By Mike Gurnis
What a first month of the season it has been.
So, I wanted to take a little time and write about some of my thoughts on the season to this point. Admittedly, this first month has been a bit hard for me, as I was out of the country for over a week for my honeymoon, so I was completely out of the loop for a bit. But, I’m back now, and it’s full steam ahead for the remainder of the season.
Here is this week’s notebook.
— Before the season, I had Randolph as perhaps the most clear favorite in the three MCSSIHL divisions. I still- to an extent- consider the Rams to be the top team, but it’s not going to be without Morristown-Beard and KJS United (more on both teams below) having a say in things.
Go figure, I leave the country and one of the wilder Mennen games in recent memory happened when Morristown-Beard took down Randolph in overtime, 5-4 on Dec. 18. It was Randolph’s first divisional loss since the Mennen Cup final in 2023- it went a perfect 8-0 in divisional play last year before sweeping its Mennen Cup games en route to a 22-1-1 season and North, Public sectional final appearance.
With virtually all of its offense returning from last year, it’d be easy to expect the same type of season for the Rams. But, after the loss to the Crimson, it lost again- this time, 5-2 to Westfield. It rebounded with a 3-0 win over a strong Ramapo program, bringing its record to 4-2 on the year.
But, I don’t think it’s time for any sort of panic in Randolph. Those are two *quality* opponents that Randolph lost to, and if you’re going to suffer those kinds of losses, it’s better that they happen now, in December, rather than later in the season when the games grow in importance. In fact, Randolph’s out of conference schedule should have this team battle-tested for the postseason- it faces Northern Highlands (last year’s Public champion) on Sunday, and also has games against St. Joseph of Montvale, Pingry, Manalapan (last year’s Public runner-up), and Ridge.
This team still has one of the deepest offenses you’ll find in the state, and it’s also done a nice job defensively with three shutouts to its name thus far. The Rams are going to be just fine.
— How about Morristown-Beard? That win over Randolph was the Crimson’s first in three tries against the Rams.
The Crimson are now 5-0-1 to start the year, with its only blemish being a 3-3 tie with KJS United. But the way they’ve gotten to that record has been eye-opening. Call them the Cardiac Crimson- they played three consecutive overtime games beginning with the 5-4 win over Randolph in which it erased a 3-1 deficit and a 4-3 third period deficit, before Alex Hriczov tied it and John Gonnella won it in OT.
Then, it pulled out another OT win against a very competitive Morristown team, when Alex Hriczov buried the game-winner 2:54 into overtime in a 3-2 win. While it wasn’t quite able to find the OT magic in its 3-3 tie with KJS United, Nick Squashic’s late goal in the third period helped the Crimson earn a huge divisional point in that one.
To think, this team hasn’t had the services of one of its top forwards in Hudson Salvador yet. It has a plethora of scoring depth to go along with one of the top netminders in New Jersey in Mason Hriczov (.926 save percentage this year). This team has all the makings of a serious contender in the Mennen Division. The Jan. 15 rematch with Randolph will be must-see.
— It’s often hard to tell how a team will adjust when it moves up a division. For KJS United, after graduating one of the top goalies in the area in Rylan Gibbons along with key scorers in Adam Stefancik, Logan Winslow, Anthony Prunty, Anthony Pandiscia, and Joey Kopec, it would’ve been easy to predict a tough season for the program’s first in the top-tier Mennen Division.
I wasn’t sure how it would do- I figured it would be good enough to finish in a top-six spot and qualify for the Mennen Cup, and while I felt its goaltending with Brian Sisti and Andrew Corrado would be more than solid, I wasn’t sure what it would get from its forwards.
Almost a month in, it has a season-sweep of Chatham, a win over Morris Knolls-Hills, and a tie with Morristown-Beard. Its only loss was a 3-2 loss to Morristown, which has been competitive with everyone on its schedule, but aside from that, KJS looks like a serious Mennen Cup contender and at a minimum, appears to be a top-three team in this division.
Sisti has been outstanding in net with a .925 save percentage, but forward Braydon Sisco is making an early-season Mennen Division MVP case. He’s been on the scoresheet in seven of KJS’ eight games (the only blemish being the loss to Morristown), and every one of those games has been a multi-point game. He has 17 goals and 11 assists in those seven games- an average of four points per game!
This week, it gets another crack at Morristown on Monday before facing the Halvorsen’s top team in West Morris on Friday. I’m really, really interested to watch how this team does for the remainder of the year- it certainly has opened eyes around the area. It’s been a fun team to watch so far.
— West Morris has a new coach in Dave Hansen, but the winning has not stopped for the Wolfpack.
The team is 6-2-1 overall with a 4-0 mark in the Halvorsen Division. It opened the season with a bang with a win over Morris Knolls-Hills (last year’s Co-op champions) for the second-consecutive season. Consider its two losses: an 8-2 loss to reigning Public champion and perennial power Northern Highlands, and a 4-3 overtime loss to perennial power Middletown North.
Rhone Armijo and Ben Barnhill are as good of a one-two punch as you will find offensively, and freshman goalie Jason Trezza has been outstanding to date, with a .911 save percentage. It has emerged as the early favorite in the Halvorsen Division.
— Speaking of West Morris, all eyes on Monday’s tilt with Mendham. It’s the first time that the cross-town rivals have met in five years, with the last meeting coming on Dec. 21, 2019, a 5-2 win for Mendham. In speaking with a couple of Mendham players after their 6-3 win over Montville Friday, it was clear they were excited for the opportunity to play West Morris for the first time in their careers, and there’s no doubt its the same on the West Morris side as well.
Monday’s game, set for 4:30 p.m., should be a terrific atmosphere at Mennen Arena. The two will meet again on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Mennen at 4:15 p.m. to close out their regular season series.
— Roxbury looks like the top team in the Haas-Charette Division, as it is a perfect 4-0 in divisional play, outscoring opponents 39-10 in those wins over High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny, Vernon, Mountain Lakes-Boonton and Morris Catholic-St. Elizabeth-Newark Academy.
Ryan Van Zile already has 34 points this season (12 g., 22 a.) as the Gaels are 6-2 overall. Chase Alven, Michael Nelson, Brody Ozga, and Griffin Warsaw have also had strong starts to the year, while it has gotten steady goaltending from Mikey Guadagnino as it usually does.
The team has also shown tremendous resolve, given the tragic loss of former teammate Gavin Barooah in a car accident during pre-season.
— Stick taps go out to the three goalies in the area who have hit 1,000 saves for their careers thus far: Luc Jansson of Gill St. Bernard’s, Talon Muscolino of Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown, and Andrew Nicholas of Parsippany Regional.
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 