This is the fifth entry of The Morris-Sussex Hockey Report’s 27 teams in 27 days, where each day (except for Thanksgiving) there will be a team preview of each area team (boys and girls) leading up to Opening Day on December 7.
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POPE JOHN LIONS
Head coach: Ryan Brown, 17th season (194-129-44 career record)
Division: Gordon Conference-National Division, also will participate in the Egan Conference this year.
NJSIAA Classification: Non-Public
Last year: Pope John finished with a winning record for the first time since 2018-19, as it finished with an 11-9-2 record. It qualified for the Gordon Cup for the first time since 2019-20, where it lost, 5-1 to eventual champion Delbarton in the first round. In the Non-Public state tournament, it lost, 5-2 to St. John Vianney in the first round.
Key losses: Pope John’s biggest loss to graduation was defenseman Jack Kelmer, who earned Second Team All-State honors last winter after posting nine goals and seven assists. Forward Nathan Meola (7 g., 16 a.) was the team’s leading scorer during its bounce-back campaign. Forwards Emporio Iencio (8 g., 2 a.) and Owen Lapinski (3 g., 6 a.), along with defenseman Gavin O’Hara (1 g., 8 a.) all graduated. It also graduated the team’s starting goalie in Tyler Paluzzi, who had an .873 save percentage with one shutout.
Top returners: Up front, Pope John returns a solid group of forwards which are headlined by seniors Robbie Myshkoff (9 g., 7 a.) and Matt Hughes (7 g., 13 a.). Juniors Luke Jarosiewicz (5 g., 9 a.) and Jack Jarosiewicz (4 g., 2 a.), plus sophomores Hunter Parillo and Nick Colatrella, and senior David Koptyra are all back after last season.
Defensively, the Lions have a solid two-way group which includes seniors Declan Murphy (2 g., 8 a.) and Johans Bars (4 g., 6 a.), and junior Muggy Bars (3 g., 5 a.). In goal, senior Soren Torlucci (.886 save percentage) is back after backing up Paluzzi last season.
Potential incoming impact players: Freshman defenseman Liam Amabile figures to add to an already-strong group on the blue line.
Burning question: Who takes the reins in goal?
Tyler Paluzzi has been the team’s primary starter for the past two years. Now, Pope John enters camp with four goalies competing for playing time, two of which have varsity experience in the past. Torlucci has seen sporadic time for the Lions over the past three years, while junior Mikey Guadagnino has been the primary starter for Roxbury for the last two years (.870 sv% last winter) and transferred in to Pope John for this season. Sophomore Anthony Conetta and freshman Mason Giordano will also be competing for time. It will be interesting to see who emerges from this battle to backstop a team during a grueling schedule in both the Gordon and Egan conferences.
Outlook: Pope John has slowly been building itself back up, and has taken strides the last two years, specifically, going from 2-5-2 in 2020-21 to 7-10-7 in 2021-22, before posting a winning record last year.
While losing Kelmer and Meola are difficult losses, this is a team that is chock full of experience with the vast majority of the team returning from last year. The biggest strength is on the blue line, where the Lions have size and skill between Declan Murphy and the Bars brothers. This is always a program that looks to play from the goalie out and score in transition, and if it is able to get the quality goaltending that it usually gets when Pope John is at its best, this team should be a Top 20 team in the state and a contender in the Gordon-National Division.
Check back Tuesday for a preview of Newton-Lenape Valley.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 