This is the 22nd 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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DELBARTON GREEN WAVE
Head coach: Bruce Shatel, 23rd year (478-82-45 career record)
Division: Gordon Conference-American Division
NJSIAA Classification: Non-Public
Last year: Delbarton finished 21-3-1, with an impressive 9-0-1 record in the Gordon conference. It defeated Christian Brothers, 4-2 to win the program’s first Gordon Cup since 2018. It held the title of the state’s No. 1 team in the NJ.com Top 20 for most of the season, but was upset by St. Augustine in overtime in the Non-Public state final at Prudential Center. That loss to St. Augustine was the team’s first loss to an NJSIAA opponent all season.
Key losses: Delbarton lost significant pieces to graduation, starting with NJ.com Player of the Year and Morris-Sussex Hockey Report Player of the Year Jason Cai, who posted a sparkling .931 save percentage in backstopping the Green Wave all the way to the state final. Delbarton also featured perhaps the most dynamic top line in the state of Nick Faccone (18 g., 24 a.), Trip Pendy (First Team All-State, 17 g., 30 a.), and Duncan Stewart (First Team All-State, 24 g., 30 a.)- all of which have left to graduation. It also lost an important piece on defense in Timmy Galvin (6 g., 22 a.).
Top returners: Senior and Princeton University commit Max Pendy is the team’s top returning forward after posting 11 goals and nine assists in 2022-23. Junior Jack Gerne (9 g., 5 a.), sophomore Liam Donnelly (5 g., 9 a.), junior Dante Rodriguez (11 a., moving from defense), sophomore Aidan Pasic (2 g., 5 a.), and junior Jack Ross all return up front from last year.
Defensively, look for seniors Michael Padula (3 g., 6 a.) and Jack Sedlak (3 a.) to provide leadership from the blue line.
Potential impact newcomers: Junior George Cote (transfer from Seton Hall Prep) and sophomore Cooper Ranawat will compete for playing time in goal to take over for Cai this year. Sophomore forward Egor Andreev and junior defenseman Matthew Peng both figure to have big roles this year.
Burning question: How will Delbarton replace the firepower and goaltending it lost?
Jason Cai was nothing short of a brick wall for this team for the last two years with a .940 save percentage over his junior and senior seasons. Now, it will have to turn to a pair of goalies with limited varsity experience in Cote and Ranawat to take the reins this year. The top line of Faccone, Pendy, and Stewart put up incredible numbers in the tough Gordon Conference last year, and now it will be interesting to see who steps up to produce at least some of that production.
Outlook: There are few programs in the state that can be counted on to consistently win like Delbarton does. The closest thing to a rebuild that it has experienced in recent memory was when it went 10-10-3 in 2019-20 and 3-5-1 in the shortened 2020-21 season. All it did was bounce back to win 40 games over the last two seasons, with a Gordon Cup title and back-to-back Non-Public final appearances.
Shatel is fast approaching the 500-win mark for a reason, and it always seems that no matter who leaves, this team will always be more than competitive with him in charge. Sure, this team lacks experience in goal and on defense, but if there’s anything we know about this program, it’s that it will pick up that experience throughout the year and will be playing its best by the time the postseason rolls around. Expect this team to once again be near the top of the state, and it should be a legitimate contender for the Gordon Cup and Non-Public titles once again.
Check back Saturday for a preview of the Morristown-Beard girls team
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
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