ROXBURY RALLIES IN THIRD PAST MONTVILLE
Roxbury, seeded 18th, erased a two-goal deficit and had a big third period to upend 15th-seeded Montville, 6-3, in the Play-in round of the NJSIAA North, Public tournament at Mennen Arena.
Montville led, 3-1 on goals from Matt Trifari, Michael Maly, and Logan Engle. But Roxbury’s A.J. Mancuso scored with one second left in the second to cut the deficit to one, and the comeback was on from there.
Ryan VanZile scored 1:20 into the third to tie it up, before Michael Nelson scored the go-ahead goal with 9:10 left. Gavin Barooah then added an insurance tally late, before burying an empty-netter.
Nelson and Barooah each finished with two goals, with VanZile recording a goal and two assists. Mikey Guadagnino made 34 saves to help Roxbury advance to the first round, where it will face second-seeded Northern Highlands next week. It was Roxbury’s first state playoff win since the 2016-17 season, when it defeated Woodbridge, 10-0 in the Public B first round.
Montville won both meetings between the squads in Haas Division play this season by scores of 8-4 and 5-3. Its season came to an end with a 10-10 record.
NLV, MO-HO-HA ADVANCE IN NORTH, PUBLIC CO-OP
Newton-Lenape Valley, the 16th seed and fresh off a Charette Cup title this week, knocked off 17th-seeded Clifton-Cedar Grove-Passaic Valley, 6-5, in the Play-in round of the NJSIAA North, Public Co-op tournament at Skylands Ice World.
It was Newton-Lenape Valley’s first state playoff win since 2018, when it defeated Tenafly, 6-4 in the Public B first round. It will face top-seeded Tenafly-Cresskill in the first round on Tuesday.
Newton-Lenape Valley trailed, 4-2, in the second period. But Maksym Pastukh, who finished with four goals, scored twice before the end of the period to tie it up at four. That run continued into the third when Brayden Dabrowski scored the go-ahead goal, and then Pastukh scored a key insurance goal- which proved to be the game-winner when Clifton scored late.
Justin Zappe had three assists, while Tanner Gaboda also scored a goal for NLV (13-10). Ryan Salerno made 29 saves in the win.
Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown, seeded 15th, took down 18th-seeded High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny, 8-3 in a Play-in game at Flemington Ice Arena.
Daniel Testa found the back of the net five times, as Mo-Ho-Ha advanced to the first round where it will face second-seeded KJS United on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Skylands Ice World.
Sebastian Slawinski had a goal and an assist, with Daniel McGarry dishing out four assists in the win. Talon Muscolino made 25 saves in the win.
Michael Sadowski scored twice for High Point-Wallkill-Kittatinny in th efinal game of his high school career. Brady Reid also scored in the loss.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 