For the second night in a row, an early onslaught proved to be the difference for Madison.
Just 24 hours after a five-goal first period propelled the team to a 6-3 win over KJS United, Madison had yet another big start as it scored six straight goals in the opening 21 minutes of the game to help secure an 8-2 win over Montville at Mennen Arena.
Madison got on the board almost immediately, as Aidan Niceberg ripped a shot from the slot which beat Montville goalie Aidan Prelich 1:59 into the game. He struck again a little under five minutes later, when he picked off a pass in the neutral zone and skated past a defender and capitalized on the breakaway.
The big first period continued as Jacob Erickson found Johnny Hamwee 1:06 after Niceberg’s second goal, before Andrew Haralampoudis finished off a feed from Tyler Shannon before the end of the period to extend the advantage to four.
Erickson and Shannon went on to score early in the second period to extend its advantage to six.
Montville, however, did not go away quietly. It seemed to settle into the game as the game went on, and even went on to out-shoot Madison in the contest. Connor Perez scored with 2:47 left in the second to get the Mustangs on the board, before Michael Chang’s power play goal with 7:23 to go in the third cut the lead to 6-2.
But Hamwee and Haralampoudis scored 11 seconds apart in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Keaton Tom finished with 34 saves for Madison, which improved to 4-1 on the season. Montville dropped to 1-1 in just its second game of the season.
OBSERVATIONS
— Madison’s team speed was something to behold throughout the early part of this game. It did a tremendous job in transition and virtually owned the neutral zone in this game, using several turnovers to create odd-man opportunities. It also showed off its depth, as five different players found the back of the net. It will have a huge test in front of it on Friday when it takes on Roxbury in a battle of the presumptive two best teams in the Halvorsen Division.
— Keaton Tom was outstanding for Madison in goal in this game. Montville came on very strong in the final two periods and had a ton of grade-A opportunities, but Tom was able to shut the door and showed why he’s one of the top netminders in the area.
— Don’t let the score fool you- Montville has much to build off from the final two periods of this game. This was the team’s first game in over two weeks, and that showed with a lot of turnovers in the early going. But even down six goals, it showed fight and brought a very strong push over the final 20 minutes or so of this game, and spent a ton of time in the attacking zone late. If not for Tom’s play in net for Madison, this may have been a much closer score.
THREE STARS
First star: Aidan Niceberg, Madison- 2 goals, 1 assist
Second star: Keaton Tom, Madison- 34 saves
Third star: Johnny Hamwee, Madison- 2 goals
SCORING SUMMARY
First period
MAD — Aidan Niceberg 13:01
MAD — Aidan Niceberg 8:09
MAD — Johnny Hamwee (Jacob Erickson) 7:03
MAD — Andrew Haralampoudis (Tyler Shannon) 3:26
Second period
MAD — Jacob Erickson 12:07
MAD — Tyler Shannon 9:08
MON — Connor Perez (Owen O’Hara) 2:47
Third period
MON — Michael Chang (Matthew Crowell) 7:23 PPG
MAD — Johnny Hamwee (Aidan Niceberg) 1:18
MAD — Andrew Haralampoudis (Kyle Piechnik) 1:07
Shots on goal: Montville 36, Madison 30
The Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 