Randolph tops Middletown South, returns to Public B final

Randolph has earned its shot at revenge.

The top seeded Rams rolled to a 5-0 win over fourth seed Middletown South in the NJSIAA Public B Tournament semifinals at Codey Arena in West Orange on Wednesday night.

The win sends Randolph to the Public B final for the third straight year, where it will get a rematch with Ridge on Monday night at 8:45 p.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark. Randolph lost to Ridge, 4-2 in last year’s final, after losing 1-0 to Northern Highlands in the 2018 final.

Ben Yurchuk scored twice for Randolph, scoring the game’s opening goal late in the first period. Evan Xhumba also scored twice, with Nick Gallo also adding a goal as Randolph struck for three goals in the second period to take control of the game. J.T. Zangara had three assists, while Yurchuk added two assists in the win.

Gavin Einfeldt stopped all 19 shots he faced to pick up his third consecutive shutout of the state tournament.

Randolph will go for its ninth straight title after last winning the Public A title in 2015. It has lost in all subsequent final appearances in 2016, 2018, and 2019

SCORING SUMMARY

First period

RAN — Ben Yurchuk (J.T. Zangara, Michael Sofia) 0:34

Second period

RAN — Nick Gallo (Ben Yurchuk, J.T. Zangara) 11:57

RAN — Evan Xhumba (Ben Yurchuk, J. T. Zangara) 3:01

RAN — Evan Xhumba (Kyle Barbera, Zach Gallo) 1:56
Third period

RAN — Ben Yurchuk (Nick Gallo) 5:41

Shots on goal: Randolph 30, Middletown South 19

Saves: Gavin Einfeldt (Randolph) 19, Sean Caswell (Middletown South) 25