MORRIS KNOLLS-HILLS GETS BACK ON TRACK WITH MENNEN WIN
Jake McCloud tallied two goals and two assists to lift Morris Knolls-Hills to a bounce-back, 5-2 win over Morristown at Mennen Arena.
The win snapped a two-game losing skid for Morris Knolls-Hills, and improved its divisional record to 2-1. It built a 3-0 lead in the second period on goals from Luke Dickerson and Jake McCloud (two), before extending the lead to four on a power play goal from Michael Simone.
Morristown’s Clark Smith and Jackson Byrne scored 17 seconds apart late in the third to cut the deficit to two, but Jack Martinez sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Dickerson finished with a goal and two assists, while Simone had a goal and an assist. Senior Benjamin Blender stopped 20 of 22 shots to earn the first win of his high school career in his first career start.
WEST MORRIS PULLS AWAY FROM FRISCH
Ben Barnhill finished with two goals and two assists- including the go-ahead goal with one second left in the second period- to lift West Morris to a 7-3 win over Frisch in the Essex Holiday Tournament at Codey Arena.
The teams traded goals through the first two periods before Barnhill beat the buzzer to give his team the lead. He added another 2:11 into the third, before Zach Knopf scored 24 seconds later and added another late in the period to help the Wolfpack pull away.
Knopf had two goals and an assist, while Tommy Togno and Dylan Wilmott added a goal and two assists each. Rhone Armijo had a goal and an assist and Jake Salamone dished out two assists.
Michael Treiber stopped 31 of 34 shots as West Morris improved to 4-0.
CHATHAM WINS THIRD IN A ROW
Matt Nacinovich had a five-point performance in leading Chatham to its third-straight win, an 8-3 win over Oratory in the Essex Holiday Tournament at Codey Arena.
Nacinovich had two goals and three assists for the Cougars. Freshman Charlie Dunn had a hat trick and an assist for the first points of his high school career. Drew Munsey and Thomas White each contributed a goal and two assists, with Nate Crowley getting three assists- the first of his career.
Nate May made 13 saves in the win. Chatham will next face Frisch to continue the Holiday Tournament on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Codey Arena.
MUSCOLINO STOPS 45 IN MO-HO-HA LOSS
Talon Muscolino continued his strong start to the season, stopping 45 of 47 shots, but Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown fell to Tenafly-Cresskill, 2-0, at Mackay Ice Arena.
Mo-Ho-Ha dropped to 1-4-1 on the early season, and is now winless in its last four games.
CHATHAM GIRLS FALL TO PINGRY
Simone Claps scored twice, but Chatham fell, 10-3 to Pingry at Bridgewater Sports Arena.
The teams traded goals through the opening nine minutes- with Claps scoring twice- and the game was knotted up at two at that point. But Pingry scored six-straight goals through the third period to assume control of the game.
Freshman Layton Thomas netted her first career goal for Chatham, which fell to 2-3.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 