By Mike Gurnis
The entire season was building up to this moment for KJS United.
It was just 366 days ago when it saw a perfect season in the Halvorsen Division evaporate in the Halvorsen Cup final, in a stunning 5-1 loss to Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown.
This season, this group knew that as much success as it may have in the regular season, it needed to finish the job in the postseason this time around.
The bitter taste of defeat in last year’s final fueled this team from the start of the preseason. It led to another undefeated season in the Halvorsen, and this time around, it has a Cup title to show for it. Top-seeded KJS United took down third-seeded Mendham, 5-2, in the 17th Halvorsen Cup final at Mennen Arena in Morris Township.
It was the first cup title for the tri-op of Kinnelon, Jefferson, and Sparta. Kinnelon had previously been co-champions for a Mennen Cup in 2013 and won a Halvorsen Cup in 2019, while Jefferson won a Haas Cup in 2007. The players on the team from Sparta became the first from their town to win a cup title.
“For me, personally, ever since that last game, after we lost to Mo-Ho-Ha last year in the final…it was really kind of a culture shock to me and the rest of my teammates,” said senior Logan Winslow. “We knew we were the one seed, but it’s not like we just got this, we had to work for this. We put everything out on the line and we were able to get the job done.”
Senior Anthony Prunty added, “Ever since that day last year, ever since that loss, it’s been in the back of our heads. Coming into this season, we came to work since day one. That just brought us up to this moment.”
Freshman Braydon Sisco opened the scoring early in the first period, and despite controlling the run of play, it was only ahead 1-0, thanks in large part to the efforts of Mendham goalie Brendon Eigner (37 saves).
Momentum suddenly swung towards momentum midway through the second, when it tied the game off a goal from Brandon Eigner.
KJS United found itself facing adversity at that point. But it got a key goal from Adam Stefancik in the final minute of the second to restore the lead, and then scored 1:13 into the third on a goal from Logan Winslow.
From that point on, it was all KJS, as Stefancik added another minutes later, and Winslow buried the team’s fifth goal with 8:12 to go.
“That goal at the end of the second was huge, obviously,” Winslow said. “We were obviously upset after we were scored on and we were kind of getting dominated at the end of the second. We were able to just pick it up. Getting that one at the end of the second was big. It helped us, it made sure we had the lead, calm down, stay together as a team. It helped us pick up the win here.”
KJS goalie Rylan Gibbons stopped 20 of 22 shots in the win. The team’s senior class, which consists of eight players, is made up of players who all had vital roles for this team this season. Winslow and Stefancik- both seniors- each scored twice in this game, while Anthony Prunty contributed two assists.
This senior class is a special one, as it is the first class to spend all four years as part of the tri-op program, which began during their freshman seasons.
“They’ve really stepped up,” KJS coach Jeff Myhren said of his senior class. “We realized the mistakes we made last year in the postseason, and they weren’t going to let it happen again. They were just strong-minded and determined. That was the chatter in the locker room before, that they weren’t going to let it happen again. When they scored to make it a tie game, it was like alright guys, this isn’t going to happen. They kicked it up another gear and just took it to them.”
It capped off an unprecedented run of dominance in the Halvorsen Division over the past two seasons. Including last season’s cup final loss, the team went a combined 19-1 against Halvorsen opponents.
Now, it hopes to take that dominance into the NJSIAA state tournament, where it is the second seed in the North, Public Co-op section. It will host the winner of Friday’s play-in game between 15th-seeded Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown and 18th-seeded High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny in a first round game on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Skylands Ice World.
“I feel like this really brings us together,” Winslow said. “It really brought us together as one. We’re a whole team now. Obviously the second seed in states, nothing is guaranteed. I think we’re getting the winner of High Point and Mo-Ho-Ha, both teams you should not take lightly. We just really have to play the way we play. We know how we play, we know what’s right, and we just have to get it done every day.”
Myhren added, “They work hard every day. They believe in themselves and they’ve just grown together as a program. It’s nice to have basically two first lines, we can interchange those guys. It’s awesome. It’s a lot of fun to coach and just watch them play. Sometimes, when they’re playing as a team, I tell them all the time that it’s fun to watch.”
SCORING SUMMARY
First period
KJS — Braydon Sisco (Alex Roslan, Anthony Prunty) 9:30
Second period
MEN — Brandon Eigner (Cameron Smith) 6:40
KJS — Adam Stefancik 0:56
Third period
KJS — Logan Winslow (Anthony Prunty, Aiden Parlapiano) 13:47
KJS — Adam Stefancik (Cormac Gibbons) 10:22
KJS — Logan Winslow 8:12
MEN — Eddie Fox 6:22
Shots on goal: KJS United 42, Mendham 22
Saves: Rylan Gibbons (KJS) 20, Brendon Eigner (Mendham) 37
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 