25TH HAAS CUP FINAL
1-West Morris (16-5-1) vs. 2-Gill St. Bernard’s (11-3-2)
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at Mennen Arena
Previous meetings: The first meeting between these teams on Jan. 4 resulted in a 1-1 tie, thanks in large part to a 40-save performance from Gill St. Bernard’s goalie Luc Jansson. The second time around was a dominant effort from West Morris, which picked up an 8-0 win over a Gill squad which notably was without its top scorer in Julian Tramontano.
CUP HISTORY
West Morris
— West Morris is seeking the program’s third-straight Haas Cup title after defeating Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown in 2022, followed by Park Regional in overtime last winter. In total, it has won three outright Haas Cup titles in 2010, 2022, and 2023, with a co-championship with Park Regional in 2011.
Gill St. Bernard’s
— The Gladstone school has never won a Cup title. This is only its second Cup final appearance, as it last appeared in the 2020 Haas Cup final, where it lost, 4-2 to Mountain Lakes-Boonton.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
West Morris
Tommy Togno, F, Sr. (15 g., 34 a.), Zach Knopf, F, Sr. (18 g., 24 a.), Jake Salamone, D, Sr. (8 g., 25 a.), Ben Barnhill, F, Jr. (29 g., 12 a.), Rhone Armijo, F, Fr. (14 g., 15 a.), Nick Dargel, D, Sr. (1 g., 6 a.)
Goalie: Michael Treiber, Fr. (.834 sv%)
Gill St. Bernard’s
Julian Tramontano, F, Sr., (15 g., 17 a.), Porter Clark, D, Sr. (7 g., 17 a.), Brendan Whiteley, F, Fr. (11 g., 8 a.), Michael Tighe, F, Fr. (10 g., 8 a.), Michael Scarpati, F, Sr., (6 g., 5 a.), Trey Sanford, D, So. (2 g., 5 a.).
Goalie: Luc Jansson, So. (.916 sv%)
HOW THEY GOT HERE
West Morris
After back-to-back Haas Cup titles, the target has been squarely on this teams’ back all season. All its done in response to that is go 9-0-1 in the division to win the program’s first regular season divisional title in well over a decade. It has won six of its last seven games, with the only loss being in its last game- to the Mennen Division’s Morristown. It owns the only win for a Haas team over a Mennen Team in the last 14 years, as it knocked off Morris Knolls-Hills just a few weeks ago. In the semifinals, a game which got a bit too close for comfort, West Morris hung on for a 7-4 win over Park Regional despite seeing a 6-1 lead cut to two in the second period.
This team is loaded with firepower and depth, and can almost score at-will at times. It has two players who have already reached 100 career points in Togno and Knopf, and Barnhill could join that club with just two points in this game. This team not only has plenty of talent, but plenty of upperclassmen leadership who know what it takes to win this tournament.
Gill St. Bernard’s
The Knights come into this Haas Cup final playing very strong hockey, as it is on a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) dating back to an 8-0 loss to West Morris on Jan. 13. Since that game, it has tightened up defensively, giving up just eight goals in those seven games. In the semifinals, it defeated Montville, 5-1, with five different players finding the back of the net.
It has plenty of players who can score, but make no mistake about it- this team’s strength is keeping the puck out of its own net, which starts and ends with goalie Luc Jansson. He has posted an impressive .916 save percentage this season, and is capable of stealing a game on any given night, much like he did in the team’s 1-1 tie with the Wolfpack earlier this year. His play takes an already-solid team to an even higher level.
PREDICTION
West Morris has been a nearly impossible team to stop all season on offense. Only one team in the Haas Division has held the Wolfpack to less than four goals, and it was Gill St. Bernard’s in the 1-1 tie on Jan. 4. The 121 goals the team has scored is second in the entire MCSSIHL, just four behind Randolph, the No. 6 ranked team in all of New Jersey.
If anyone can slow this team down, its Gill St. Bernard’s. It already proved it could earlier this season, and it has the goalie in Jansson who is capable of beating just about anyone when he’s on his game. But in the end, there is just too much depth offensively on this Wolfpack squad, and it will get enough offensively to prevail in a closely-contested game.
West Morris over Gill St. Bernard’s.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 