HIGH POINT-WALLKILL-KITTATINNY RALLIES FOR OT WIN
Behind a hat trick from Michael Sadowski and two from James Sonvico- including the game-winner in overtime- third-seeded High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny rallied for a 5-4 overtime win over second-seeded Vernon in the Charette Cup semifinals at Mennen Arena.
High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny is headed to the Charette Cup final for the second time in three seasons, in search of the program’s first MCSSIHL Cup title. The championship game is set for Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. at Mennen Arena. It will face Newton-Lenape Valley in an all-Sussex County final, for only the second time in history.
After Luke Zabriskie’s second goal of the game early in the third period gave Vernon a 4-1 lead, it appeared that the Vikings were on their way to the Charette Cup final, continuing an improbable turnaround after not winning a single game for the first month of the season.
But when High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny needed a response, it got one nearly immediately. Sadowski scored twice in a span of 1:34 to cut the deficit to just one, before James Sonvico redirected a shot in front with 7:29 to go to tie it up.
It kept up the pressure for the remainder of regulation, but was unable to get one past Vernon goalie Brady Hendricks, who kept his team afloat despite a 59-25 shot disadvantage. Finally, 3:16 into overtime, it was Sonvico who netted the game-winner.
Christopher Gay and Luke Zabriskie each scored twice for Vernon.
PASTUKH LIFTS NEWTON-LENAPE VALLEY INTO CHARETTE FINAL
Maksym Pastukh scored four goals to lift top-seeded Newton-Lenape Valley to a 6-3 win over fourth-seeded Parsippany Regional in the Charette Cup semifinals at Mennen Arena.
Newton-Lenape Valley will face the aforementioned third-seed High Point-Wallkill-Kittatinny in the final on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Mennen Arena. Newton-Lenape Valley is in the final for the third time in four seasons, and will go for its first Cup title since defeating Vernon, 2-1, in the Haas Cup final in 2017 in the last all-Sussex County final.
The teams went back and forth through the first two periods, with Pastukh giving his team a 3-2 lead on a power play goal with 3:50 left in the second period. He extended the advantage to 4-2, 48 seconds into the third. Parsippany’s Kaden Bland buried a shorthanded goal with 4:09 left to cut it to one, and momentum appeared to be on Parsippany’s side.
But just 36 seconds later, Justin Zappe finished off a feed from Pastukh to restore the two-goal advantage. Martin Murphy sealed it with an empty-netter.
Robert Hemenway and Nicholas Hornung each scored for Parsippany, which was playing in its first postseason game since 2020.
MENDHAM HOLDS OFF BERNARDS-SOMERVILLE-MIDDLESEX TO ADVANCE TO HALVORSEN FINAL
Thanks to a late goal from Ian Aitkenhead, third-seeded Mendham took down second-seeded Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex, 1-0, in the Halvorsen Cup semifinal at Mennen Arena.
Mendham advanced to the Halvorsen Cup final for the third time in five years with the win, after previously winning the title in 2019-20 and 2021-22. The final is set for Thursday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m., where Mendham will face the winner of tomorrow night’s semifinal between top-seeded KJS United and fourth-seeded Madison.
The game was scoreless, thanks to impressive goaltending performances from Mendham’s Brendon Eigner and BSM’s Baylyn Shankman. Mendham ultimately broke through with 4:39 left, when Aitkenhead redirected a shot from Brandon Eigner on the power play for the only goal it would ned in the game.
BSM received a power play in the final minutes, but was unable to convert thanks to some big saves from Eigner. Eigner finished with a 25 save shutout, while Shankman stopped 25 of 26 shots.
Mendham is now 7-10-1 overall, while BSM dropped to 6-13-2.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 