By Mike Gurnis
And then there were four.
A state tournament which began with 17 teams from the Morris/Sussex area between boys and girls, is now down to just four remaining from the area.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at Thursday’s state tournament action, and look ahead to next week’s action involving area teams.
A LOOK BACK AT THURSDAY
The big story to emerge from Thursday’s sectional quarterfinals was eighth-seeded KJS United toppling top-seeded Pascack Regional, 6-2, in the North, Public Co-Op quarterfinals.
KJS got out to a fast start, building a 3-0 lead through one period and extending it to 5-0 in the second period, and never looked back. Braydon Sisco, coming off a four-goal performance in the first round, continued his big state tournament with two goals and two assists in this one. Jake Prunty had two goals and an assist, while Alex Roslan and Michael Pandiscia each scored in the win.
The win sent KJS United to the sectional semifinals for the second-straight year. It lost to eventual Public Co-Op champion Morris Knolls-Hills in last year’s semifinals. Amazingly, as the eighth-seed, it is the second-highest seed remaining with several upsets in this bracket. It will face fourth-seeded West Essex-Caldwell on Monday at 4 p.m. at Codey Arena.
Another eye-opening result came in the Non-Public quarterfinals, where Morristown-Beard was just minutes away from a major upset.
The seventh-seeded Crimson took a 1-0 lead into the third period, and were 5:22 away from downing second-seeded Christian Brothers. But CBA’s Nicholas Desiderio scored with 5:22 left to tie it, and then Dominic Szczygiel scored the go-ahead goal with 1:03 left to win it.
Evan Redman scored the go-ahead goal for Morristown-Beard in the first period, and thanks to strong play from goaltender Mason Hriczov, it appeared it might be enough to win. Morristown-Beard out-shot CBA, 24-19 in the game.
Morristown-Beard’s season ended with a 19-3-1 record and a Mennen Cup title.
Back to the North, Public Co-Op bracket, Morris Knolls-Hills had a valiant comeback attempt end in bitter defeat. The 10th-seed, Knolls-Hills, rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to tie it, but lost on Joe Foody’s game-winner 2:30 into overtime as 15th-seeded Lakeland-Hawthorne-Waldwick prevailed, 3-2, at Mennen Arena.
The loss dethroned Morris Knolls-Hills as the reigning Public Co-Op champion. Brandon Strunck and Jake McCloud each scored power play goals in the third period to tie it. It also dealt with some misfortune and controversy, with three goals being disallowed- one due to a net coming off prior to putting the puck in, another where a puck appeared to have hit the back of the net but was ruled that it hit the crossbar, and finally, one where the goalie went to cover the puck and the whistle was blown quickly prior to Knolls-Hills putting the loose puck home.
Nonetheless, Morris Knolls-Hills’ season ended with a 9-14-1 record.
In Non-Public, top-seeded Delbarton continued its stellar season with a 3-0 win over eighth-seeded Seton Hall Prep.
Dante Rodriguez had a goal and two assists, while Ayden Puppe and Aidan Pasic each had a goal and and assist. George Cote stopped all 19 shots he faced to earn his seventh shutout of the season.
Delbarton will face fifth-seeded St. Joseph of Montvale in the semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Mennen Arena. It is just one win from returning to Prudential Center for the state finals for the third time in four years.
On the girls side, Morristown-Beard is on to the state semifinals again, as the fourth-seeded Crimson held off fifth-seeded Kent Place, 4-3.
Reid Snyder and Julie Jasaitis each scored in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Snyder had two goals, while Jasaitis had a goal and an assist and Emma Fuchs also scored. Hannah Mortazavi made 20 saves in the win.
It will face top-seeded Princeton Day in the state semifinals on Wednesday at Codey Arena at 7 p.m.
In the North, Public tournament, ninth-seeded Mendham fell, 4-1 to top-seeded and defending champion Northern Highlands, while 10th-seeded Morristown fell 5-1 to second-seeded Livingston.
LOOKING AHEAD
North, Public semifinal: 3-Randolph at 2-Livingston, Monday, 6:30 p.m. at Codey Arena
This will be the first state tournament meeting between these programs since Randolph topped Livingston, 5-0, in the Public B semifinals in 2018.
Both of these teams have had fantastic seasons, and it ultimately is going to be a classic match-up between Randolph’s high-powered offense and Livingston’s lock-down defense. The Lancers have an outstanding netminder in junior Brody Teitelbaum (.933 save %), and the team has allowed just 1.53 goals per game en route to a 20-3-3 record.
Randolph, on the other hand, is a roster full of dynamic scorers highlighted by Shane Melly (56 points), Jase Zangara (51 points), and Vincent Crisafulli (45 points). It averages 5.78 goals per game, with so many scoring options on its roster.
The first goal will be imperative for either team in this one. Both teams of course want to play with a lead, but Livingston is not as high-scoring of a team as Randolph, so it will not want to play from behind against the Rams.
North, Public Co-Op semifinal: 8-KJS United at 4-West Essex Caldwell, 4 p.m. at Codey Arena
KJS United has been outstanding in this tournament, as it has dispatched Hoboken-Weehawken-Secaucus and top-seeded Pascack Regional by a combined score of 13-3.
But right now, a major question mark is the status of its top forward in Braydon Sisco. Sisco, the Mennen Division MVP this season, has six goals and two assists in two games in the state tournament, but was injured late in Thursday’s win over Pascack. According to an NJ.com report of the game, Sisco was being evaluated after the game, and his status was unclear as of that time. On the other hand, it hopes to get forward Eddy Brown back after missing significant time over the last month, so if Sisco is absent on Monday, that could be a huge boost.
West Essex-Caldwell, on the other hand, is the highest remaining seed in this bracket. It has managed to narrowly avoid upsets in the first two rounds, as it topped 13th-seeded Tenafly-Cresskill, 3-2 in overtime, before holding off 12th-seeded Park Regional, 3-2 in the last round.
It has a few strong scoring options, starting with Patrick Devaney (53 points), and Connor Maniscalco (42 points). It also has a strong netminder in Evan Zieminski who has a .914 save percentage this year and has stopped 53 of 57 shots so far in this state tournament.
Much like KJS United in the Mennen Division, West Essex-Caldwell was battle-tested all year in the very strong NJIIHL-McInnis Division. Both teams have shown they can compete with the best of the best, and it will be very intriguing to see which team can book a spot in the sectional final. It’d be the first state semifinal/sectional final appearance for the KJS United program, and first for Kinnelon since 2013, when it lost to Morristown in the Public B semifinals.
West Essex, on the other hand, is seeking its first state semifinal/sectional final appearance since 2010, when it won the Public B state title.
Note: The Non-Public and girls state semifinals will be previewed along with the sectional finals after Monday’s action.
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Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 