This is the 17th entry of The Morris-Sussex Hockey Report’s 27 teams in 27 days, where each day 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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MOUNTAIN LAKES-BOONTON
Head coach: Clint McDonough, seventh year (50-53-11 career record)
Division: Haas (moved from Halvorsen)
NJSIAA Classification: North, Co-op
Last year: Mountain Lakes-Boonton went 2-15 overall, with an 0-8 record in the Halvorsen division. It finished in last place, prompting its move down to the Haas division for this year after two seasons in the Halvorsen. It did not qualify for any postseason tournaments, but showed improvement towards the end of the season, winning two of its final three games.
Key losses: It graduated an eight-person senior class, highlighted by Second Team All-Halvorsen defenseman Kieran Christy (1 g., 7 a.) and Honorable Mention forward Logan Przestrzelski (6 g., 3 a.). It also lost the team’s starting goalie from last year in Dom Signorile, who finished with an .805 sv% last season.
Top returners: Mountain Lakes-Boonton brings back a solid group of young forwards which figure to keep improving this year. Seniors Jonathan Garibaldi (2 g., 2 a.), Benji Forman (4 g., 4 a.), Jack Fitch, and Tristan Forrest will be counted on for leadership. Junior Scott Soukup (3 g., 4 a.), sophomore Andrew Wilmot (1 g., 4 a.), and sophomore Anthony MacLaren should all continue to develop this year.
The defense will be anchored by brothers in senior A.J. Wenzel (2 g., 4 a.) and sophomore Kyle Wenzel (1 g., 1 a.). Sophomore Cody Roller figures to take over as the team’s starter in goal after backing up Signorile last season and playing in six games.
Potential impact newcomers: It will bring in a group of freshmen that should see time right away. Forwards Adam Gryc, Eli Forman, and defenseman Lawson Fagan will all be counted on. Senior forward Saraj Sheikh and junior Tobias Borden also figure to have an impact this year.
Burning question: Can Mountain Lakes-Boonton carry over momentum from the end of last season?
There’s no question that this team was a much better one than earlier in the season last year. It was losing games by heavy margins earlier in the season, but started to settle in defensively towards the end, which allowed it to earn wins over Roxbury and Newton-Lenape Valley in the final weeks of the season, along with a competitive 3-2 loss to Madison. If it can continue to improve, combined with its move to the Haas division, it should be in for a solid bounce-back season.
Outlook: Mountain Lakes-Boonton, after two seasons in the Halvorsen division, is back in the Haas division where it was for many years prior to that.
This program saw a lot of success in this division recently, winning the Haas Cup in 2020 and 2021. As already mentioned, this team improved a lot by the end of last season, and the team’s biggest achilles heel was finding the back of the net. It scored just 23 goals last season, which was tied for the worst in the MCSSIHL, but that area figures to improve with a promising group of forwards returning. It’s also going to be a team playing with a first-year starter in goal for the second-straight year, so it hopes that Roller will provide some stability in that area. If this team continues the upward trend it built at the end of last year, this team should be right in the middle of the Haas division race.
Check back Monday for a preview of Morris Knolls-Hills
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 