This is the 26th 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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HIGH POINT-WALLKILL VALLEY-KITTATINNY
Head coach: Mike Beltran, 20th season
Division: Charette
NJSIAA Classification: North, Co-op
Last year: It finished 10-10 overall, with a 6-2 mark in the Charette division. It lost, 5-4 to Newton-Lenape Valley in the Charette Cup semifinals, and then lost to Verona-Glen Ridge in the Public C preliminary round.
Key losses: The team lost leading scorer Gordon Shindelman (16 g., 11 a.) , who was slated to be a senior this year, to junior hockey commitments. Alex Mizak, a promising forward/defenseman who had a strong year as a freshman, transferred to Pope John. Additionally, it lost its starting goalie in Tyler Boffa (.886 sv%).
Top returners: This squad will be led by a pair of senior defensemen in Michael Sadowski (First Team All-Charette, 11 g., 13 a.) and Sebastian Hamarcak (Second Team All-Charette, 6 g., 12 a.). Senior Tyler Hennion and sophomore Hunter Baker will also be counted on, on the team’s blue line.
Up front, junior Anthony Tokar (11 g., 6 a.) and senior Joshua Custode (7 g., 9 a.) are the two leading scorers coming back. Sophomore Noah Custode (3 g., 2 a.), senior Will Palsgrove, junior Brady Reid (3 g., 1 a.), junior Will Schreiber (2 g., 1 a.), junior Alex Sonvico (6 g., 9 a.) and senior James Sonvico (3 g., 4 a.) will round out the forwards.
In goal, sophomore Landon Healy returns after seeing limited time in backing up Boffa last season.
Potential impact newcomers: Freshman defenseman Nick Boffa, freshman forward/defenseman Nathan Shindelman, and freshman forward Reagan Tokar all figure to have an impact this season.
Burning question: Is this the year High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny captures a Cup?
This program has had some solid seasons over the years, but has yet to take home a Cup in the MCSSIHL. It won its first Sussex Cup last season, but it will have its sights set on the Charette Cup this year after reaching the final in 2021-22 and losing a heartbreaker to Newton-Lenape Valley in the semifinals last year. While the loss of Shindelman to juniors is certainly a difficult one, this is still a pretty talented team, and this year might very well be its best chance at a Charette Cup title.
Outlook: There is a ton of returning talent here, even with Shindelman and Mizak leaving, and Boffa’s graduation. This team should be able to get offense both from its blue line in Sadowski and Hamarcak, as well as its forwards with Tokar, Alex Sonvico, and Joshua Custode leading the way. The Charette division certainly appears to be pretty wide open, but on paper, this team looks like a legitimate favorite, along with Newton-Lenape Valley.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 