This is the 25th 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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GILL ST. BERNARD’S KNIGHTS
Head coach: Greg DaSilva, eighth season (previous seven as co-coach with Chris Wiggins)
Division: Haas
NJSIAA Classification: Non-Public
Last year: Gill St. Bernard’s finished 5-8-2 overall last season with a 3-5-2 record in the Haas division. It won its final three divisional games to tie for the final Haas Cup playoff spot, but lost out to eventual finalist Park Regional on a tiebreaker. It fell to Morristown-Beard in the preliminary round of the Non-Public state tournament.
Key losses: The Knights graduated five players from last year’s team, highlighted by forwards Adam La Tournous (5 g., 1 a.) and Paige Brucker (4 a.).
Top returners: Senior Julian Tramontano (15 g., 10 a.) earned First Team All-Haas honors last year and is back to lead the forwards. Senior Michael Scarpati (11 g., 9 a.) was second on the team in points behind Tramontano.
Defensively, it brings back senior Porter Clark (3 g., 14 a.) after earning Second Team All-Haas. Sophomore Trey Sanford returns after an impressive freshman year in which he posted seven goals and seven assists, earning Haas Honorable Mention.
In goal, Luc Jansson started every game of his freshman year for the Knights and figures to be in line for an even better year as a sophomore. He posted an .880 save percentage with two shutouts in 2022-23, earning Haas Honorable Mention.
Potential impact newcomers: The Knights will add a pair of freshman forwards in Brendan Whiteley and Michael Tighe.
Burning question: How much of a jump will its young players take this year?
The Knights will certainly have a strong group of seniors this year, but if this team is going to be a contender in the Haas this year, it will need its younger players to continue to develop. Sanford on defense and Jansson in goal are two players, specifically, who figure to have a major impact on this season. The freshmen in Whiteley and Tighe will also be interesting to follow this year, as this is a program that doesn’t always have high numbers in terms of participation, meaning that every player will play a meaningful role.
Outlook: Even in spite of having lower numbers, the Knights always seem to have competitive seasons in the last few years. This squad has a nice core of seniors in Tramontano, Scarpati, and Clark, which will be counted on heavily to lead the way for this group this year. Goalie Luc Jansson had a very solid freshman season, and he’s proven that he will at least give his group a chance to win just about every night. Expect this group to be motivated after missing out on qualifying for the Haas Cup due to tiebreakers (and seeing the team it lost out to make it to the finals), and to have another solid season.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 