4-2
Sparta 8-7-2
Passaic Valley 9-3-7
Bridgewater-Raritan 15-5-1
Ridge 12-4-4
Montclair 10-8-2
Montgomery 18-2
Watchung Hills 10-9
Hillsborough 19-3
West Orange 13-7
Livingston 10-10-1
Millburn 8-8-2
Toms River North 13-6-1
Old Bridge 11-5-3
Wall 11-4-6
Red Bank Regional 10-5-1
Manasquan 11-9-1
Point Pleasant Boro 7-6-3
Southern Regional 7-6-2
Steinert 17-1-1
Princeton 12-5-2
Hopewell Valley 9-8
WWPS 9-6-2
Lawrence 12-6
Morris Knolls 17-2-1
Randolph 12-4-2
Chatham 15-4-1
Mountain Lakes 11-7-2
West Morris 9-8-1
Kinnelon 12-4-3
Pequannock 8-7-4
Montville 8-8-3
Park Regional 13-4-3
Mount Olive 12-5
Madison 12-5
Indian Hills 14-3-4
Ramapo 15-3-2
Fair Lawn 15-4-1
Ramsey 13-5-3
Northern Highlands 10-6-3
Old Tappan 8-8-5

Private (18)
Seton Hall Prep 13-0-2
Delbarton 10-5-3
Pope John 11-4-4
Don Bosco Prep 10-8-1
St. Peter’s Prep 9-6-4
CBA 7-6-7
St. John Vianney 8-8-1 (Gordon exception if necessary)
Bergen Catholic 2-10-4 (Gordon exception)
St. Joseph Montvale 7-6-5
Paramus Catholic 11-2-5
St. Joseph Metuchen 9-5-3
St. Augustine Prep 11-4
Bishop Eustace 13-4-2
Monsignor Donovan 9-7-3
Gloucester Catholic 8-2-1
Notre Dame 11-3-3
Morristown-Beard 15-3-1
Pingry 8-8-4

A dissatisfactory result

Morristown-Beard 2, Delbarton 2
A lot has changed in the last 12 years, but Morristown-Beard still can’t beat Delbarton. Chris Volonnino scrambled home a rebound with 44.7 seconds remaining at Aspen Ice in Randolph Tuesday as the No. 2 Green Wave rallied for a 2-2 tie with the seventh-ranked Crimson. Delbarton is 30-0-4 against Morristown-Beard since 1994, although the teams have tied three of their last four meetings.

Delbarton dominated the first two periods in the teams’ first meeting since the 2004 Mennen Cup final. As he did Friday, captain Alex Smigelski opened the scoring, but this time it took half the period. After defenseman Brian Fuller forced the puck down low and Erik Olson won it out of the corner, Smigelski beat Crimson goalie John Yanchek at the near post from a short angle on the left side to make it 1-0. The Green Wave continued to press, and Dan Pressl was just wide with a rebound minutes later.

Yanchek was at his best, however, in the first 10 minutes of the second period. Delbarton, led by an outstanding two periods from freshman defenseman Alex Velischek, had 10 of the first 12 shots in the period. The best chance came with 8:29 remaining, when Yanchek slid to his right to deny Charles Nerbak at the back post after a pass from Matt Schillings on a 2-on-0 break. He then stoned Schillings from the left face-off circle two minutes later to keep it a 1-0 game. As I mentioned in the preamble to one Top 20 poll a few weeks ago, most of the top teams have a goalie capable of stealing a game – Yanchek stole the second period Tuesday with 14 saves.

Predictably, Morristown-Beard came out fired up for the third period, and Delbarton goalie Sean Kaplan had to make a point-blank save on Dan Shurts inside of 20 seconds. Delbarton matched its top line against Morristown-Beard’s all night, but the matchup went the other way at the five-minute mark. Off an offensive zone draw, Kaplan could not hold Shurts’ shot, and Sam Altiero got to the rebound to lift it over Kaplan and tie the game. The Crimson celebrations – both on the ice and off – were extreme, and the student fans in the balcony accidentally broke a pane of glass on the railing from the pounding, holding up play for five minutes. Morristown-Beard continued to have the slight edge in play in the period, and Altiero was on target again four minutes later with a sublime snap shot from the left circle that he placed just under the crossbar as Alberti drove toward the net to distract Kaplan.

Clinging to a 2-1 lead and hoping for its first win over Delbarton since Feb. 10, 1994, Morristown-Beard fell prey to an old foe – line changes – and was whistled for too many men on the ice with three minutes remaining. Although Delbarton failed to capitalize on the power play, Beard iced the puck just after it expired, giving Delbarton an offensive zone face-off with 0:54.8 remaining. Delbarton head coach Bruce Shatel pulled Kaplan for a sixth attacker, and it paid off in just 10 seconds. Dan Pressl circled on the left point and fired a shot on net. Yanchek made the initial save, but was unable to cover the puck, and Volonnino was on hand in the low slot to shovel it into the corner for a dramatic game-tying goal. Neither team was especially pleased to hear the final whistle, Morristown-Beard for again blowing a late lead and Delbarton for being held to the tie.

The tie is a slight blow to Delbarton’s hopes of earning the No. 2 seed in the private state tournament, but the Green Wave can still probably get that honor if they beat St. Augustine Prep and St. Peter’s Prep. Beard improves to 2-0-1 against Gordon competition but will still be unsure of receiving a seed higher than sixth or seventh.

Morristown-Beard 2, Delbarton 2

Scoring

Shots

1st
7:38 Del #9 Alex Smigelski (#13 Erik Olson, #2 Brian Fuller)
2nd
none
3rd
4:59 MB #9 Sam Altiero (#21 Dan Shurts, #19 Greg Alberti)
9:134 MB #9 Sam Altiero (#19 Greg Alberti, #21 Dan Shurts)
14:15 Del #26 Chris Volonnino (#17 Dan Pressl)

Goalies
#30 John Yanchek (MB) 26-24
#1 Sean Kaplan (Del) 19-17

Power plays: Del 0-1

Chinks in the iron

No. 8 St. Peter’s Prep continued its recent surge with a 4-2 win over No. 4 Don Bosco Prep Monday at Pershing Field in Jersey City. Forwards Kyle Palmieri, Matt Runciman, and Tim Miller had two points apiece and Kevin Fox made 25 saves for the Marauders, who scored three third-period goals in a three-minute span to rally from a 2-1 deficit. St. Peter’s Prep is 3-0-2 since its Jan. 23 loss to Bishop Eustace. Don Bosco Prep, meanwhile, is 3-5 since mid-January, although two losses were to unbeaten Seton Hall Prep.
EDIT: Okay, after going back and forth several times in the last 24 hours, we seemed to have confirmed that NJIHL division tiebreakers are as follows: 1. division wins; 2. head-to-head record; 3. division goal differential. This means St. Peter’s Prep will make the playoffs but cannot finish second.

In the NJISAA (New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association) Prep B Tournament,
No. 7 Morristown-Beard breezed into the tournament final with a 7-2 win over Hun. The Crimson will, as usual, meet Princeton Day in the championship after the Panthers’ 5-2 win over MKA. The teams have met in the championship in four consecutive years, with Morristown-Beard winning last year. PDS won four consecutive titles from 2001-04, beating Morristown-Beard in the final three times.

In other action at Mennen Arena, Mountain Lakes clinched the Halvorsen Division title and the accompanying berth in the Mennen Division – a landmark step for the Lakers – with a disappointing 1-1 tie against a much-improved Mendham team. In earlier action at BSA, West Morris and Pingry played to a 2-2 tie that sealed Pingry’s first state tournament berth since 2000. West Morris is one game under .500 with remaining games against Mount Olive and Morristown. Mendham must beat Morris Hills and Mountain Lakes in its final two league games to overtake Pingry for a Mennen Cup playoff berth. No. 11 Randolph, meanwhile, could be on a collision course with Mountain Lakes after a 4-1 win over Morris Hills moved the Rams into third place in the Mennen Division.

Tuesday‘s action ought to be interesting, despite the smaller slate of games. The Morris County matchup between No. 3 Delbarton and No. 7 Morristown-Beard headlines the list, but the rematch of the Somerset County Tournament final between No. 14 Montgomery and No. 15 Hillsborough is also tempting. Notre Dame–Red Bank Catholic and Brick–TRN also stand out.

Chilling out

I made my first trip to Chill Out in Hackettstown today … not for the faint of heart. Small ice, low roof, fairgrounds-style grandstands, bad zamboni coverage, etc. But hey, it’s a rink in West Jersey. And you can take public transportation, since it’s right next to the Hackettstown train station.

In the first game Friday, Ramapo edged Mountain Lakes 2-1 behind superior blue-line play and a strong performance from Dan Menken (34 saves), who slightly outplayed more heralded counterpart Matt Lowell (23 saves). The teams were scoreless into the second period, when Ramapo captain Matt Pecoraro stepped up at the blue line, snuck through two defenders, and slipped a shot that trickled through the pads of Lowell. Brian Ix scored the eventual game-winning goal early in the third period on a rebound. Dan Lio got one back for Mountain Lakes on a deflection, but the Lakers could not take advantage of a late power play and came away without the win they had hoped would boost their state-tournament seeding.

Delbarton 2, Pope John 1
Both student sections ended up in the same grandstand, one behind the other, due to the crowd, and that made the game way more entertaining for me than it might have been otherwise. Pope John boasted greater numbers and cheerleaders, bravely wearing skirts in a rink, while Delbarton’s students had more to cheer about and were so ironic as to cheer for Pope John at one point.

Taking a page out of Seton Hall Prep’s book, Delbarton struck just 11 seconds into the game on a top-shelf wrist shot from heretofore-slumping captain Alex Smigelski past Lion goalie Kevin Kobilinski, who was pulled after two periods in Wednesday’s comeback win. Pope John responded by controlling possession after a mid-period power play but could not penetrate Jeff Leone in the Green Wave net.

Delbarton opened the second period with a 1-1-3 trap, and it produced a second goal. After a center-ice intercept and right-side dump-in by defenseman Brian Fuller, Dan Pressl beat Kobilinski with a slick wrist shot from the right face-off circle. The Green Wave used a more conventional forecheck much of the period but still limited Pope John’s offensive opportunites, thanks in part to defensemen Alex Velischek, Mike Campbell, Jason Harden, Fuller, and, in the third period, Dan DeRenzi. In fact, despite solid periods of possession, Pope John went more than 22 minutes (late 1st- to mid-3rd period) with just one shot on goal.

The Lions came out with renewed aggression in the third period but still rarely troubled Leone, starting after Sean Kaplan played against St. Peter’s Prep Monday. Delbarton all but cruised down the stretch, and although Jimmy Alexander spoiled Leone’s shutout with three seconds remaining, the Green Wave skated away with a 1-0-1 edge in the season series and clinched a top-three seed in the Gordon Cup tournament.

Delbarton 2, Pope John 1

Scoring

Shots

1st
0:11 Del #9 Alex Smigelski (#26 Chris Volonnino, #17 Dan Pressl)
2nd
2:55 Del #17 Dan Pressl (#2 Brian Fuller)
3rd
14:57 PJ (6-5) #17 Jimmy Alexander (#9 John Hero)

Goalies
#35 Jeff Leone (Del) 17-16
#35 Kevin Kobilinski (PJ) 26-24

Power plays: Del 0-2, PJ 0-2

not what we expected

Morristown-Beard 5, Randolph 4
No. 7 Morristown-Beard blew a 4-0 lead but recovered for a dramatic 5-4 win over No. 13 Randolph Tuesday in a Mennen Division game that featured a pulsating, seven-goal second period.

The Mennen Division heavyweights, both chasing No. 6 Morris Knolls for the top seed in the Mennen Cup tournament, played not-to-lose in the first period, going almost nine minutes without a single shot on goal. The period featured fast skating and good neutral-zone passing but no threatening offensive moves until late in the period. Crimson defenseman Bob Yannotta went high off the glass out of the defensive zone, finding brother and defense partner Pat Yannotta in the neutral zone. The elder Yannotta stepped up with a three-on-two rush and worked a quick give-and-go with forward Mike Jacquin, one-timing the return pass just inside the right post for the game’s opening goal. Randolph, rotating two different lines through its third spot in the rotation, had just one shot in the opening stanza, a dump-in from center ice.

Morristown-Beard stamped its authority on the game early in the second period, as Turner Paine fired a one-timer past Dan Swenson from the slot just three minutes in. The Crimson then took advantage of a line mismatch when its first line caught one of Randolph’s third lines deep in the offensive zone. Greg Alberti took advantage on the break, snapping a shot underneath Swenson from the right face-off circle. Finally, just past the halfway mark, Pat Yannotta appeared to sew things up with a blast from the point just under the left corner of the crossbar for a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Despite showing no signs of an offense earlier in the game, Randolph now awoke with a physical forecheck, and Ed Keenan sneaked a pass from behind the net to Greg DaSilva cutting through the slot for a one-time tap-in behind normally dominant John Yanchek. Randolph scored again just 21 seconds later, as Rob Kral carried the puck into the zone and fired home a snap shot from the left circle. The Ram momentum was broken by a Beard power play, but Randolph picked up the play again for the final four minutes, dominating so much that Crimson coach John Puskar complained about the difference between a two-second and a five-second clock hold after it did not stop immediately. Randolph justified his fears by continually applying pressure in the right corner, in front of its fans, and DaSilva reacted quickly to a loose puck in the right circle to fire it through the legs of Yanchek and make it a 4-3 game. Remarkably, the Rams tied the game just 25 seconds later. Again working out of the right corner, Kral centered a pass for cutting defenseman Kyle Krannich. He was unable to control the pass, but the puck caromed to the right post, where John Beatrice popped up to bang it behind Yanchek for an emotional tying goal. Kral thought he had scored to take the lead with 18 seconds remaining, but Yanchek kept the shot out as players from both teams met in the crease.

Tied 4-4, the period break came at an unfortunate time for Randolph, which could not continue its momentum into the third period. Although the Rams had the better of play, Pat Yannotta rang the post on a slap shot with 9:45 remaining for the period’s best chance. The Crimson used their advantage as the home team to get another line mismatch on an offensive zone face-off late in the period, with its first line against Randolph’s other third line. As if on a power play, the face-off came back to Ryan Paradis on the right point. He swung a D-to-D pass to Matt Kruvant on the left pass, and he fired the puck back-door to Dan Shurts in the lower left face-off circle, where Shurts took his time before whipping a bad-angle wrist shot into the top of the net as Swenson tried to recover.

It was a fittingly dramatic ending to a memorable game that, given Randolph’s tie with CBA Friday, only serves to confirm both Beard’s potential to play with and beat Gordon Conference teams and its susceptibility to inconsistency against less-hyped opponents.

Morristown-Beard 5, Randolph 4

Scoring

Shots

1st
12:08 MB #10 Pat Yannotta (#17 Mike Jacquin)
2nd
2:51 MB #3 Turner Paine (#14 Rich Leonardis, #23 Corey Schneider)
5:02 MB #19 Greg Alberti (#21 Dan Shurts, #24 Bobby Yannotta)
7:39 MB #10 Pat Yannotta (#23 Corey Schneider)
8:15 Ran #26 Greg DaSilva (#16 Ed Keenan, #15 Matt Incledon)
8:36 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#22 Ricky Roma, #3 Kyle Krannich)
13:53 Ran #26 Greg DaSilva (#28 Paul Kusik)
14:18 Ran #19 John Beatrice (#3 Kyle Krannich, #9 Rob Kral)
3rd
12:18 MB #21 Dan Shurts (#5 Matt Kruvant, #15 Ryan Paradis)

Goalies
#31 Dan Swenson (Ran) 19-14
#30 John Yanchek (MB) 18-14

Power plays: Ran 0-1, MB 0-1

a Spartan effort

I threw a baseball today. First time since September. It was that warm.

On the cold stuff, however, three teams clinched state playoff berths (assuming my powers of addition are still intact), running the current total of qualified teams to 43 (29 public, 14 private). Ridge breezed past Verona 7-1, Mountain Lakes beat Sparta 8-1, and WWPS beat Hamilton 10-0. Not exactly a lot of high drama, but results nonetheless. Brick Township picked up a crucial 5-2 win over Toms River East, leaving the Green Dragons at 6-7-3 with remaining games against Toms River North, Brick Memorial, and Old Bridge.

In the big games today, No. 12 St. Peter’s Prep got two goals from Tim Miller, including the game-tying goal with 49 seconds remaining and goalie Kevin Fox pulled for a sixth attacker, as the Marauders tied No. 2 Delbarton 2-2 at Pershing Field in Jersey City. In the first CVC game between its top three teams not to end in a tie, Steinert rallied from a 2-1 third-period deficit to beat Princeton 4-2 at IceLand. Mitch Wien scored the go-ahead goal before the Spartans added an empty-netter. Finally, MonDon beat Old Bridge 6-4 to snap the Knights’ 8-game unbeaten streak.

Tuesday’s limited schedule features a pair of great matchups in the South Jersey battle between CBA and St. Augustine Prep and the Mennen Division game between Randolph and Morristown-Beard.