NEWTON-LENAPE VALLEY
Head coach: Ryan Sevean, 21st season (204-244-41 career record between NLV and West Milford)
Division: MCSSIHL-Haas-Charette
Last year: Newton-Lenape Valley had a big year in 2023-24, as it went 13-11 with a 6-2 record in the Charette Division- which was good enough for the regular season title. It won its second Sussex Cup in three years, and also won the Charette Cup by defeating High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny, 7-3 in the final. It reached the NJSIAA Tournament and won a state tournament game for the first time since 2017-18, when it defeated Clifton, 6-5 in the North, Public Co-op play-in round. The season came to an end with a loss to Tenafly-Cresskill- the eventual sectional runner-up- in the first round.
Key losses: Newton-Lenape Valley graduated a nine-player senior class from last year’s trophy-filled season. Forwards Justin Zappe (17 g., 21 a., First Team All-Charette) and Brayden Dabrowski (21 g., 7 a.), defensemen Martin Murphy (3 g., 21 a, Second Team All-Charette.) and David Pineda (4 g., 5 a.) were all huge parts of the team’s talented group of skaters. It also will have a big hole to fill in goal after the graduation of Ryan Salerno, who finished with an .864 save percentage last year.
Forwards: Newton-Lenape Valley had one of the more dynamic scorers in the area last year in Charette MVP Maksym Pastukh (41 g., 13 a.), who is back for his senior year but it is unclear how often he will be available for NLV due to him playing junior hockey this year. Players like seniors Ty Dellicker (6 g., 5 a.), Tanner Gaboda (3 g., 3 a.), Kayla Latham (3 g., 2 a.), Kendra Smith (2 g., 1 a.), and Lucas Garofano, as well as juniors Vince Mancuso, Jack Boffa, Ganon Hawryluk, Alex Lengyel, and sophomore Brody Dellicker will all be counted on to carry the load this year, especially in games where Pastukh is absent. Also look for seniors Kristina Gerndt and Emily Artrip, and juniors Joey Lengyel and Dylan Anderson to step up as well.
Freshmen Arsemi Pastukh, Mason Garofano, and Austin Polanish are all newcomers who could see a big role this year. Junior Dan Carvalho and senior Izaak Carranza are also newcomers up front.
Defense: It will rely on four juniors to carry most of the minutes on the blue line this season. Joey Gallucci (3 g., 11 a.) was able to produce last season, and will lead the way for a group which also includes Kellan Faessinger (2 g., 2 a.), Catherine Kraemer, and Eamon Sinnott. Freshman Sean Lockwood is a player Sevean described as smart and quick, so he should have a role early on. Freshman Lars Pierson also could contribute this year.
Goaltending: To replace Salerno, Newton-Lenape Valley will look to juniors Patrick Boden and Adam Yacuk to split time this season. Boden has some experience, playing in 11 games over his freshman and sophomore seasons with a career .785 save percnetage.
Outlook: Last year was the best season for this program since 2017-18, as it won the Sussex Cup, the Charette Cup, and the Sussex Cup. It lost a lot of production from that team, and with Pastukh playing for the New Jersey Rockets junior team this winter, NLV is going to have to find production elsewhere on nights where he is not available. How successful this season turns out to be will be determined by how quickly the team’s less experienced players are able to step in and continue to improve. It does have some promising freshmen coming in, headlined by the younger Pastukh as well as defenseman Sean Lockwood, so that will be a storyline to keep an eye on this year. It’s unclear where this team fits in the new look Haas-Charette Division, but it will hope to repeat as Sussex Cup champions and qualify for the Haas Cup depending on how quickly everything comes together.
Note: Newton-Lenape Valley enters the season six wins from 200 in program history. Coach Ryan Sevean has been at the helm for the entirety of the program’s history.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 