By Mike Gurnis
We’re down to just four Morris/Sussex area teams as we head into Wednesday and Thursday’s state semifinals/sectional finals. With that in mind, let’s take a look at all four matchups involving those teams.
Girls semifinal: 4-Morristown-Beard (10-4-2) vs. 1-Princeton Day (12-2-1), Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Codey Arena
This is the first time in the short history of the girls state tournament that Morristown-Beard doesn’t enter as the defending champion, or even the presumptive favorite.
After winning consecutive titles in 2020, 2022, and 2023, the Crimson saw their season come to an end in this exact round last winter, as it dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker in overtime to eventual champion Pingry. This year, Morristown-Beard got off to a slow start, as it went 0-3-1 in its first four games, and also lost one of its top players in Julie Jasaitis to injury early on.
But since then, Morristown-Beard has gone 10-1-1, with its only loss in that stretch being a 3-0 loss to this very Princeton Day team in the Librera Cup semifinals. Jasaitis is back in the lineup and has posted 16 points in seven games since her return on Jan. 28. Junior Reid Snyder (19 g., 12 a.), freshman Emma Fuchs (10 g., 10 a.), and junior Sylie Sawale (13 g., 6 a.) have all had very strong offensive seasons, while junior goalie Hannah Mortazavi has been terrific all year with a .937 save percentage.
It’s the fourth meeting between these teams this season. The teams skated to a 1-1 tie in the season opener on Dec. 10, then Morristown-Beard earned a 2-0 win on Jan. 14, before the aforementioned Libera Cup semifinals won by Princeton Day.
Princeton Day has plenty of solid talent, highlighted by Della Gilligan (9 g., 13 a.), Grace Ulrich (11 g., 6 a.), and Samantha Dandy (14 g., 3 a.). Kelly Stevens has had an outstanding year in goal with a .944 save percentage.
This has all the makings of a very low-scoring game with these two netminders going against each other, especially considering the first three meetings were all low-scoring. But Morristown-Beard will be motivated to get back to Prudential Center after losing last year, and its high-end forwards will find a way to get the job done.
Prediction: Morristown-Beard 2, Princeton Day 1.
Non-Public semifinal: 1-Delbarton (20-1-1) vs. 5-St. Joseph (Mont.) (18-4), Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Mennen Arena
Delbarton has been the best team in New Jersey, virtually wire-to-wire this season. It has not lost to a single in-state opponent all year, and behind a deep and talented forward group as well as a great goaltender in George Cote, it finds itself one win away from its third state final appearance in four years.
Standing in its way though is a St. Joseph team which has had its best season since joining the elite Gordon Conference just a few short years ago. It has had more than its share of impressive wins this year, as it knocked off perennial power Don Bosco for the Bergen County title, and defeated defending Non-Public champion St. Augustine in the quarterfinals of this tournament. It’s not a team that exactly lights up the scoresheet on a nightly basis, but it does have some solid forwards in Logan Hughes (19 g., 9 a.), Kyle Kondratowicz (10 g., 18 a.), and Shane Tobin (7 g., 13 a.). Junior goalie Gabe Florio (.922 sv%) has done a great job for his team in helping it win some tight, low-scoring games.
Delbarton, though, has not allowed a goal in its last four games. Junior Egor Andreev (18 g., 19 a.), senior Dante Rodriguez (18 g., 21 a.), junior Aidan Pasic (16 g., 14 a.), and senior Jack Gerne (17 g., 15 a.) highlight a really talented forward group.
This is the first meeting between these teams since the 2021-22 season. Delbarton won that one, 7-0, and while I think St. Joseph will put up a strong battle like it has all year, the Green Wave’s depth and skill will break through.
Prediction: Delbarton 3, St. Joseph 1.
North, Public final: 3-Randolph (19-5) vs. 4-Ridgewood (17-8), Thursday, 7 p.m. at Codey Arena
Both of these teams are coming off emotional wins in the sectional semifinals.
Randolph, on one hand, erased a four-goal second period deficit in a 10-7 win over Livingston, while Ridgewood earned its first win over defending champion Northern Highlands in over a decade, a 3-1 win in front of a raucous crowd at Sport-O-Rama.
Make no mistake about it, the story of this tournament has been Ridgewood’s LoSauro brothers. Freshman William LoSauro has burst onto the scene with 30 goals and 28 assists this year, including 3 goals and an assist in a 4-3 win over Ramapo in the quarterfinals, followed by a goal and an assist in the Northern Highlands win. A.J. LoSauro has been solid as well, with 50 points to his name this season. It also has one of the better goalies around in Jack Scali (.935 save percentage).
While Randolph certainly isn’t shedding any tears over not getting to face a Northern Highlands program which defeated it in this game last year and has been a thorn in the Rams’ side for years, this Ridgewood team will be a very, very difficult team to beat.
But, the same could be said for Randolph. This is a team that can erupt for multiple goals at any time, as evidenced by its game against Livingston. Shane Melly (35 g., 26 a.), Jase Zangara (25 g., 33 a.), and Vincent Crisafulli (21 g., 27 a.) have all had fantastic years, and players like Andrew George, Keegan Melly, Jacob Campbell, and Ryan Thomas all add depth to an already-terrific team.
Ridgewood did a terrific job neutralizing Northern Highlands’ top-end scorers in the last round. It will be a tough ask for it to do it again with how deep this Randolph roster is.
Prediction: Randolph 4, Ridgewood 3.
North, Public Co-Op final: 8-KJS United (13-8-2) vs. 11-West Milford-Pequannock-Pompton Lakes (14-12-1), Thursday, 7 p.m. at Mennen Arena
Could anyone have imagined and eight seed being the highest seed remaining in a sectional tournament bracket?
Well, anything goes in the North, Co-Op bracket, where upsets have ruled the day. Both of these teams have pulled off their share of them, with KJS taking down top-seeded Pascack Regional in the quarterfinals before dispatching fourth-seeded West Essex-Caldwell in the semifinals, both in dominant fashion. West Milford, on the other hand, took down sixth-seeded Verona-Glen Ridge in the first round, before knocking off lower-seeded Nutley-Columbia-Bloomfield and Lakeland-Hawthorne-Waldwick in the next rounds.
After a rough January, this KJS squad has found its early-season form again. It has outscored its opponents 18-4 through three games in this tournament. Braydon Sisco (43 g., 20 a.), the Mennen Division MVP this year, has been unstoppable with 10 goals and 2 assists so far in the tournament. Jake Prunty (19 g., 26 a.) has had a great year, while the team also returned one of its top forwards in Eddy Brown from injury in the last round. The team’s speed has overwhelmed its opponents in the earlier rounds, and will give any opponent it faces the rest of the way trouble. Add in a solid netminder in Brian Sisti (.910 sv%), and this team is on a run that looks very similar to Morris Knolls-Hills’ from a year ago.
But this West Milford squad is as hot as it could be. It has won eight-straight games, including a Big North Silver Cup title. It has proven it can win in all different forms- it won a 2-1 low-scoring game against Lakeland in the semifinals, and also won a 12-5 shootout with Nutley in the quarterfinals. Its top scorers in Kyle Gregory (29 g., 49 a.), Joe Barroquerio (29 g., 31 a.), and Timmy Riche (38 g., 21 a.) are a nightmare for opponents.
The teams met in the Ice Vault Holiday Classic on Dec. 22, which was a dominant 7-0 win for KJS United. No team has had an answer for Sisco and KJS’ overall team speed so far in this tournament, and that’s going to be what sends it to Prudential Center.
Prediction: KJS United 5, West Milford-Pequannock-Pompton Lakes 1
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Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 