West Morris and Park Regional traded blows last season, with Park earning a 3-0 win on opening day before West Morris grabbed a 3-3 tie late in the season, en route to the Haas Cup title.
If Thursday night’s season opener was any indication, these two teams will once again be right in the conversation in the Haas Division.
The teams played as evenly-matched of a game as you’ll see this season, as they battled to a 3-3 tie at Mennen Arena in the Haas opener for both squads.
The two teams traded goals, with each scoring one in all three periods, and played to a relatively even shots on goal battle which gave a slight 26-24 edge to Park Regional. It was a highly entertaining battle, which also saw several players notch their first career goals on each side.
Freshman Michael Capozzi and Chase Olzewski each scored the first of their respective careers for Park Regional, while Tyler Hill netted his first for West Morris.
Phil Togno stopped 21 of 24 shots for West Morris. Anthony Perrello, in his first varsity start, turned away 23 of 26 shots for Park Regional.
In other Haas action, Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex took down Gill St. Bernard’s, 9-3 in the first game of the day.
In a cross-over battle between Morristown and Mountain Lakes-Boonton, Morristown raced to a 10-0 victory. Chris Kay netted three goals, Liam Wilson had two, and Jackson Byrne added a goal and two assists.
Delbarton rolls past Portledge behind Stewart’s big performance
Delbarton started off its 2022-23 campaign in promising fashion, as it broke a 2-2 tie in the second period with four unanswered to roll to a 6-2 win over Portledge (N.Y.) at SportsCare Arena in Randolph.
Duncan Stewart put together a strong day on the score sheet, netting two goals along with two assists to lead the Green Wave. Trip Pendy added a goal and an assist, while Jason Cai stopped 23 of 25 shots to pick up his first win of the season.
Delbarton (1-0) will be in action again on Tuesday when it hosts Bergen Catholic to open up Gordon Conference play.
Pope John falls on road to St. Augustine
Pope John has as difficult of an opening five games as any team, with St. Augustine, Gloucester Catholic, Don Bosco Prep, and a back-to-back with Seton Hall Prep all slated for the Lions.
It got off to a tough start in the opener, as it fell 5-2 to St. Augustine on the road at Hollydell Ice Rink.
Jack Kelmer and Magnuss Bars each scored for Pope John, which trailed 3-2 late before a pair of empty-net goals from St. Augustine sealed it late.
The Lions will face Gloucester Catholic on the road on Monday as it looks to notch its first win.
On the girls side, Morristown-Beard and Chatham each earn ties
The girls ice hockey season got underway on Thursday as well, as both Morristown-Beard and Chatham each kicked off play in the newly-formed NJIIHL girls ice hockey divisions.
Morristown-Beard took on Oak Knoll in its NJIIHL-Librera Divsiion opener, and skated to a 2-2 tie. Brooklyn Chen and Jessica Sperling each scored for the Crimson.
Chatham, on the other hand, opened NJIIHL-Cohen Division play with an exciting 6-6 tie against Kent Place. Alexandra Donoghue scored three goals with an assist for the Cougars, which erased a 5-3 third period deficit as Donoghue scored back-to-back goals to tie it up, before Sydney Sparks’ goal with 49 seconds left gave it the lead. But it surrendered a goal to Molly Brozowski with six seconds left, as Kent Place earned the tie.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
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