GILL ST. BERNARD’S MAKES OPENING HAAS STATEMENT
Freshman Brandon Whiteley scored two goals to help lead Gill St. Bernard’s to a dominant 7-1 win over Park Regional in the Haas opener at Mennen Arena.
These teams finished tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Haas Cup last season, and Park Regional advanced on a tiebreaker, and ultimately went to the final. While it is a long season, Gill St. Bernard’s made a strong early statement with this win over a talented Park squad.
The game was tied up at one after the first, before Whiteley and Trey Sanford struck for back-to-back power play goals to give the Knights the lead. Then, the team picked up a pair of shorthanded goals in the third period from Julian Tramontano and Michael Scarpati to help put the game well out of reach.
The shots on goal were near even, with Park actually holding a 27-26 advantage, but it was the Knights who capitalized on their opportunities.
Tramontano finished with a goal and two assists, while George Taylor scored his first career goal, and Porter Clark also found the back of the net. Luc Jansson stopped 26 of 27 shots to secure the win.
Sophomore Chase Olszewski, fresh off an impressive freshman year, scored the lone goal of the game for Park Regional.
FOX’S HAT TRICK PROPELS MENDHAM
Junior Jake Fox recorded the first hat trick of his high school career in leading Mendham to a 4-1 win over Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex in the Halvorsen opener for both teams at Mennen Arena.
Ian Aitkenhead had a goal and two assists, while Max Szpakowski registered the first assist of his career for Mendham. The score was knotted up at one after one period, with Jimmy Hathaway netting the only goal of the game for Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex. But Mendham netted three more the rest of the way to seal the win.
It marked the first Halvorsen game for Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex after moving up from the Haas division last season. Its record dropped to 0-2 after opening its Skyland Conference schedule with a 9-0 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan on Friday.
ROXBURY OPENS WITH WIN
Roxbury got its Haas season underway in impressive fashion, as it earned a 7-3 win over Mountain Lakes-Boonton at Mennen Arena.
Ryan VanZile, coming off a 29-point season last year, finished with two goals and two assists for the Gaels. Roxbury built a 3-1 lead in the first period behind goals from Thomas Sanders, A.J. Mancuso, and Sean Hardy. After Mountain Lakes-Boonton’s Jonathan Garibaldi cut the deficit to one early in the second, Roxbury scored four unanswered- with goals from VanZile and Michael Nelson coming before the end of the second period.
Nelson, a sophomore, finished with two goals after having only one goal all season as a freshman. Sophomore Chase Alven had two assists- the first two points of his career for Roxbury.
Garibaldi finished with two goals for Mountain Lakes-Boonton.
MO-HO-HA BOUNCES BACK
A day after falling to Morristown-Beard in the team’s season-opener, Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown responded in a big way with a 7-3 win over Nutley-Bloomfield-Columbia at Codey Arena.
Mo-Ho-Ha trailed, 3-1 early in the second period, before Daniel Testa, Liam Parr, and Daniel McGarry all found the back of the net to give the team the lead for good before the end of the second period. McGarry finished with a hat trick after scoring a third-period shorthanded goal, before icing the game with 1:40 left.
Testa, a senior who netted his first varsity goal in the loss to Morristown-Beard, finished with a goal and three assists. Tyler Muscolino and Liam Parr each had a goal and an assist, while freshman Dominic Landolfi scored his first career goal.
Talon Muscolino- just 24 hours after an impressive 48-save effort- made 23 saves to earn the win to even up Mo-Ho-Ha’s record at 1-1.
OTHER SCORES
North Hunterdon-Voorhees 6, Newton-Lenape Valley 2
SCORES NOT REPORTED
Vernon vs. High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny
Coaches: Please send box scores to michaelgurnis@gmail.com as soon as possible after your games for inclusion in our nightly roundups. Thank you!
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 