THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2025
Morris Catholic pulls upset in shootout, Parsippany holds off NLV in Haas first round
It’ll go down as perhaps the most dramatic win in the history of the Morris Catholic-St. Elizabeth-Newark Academy program.
Mercer Acuna scored the game-tying goal with three seconds left in regulation and then after a scoreless overtime, buried the only goal of the shootout to lift sixth-seeded Morris Catholic-St. Elizabeth-Newark Academy to a 2-1 win over third-seeded Mountain Lakes-Boonton in the Haas Cup first round at Mennen Arena.
Lawson Fagan scored four minutes into the game to give Mountain Lakes-Boonton (7-9) the 1-0 lead. It appeared that goal would hold as the game-winner, but Acuna struck for the dramatic game-tying goal in the game’s final seconds to force overtime.
Neither team was able to find a game-winner in overtime, and in the shootout, Acuna netted a goal on his first attempt. While Morris Catholic didn’t score again, James Boyce shut the door on all five Mountain Lakes-Boonton shooters to preserve the victory.
Morris Catholic (5-12) advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, where it will take on second-seeded High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny at 4:15 p.m.
In the other Haas Cup first round game, it was fourth-seeded Parsippany Regional who rallied past fifth-seeded Newton-Lenape Valley, 6-4.
The teams traded goals throughout, but Matthew Hemenway’s goal with three seconds left in the second period put Parsippany in the lead for good. Robert Hemenway sealed it with a goal in the third period, while Kaden Bland also recorded a hat trick and two assists in the win.
Ty Dellicker scored twice with an assist, while Tanner Gaboda and Sean Lockwood each had a goal for Newton-Lenape Valley (5-17).
Parsippany Regional will face top-seeded Roxbury in the semifinal on Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
Delbarton advances to third-straight Gordon Cup final
George Cote stopped all 22 shots that came his way to lead top-seeded Delbarton to a 4-0 win over fifth-seeded St. Augustine in the semifinals of the Gordon Cup at SportsCare Arena.
Dante Rodriguez and Aiden Pasic each had a goal and an assist for Delbarton (15-1-1), which will play in next Wednesday’s Gordon Cup final at 7:30 p.m. at Codey Arena. It will take on the winner of Monday’s semifinal between second-seeded Don Bosco and third-seeded Christian Brothers.
Jacob Gomez and Egor Andreev each scored in the win.
Park Regional moves on to Halvorsen Cup final
Michael Capozzi scored twice with an assist to propel second-seeded Park Regional to a 4-1 win over third-seeded West Morris in the Halvorsen Cup semifinals at Mennen Arena.
Park Regional (11-6-2) advanced to Monday’s Halvorsen Cup final, which is set for 6:30 p.m. at Mennen Arena. It will find out its opponent on Friday night, when top-seeded Mendham takes on fifth-seeded Montville in the other semifinal at 5:45 p.m.
It will be Park Regional’s first-ever Halvorsen Cup final appearance after years in the Haas Division. It will be the program’s first Cup final appearance in any final other than the Haas Division since Whippany Park won the Mennen Cup as a solo program in 1985.
Matthew McDermott and Capozzi each scored in the first period to give Park a two-goal lead, before Colin Mullooly made it 3-0 in the second. West Morris’ Alex Trezza cut it to 3-1, but Capozzi restored the three-goal advantage in the third.
Dylan Marion made 18 saves for Park Regional, while Jason Trezza stopped 30 shots for West Morris (12-9-1).
Madison girls earn dominant win, book spot in Annis Cup final
The Madison girls team is off to the Annis Cup final for the second-straight year after the top-seeded Dodgers rolled to a 10-1 win over fourth-seeded Princeton at American Dream in East Rutherford.
Athena Halewicz led the way for the Dodgers (9-1) with four goals and two assists. Brooke Gundlach had a hat trick, Catie Leary had a goal and two assists, and Elizabeth Farrell dished out three assists. Scarlet Baisch had a goal and an assist, while Clementine Dickson-Child made 18 saves in the win.
Madison, which lost to Westfield in last year’s Annis Cup final, will get another shot at its first Cup title in program history. It will take on second-seeded Cranford in the final on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Codey Arena.
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Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 