GILL ST. BERNARD’S KNIGHTS
Head coach: Miles Atkian, first season
Division: MCSSIHL-Halvorsen Division
Last year: Gill St. Bernard’s put together the best season in program history last winter, as it won the team’s first-ever Haas Cup title with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over previous two-time champion West Morris. It finished the year 12-4-2 with a 7-2-1 mark in the Haas Division, and reached the Non-Public state tournament where it fell, 2-1 to St. Peter’s Prep in the Play-in round.
Key losses: Greg DaSilva helped oversee the turnaround of this program over the last few years, first as a co-coach with Chris Wiggins before taking over entirely last winter. This year, the Knights will turn to a new coach in Atkian.
The Knights will also have to replace some important pieces, such as forward Julian Tramontano (16 g., 17 a., Second Team All-Haas) and defenseman Porter Clark (8 g., 17 a., First Team All-Haas). Forwards Michael Scarpati (8 g., 5 a.) and George Taylor (2 g., 1 a.), along with defensemen Brad Matthews (1 g.), and Henry Smith (2 g., 3 a.) all graduated as well.
Forwards: The Knights will lean on a pair of very talented forwards in Brendan Whiteley and Michael Tighe, who each had big freshman seasons and will enter their sophomore seasons poised for even better. Whiteley finished with 11 goals and nine assists, while Tighe had 10 goals and eight assists. Other forwards will include sophomore Wyatt Mercado, sophomore Michael Nehmer, and sophomore Tyler Bilanin.
Defense: The defense will be headlined by junior Brendan Binder (2 g., 2 a.) and incoming freshman Gabe Raphel, who Atkian said can skate with anyone and plays with a great defensive stick. Freshman Noah Schultz can play both forward and defense.
Goaltending: Gill St. Bernard’s returns one of the top netminders around in junior Luc Jansson, who has been the team’s starter for the last two seasons and backstopped them to a Haas Cup last winter while earning First Team All-Haas honors. He had a .917 save percentage last year as the team’s full-time starter.
Outlook: Gill St. Bernard’s is headed for a bit of a transition season with new leadership for the program, and it will also have to deal with low numbers. The team will only have eight skaters this year, and will likely need to play a defensively focused counter-attack game on a nightly basis. The good news is, Jansson is a goalie who is capable of stealing games and will give this team a chance to win on just about any given night. Tighe and Whiteley are both really promising young players who should continue to improve this year. Expect this team to work hard throughout the year and to be a tough out no matter who the opposition is.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 