Beyond the Scoresheet

Wednesday’s games

Five-goal flurry

West Morris (3-2) scored a surprisingly lopsided win over Mendham (3-3) Tuesday night at Mennen Arena, beating its crosstown rival 6-2. Trailing 1-0 in the second period, the Wolfpack scored five goals in 5:32, including three in the final 1:26, en route to a 6-1 lead. Eddie Strobino scored two goals, including the shorthanded goal that tied the game, and Kenny Hunt added two more. Andrew Bogadek, despite giving up a soft goal early in the second period, finished with 20 saves. The Minutemen, whose players wore blue ribbons on their jerseys to commemorate a classmate killed in a car crash last week, outshot the Wolfpack 22-14.

Elsewhere, Delbarton’s trip to Rhode Island did not start well, as Division I leader LaSalle beat the Green Wave 2-1 at Providence College’s Schneider Arena. Delbarton faces defending state finalist Bishop Hendricken tomorrow.

Realignment proponents might be interested to note that Rhode Island is down to just four teams competing for the Division I championship, with 16 schools split into ‘Large’ and ‘Small’ in the Division II ranks, and 15 teams split geographically in Division III. A four-team state championship division is by no means something to strive for, but I am starting to think breaking New Jersey into divisions, as most other New England states do, might not be such a bad idea. This might be an idea to explore in more detail another time.

other Monday night action

I got around a bit and heard about some of tonight’s other action, so here’s a look at a few games that might not get mentioned elsewhere:

Beard drops Gordon foe

Morristown-Beard 5, Bergen Catholic 2
No. 5 Bergen Catholic became the first Gordon Conference team this year to lose a game to a non-Gordon opponent, dropping a 5-2 decision Monday to No. 18 Morristown-Beard at the Ice House in Hackensack. The Crimson played their best game of the year by using accurate shooting and superior goaltending to earn an important victory.

After a scoreless first period that saw only eight combined shots on goal, the offenses woke up in the second period. Crimson forward Greg Alberti deked around BC goalie Jesse Adler just 10 seconds into the period for a 1-0 lead, but the Crusaders’ Danny Picinic deflected in a back-post pass just eight seconds later to re-tie the game 1-1. Bergen Catholic went on the power play soon after, but Mikey Minskoff reached Corey Schneider’s clearance in the right face-off circle and snapped a low shot under Adler’s blocker to make it 2-1. Morristown-Beard (4-1) added to its lead just a minute later, when Alberti’s wraparound pass went through the crease and, with Adler unsure of where the puck was, Matt Kruvant wristed the puck into a virtually empty net.

After a mid-period series of odd-man rushes that entertained but produced no shots, Morristown-Beard took a commanding three-goal lead with just 2:18 left in the stanza. Curling behind the net, Alberti placed a perfect pass on the tape of cutting forward Turner Paine, who one-timed a shot into the top right corner. Things continued to happen in flurries, with a slashing penalty against Beard, and another Crimson player was given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor on the play. The Crusaders only needed 16 seconds to score with the 5-on-3 advantage, as Picinic scrambled home the rebound of Brian Giblin’s point shot, making the score 4-2.

Morristown-Beard essentially sealed the game 1:39 into the third period, as Greg Alberti beat Adler from the left corner with a power-play wrist shot. Bergen Catholic (1-3-1) upped its intensity for the rest of the period, but the outstanding form of John Yanchek (20 saves) kept the Crusaders at bay, and intensity finally turned into frustration toward the end of the period, as Morristown-Beard had four power plays in the period.

Morristown-Beard 5, Bergen Catholic 2

Scoring

Shots

1st
none
2nd
0:10 MB #19 Greg Alberti (#9 Sam Altiero)
0:18 BC #20 Danny Picinic (#31 Drew Arndt)
2:29 MB (sh) #4 Mikey Minskoff (#23 Corey Schneider)
3:26 MB #5 Matt Kruvant (#19 Greg Alberti, #21 Dan Shurts)
12:42 MB #3 Turner Paine (#19 Greg Alberti, #12 John Donnally)
13:42 BC (pp) #20 Danny Picinic (#16 Brian Giblin)
3rd
1:39 MB (pp) #19 Greg Alberti (#9 Sam Altiero)

Goalies
#30 John Yanchek (MB) 22-20
#1 Jesse Adler (BC) 23-18

Power plays: MB 1-6, BC 1-5

weekend update

Southern Red action, SCIAA pairings

well, the Southern Red certainly deserved some attention tonight, so let’s take a look. All seven teams were in action, and the biggest result might have been Toms River North’s 4-3 win over Bishop Eustace. The Crusaders went 11-1 in division play last year and have won three consecutive Handchen Cup titles. St. Augustine Prep also earned a big win, beating up-and-comer Monsignor Donovan 6-3 at Winding River. The Hermits ascend to the division lead thanks to a win over TRN, but they still have to beat Eustace. Finally, RBC cruised past Middletown North 9-3 and Middletown South was very respectable in a 5-4 loss to Gordon Conference foe St. John Vianney. Right now, you would have to rank the teams as follows: SA, TRN, BE, MD, RBC, MidS, MidN.

The Somerset County (SCIAA) Tournament seedings also came out tonight. I’m really looking forward to this tournament, as you have two big rivals – Bridgewater and Ridge – and two great first-round matchups: Pingry/Hillsborough and Montgomery/Watchung Hills. Personally, I’m waiting for the year Pingry strikes it rich and holds the Somerset and Morris County championships at the same time. This is the tournament’s third year, with Montgomery the unlikely 2003 champion and Bridgewater-Raritan proudly taking last year’s title. Pingry has lost in the final each time after upsetting Ridge in the semifinals; the Red Devils should finally get their first tournament win in their opener against Bernards.
Additionally, there are now 31 games scheduled for Friday, December 23, including some real treats – actually there are too many to list here. But I think I may end up seeing at least half of the SCT’s 6 games.

Randolph 3, Chatham 0

Randolph 3, Chatham 0
Another day, another Mennen Division battle. Randolph and Chatham beat the storm Thursday, with the Rams wearing down the Cougars for a 3-0 victory. Randolph dominated most of the game, finishing with a 33-11 shot advantage. Typically, the Rams’ team speed and aggressive forecheck proved decisive. Despite a barrage of second-period penalties that produced six power plays, the game remained scoreless and, really, without any noteworthy scoring chances until the third period. Chatham goalie Ben Kepler showed quick reflexes to keep the game scoreless, while Dan Diamond was solid but untested in the Randolph goal.

The breakthrough came just 50 seconds into the third period. Randolph defenseman Kyle Krannich, pinned against the right boards in his defensive zone, backhanded a bank pass out of the zone to forward Rob Kral. He advanced into the offensive zone and past the right face-off circle before dropping a pass for trailer Ed Keenan, whose wrist shot trickled through the pads of the heretofore solid Kepler. Randolph had to kill a Chatham power play before adding to its lead, but the Rams finally put the game away midway through the period. Third-line center John Beatrice controlled the puck in the low slot before snapping a shot past Kepler’s blocker. The Rams capitalized on the momentum to score again just 13 seconds later, with Ricky Roma setting up Kral for the clinching goal.

In some sense, not much has changed in the Mennen Division; Randolph still has tremendous speed and depth but lacks dominant scorers, while Chatham seems one step behind.

Randolph 3, Chatham 0

Scoring

Shots

1st
none
2nd
none
3rd
0:50 Ran #16 Ed Keenan (#9 Rob Kral, #3 Kyle Krannich)
7:42 Ran #19 John Beatrice (#17 Chris Maloney, #11 Chris Tamminga)
7:55 Ran #9 Rob Kral (#22 Ricky Roma)

Goalies
#1 Dan Diamond (Ran) 11-11
#34 Ben Kepler (Cha) 33-30

Power plays: Ran 0-4, Cha 0-6