Halvorsen Cup final preview- Roxbury vs. Mendham

HALVORSEN CUP FINAL

1-Roxbury vs. 3-Mendham

Saturday, 7:15 p.m. at Mennen Arena

Previous meetings: Mendham picked up a 3-1 win over Roxbury back on Jan. 17 in the first meeting, before the teams skated to a 2-2 tie more recently on Feb. 1.

CUP HISTORY

Roxbury

Won Halvorsen Cup in 2016 and 2017, also won Haas Cup in 2008.

Mendham

Won the Haas Cup in 2019. Three-time Halvorsen Cup champion (2009, 2013, 2014).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Roxbury

Ethan Barooah (5 g., 15 a.), Joe Carey (13 g., 5 a.), Nick Hefferle (24 g., 10 a.), Kevin Keane (11 g., 15 a.), Nick Thomas (15 g., 15 a.), Brian Westergaard (7 g., 7 a.)

Goalie: Ryan Callahan (.878 sv%)

Mendham

Tristan Aikenhead (14 g., 13 a.), Ryan Bruin (13 g., 17 a.), E.J. Gleie (6 g., 2 a.), Griffin Jozefek (3 g., 14 a.), Liam Lloyd (6 g., 7 a.), Sean Mason (2 g., 10 a.)

Goalie: Connor McDonough (.930 sv%)

THE MATCH-UP

This is a pair of proud programs that have a pedigree in the Halvorsen Division in years past, and will look to add yet another Halvorsen Cup to their respective trophy cases.

Roxbury is looking to cap off the season with a cup title, a year after missing the state tournament in back-to-back years since its last title in 2017. It has gotten to this point thanks to a very balanced group of forwards, led by Nick Hefferle and Nick Thomas. In order to win, it will have to find ways to get traffic in front of Mendham goalie Connor McDonough, who is having a very strong sophomore campaign.

Speaking of McDonough, the sophomore is coming off a 21-save shutout in a 2-0 upset win over Montville in Thursday’s semifinal. He has put up several big performances for this Mendham squad throughout the year, and was named one of the NJ Devils Players of the Month for January for his play. Roxbury has had issues solving him in their two previous games this year, and another big game for him will be key if Mendham is going to become the first team to win the Halvorsen Cup immediately after winning the Haas Cup in the previous season.

PREDICTION

These are two really strong teams who deserve to be playing in this game, and it should be a very even game. McDonough will be the difference however, as he is on quite a roll with shutouts in three of his last four appearances.

Mendham 2, Roxbury 1