This is the 11th 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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PARSIPPANY REGIONAL (Parsippany Hills-Parsippany)
Head coach: Anthony Egidio, eighth season
Division: Charette
NJSIAA Classification: North, Co-op
Last year: Parsippany Regional finished 2-13. However, the team finished 1-7 in the Charette, which included the team’s first win in a division game since the 2019-20 season. It found itself in a lot of competitive games down the stretch last season, a sign of growth for a program that continues to try to build itself up.
Key losses: Parsippany graduated its top defenseman in Kyle Kirk, a First Team All-Charette selection last season. He had four goals and five assists which was good enough for the second-highest point total on the team last year.
Top returners: It will be led by a developing group of forwards, highlighted by sophomore Robert Hemenway, who led the team in scoring with seven goals and six assists in his freshman campaign. Other forwards include senior Nicholas Hornung, who will bring physicality and leadership up front, according to Egidio. Junior Joe Gasparro missed most of last season due to injury, but made an impact when he returned to the lineup late in the season. Junior Max Ingersoll is another promising player with a strong shot, who is expected to take a step forward this year.
On defense, junior William Shoemaker will be counted on as a shutdown defenseman. Sophomore Matthew Hemenway brings a solid two-way game in leading the team’s power play and bringing physicality. He posted two goals and six assists last year.
It will return the team’s goalie in sophomore Andrew Nicholas, who posted an .867 sv% last season. Egidio is very high on his abilities and believes he will be the backbone of the team this yar.
Potential impact newcomers: Freshman Adam Gasparro, the younger brother of Joe Gasparro, will join the program this year. It’s unclear what position he will play at this time, but is a player Egidio is excited to see play this year.
Burning question: Will this be the breakthrough year for Parsippany?
It has been six seasons since Parsippany last experienced a winning season, when it went 12-8-2 in the 2016-17 season. It’s gone through a lot of hard times in that span of time, but this is a very young team that is continually developing and brought in a strong freshman class last winter. Only time will tell how many wins this team ends up with, but if it keeps trending in the right direction, it could be one of the better teams in the Charette.
Outlook: Parsippany is a program which has been working hard to build itself back up. It has made for a lot of challenging times in recent years, but with a young core, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Goalie Andrew Nicholas is a promising player after a solid freshman year, and having stability in goal should certainly help the process for this squad. This team won one game in 2021-22, followed by two last season. I expect that number to increase once again this year, and it could very well be a team that finds itself in the Charette Cup playoffs when all is said and done- which would be a big milestone.
Check back Monday for a preview of West Morris
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
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