CONETTA SENDS POPE JOHN TO QUARTERFINALS
Thanks to a 45-save shutout from Anthony Conetta, eighth-seeded Pope John took down ninth-seeded St. Joseph of Montvale, 3-0, in the first round of the Non Public state tournament at Skylands Ice World in Stockholm.
It marked Pope John’s first state tournament win since the 2019-20 season, when it defeated Oratory in the preliminary round, 4-0. It will be the program’s first quarterfinal appearance since 2017-18, when it fell to Don Bosco. It will face either top-seeded Don Bosco or 16th-seeded St. Peter’s Prep in the quarterfinals early next week.
Conetta picked up his seventh shutout of the season, as he continued his impressive sophomore year. He now has a .918 save percentage, and this was his second shutout of this St. Joseph team this year after a 29-save shutout on Jan. 17.
Matt Hughes and Aidan Perry each scored in the first period to put the Lions ahead, 2-0. Cam Guerra added an empty-net goal late in the game to seal the win.
GIRLS FIRST ROUND RECAP
The season came to an end for three Morris County teams on Wednesday, as Madison, Chatham, and Randolph all fell in the first round of the Girls state tournament.
Ninth-seeded Chatham, despite a 41-13 shot advantage, was shut out, 2-0 by eighth-seeded Trinity Hall. Trinity Hall goalie Katie Cisar stopped all 41 shots she faced. The Cougars’ season ended at 8-7-2.
Despite an impressive 49-save effort from Clementine Dickson-Child, 10th-seeded Madison saw its best season in program history come to an end with a 4-0 loss to seventh-seeded Kent Place. Madison finished the year at 9-6, the best season since the program began as a solo program in 2019-20.
11th-seeded Randolph was shut out, 10-0, by sixth-seeded Summit. Stephanie Xhumba made 42 saves in the loss.
The only girls team remaining from the Morris/Sussex area is top-seeded Morristown-Beard, which had a bye into the quarterfinals. It will face eighth-seeded Trinity Hall on Monday at 4:30 p.m. at Twin Oaks Ice Rink.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 