By Mike Gurnis
After a dominant win in its Mennen Division opener on Wednesday, a young Morristown-Beard team learned quickly that wins like that in this division are the exception, not the rule.
A mere 48 hours after an 8-1 triumph over Morris Knolls-Hills, Morristown-Beard was right back at it on Friday. This time around, it had to respond to several momentum swings, and was able to grind out a 3-2 win over Chatham in a rematch of last year’s Mennen Cup final at Mennen Arena.
Marcus Cassidy scored the game-winning goal with 5:48 to play, while Evan Redman scored back-to-back goals in the second period which came 1:31 apart.
“We’re a young team and I think we did pretty good,” Redman said. “We kept our heads together, we played well as a team, and we all came together. Overall it was a great team win.”
The game-winner came just under four minutes after Chatham had tied the game on Jack Kostrowski’s wrist shot from the point. The game saw Chatham take the lead in the first period on Kieran Brendle’s goal late in the period, which went against the run of play. Despite out-shooting the Cougars, 7-2 in the period, the Crimson found themselves trailing.
Then, just a few minutes after Morristown-Beard had a goal waved off due to a kicking motion, an incredible individual effort gave the Crimson the spark they needed. Redman capitalized on a backhand shot from the slot which went top-shelf to tie the game, and then made an impressive move between two Chatham defenders to score and give his team the lead.
“That was huge. With a goal waved off, I think we knew it wasn’t a good goal, so I don’t think we were too worried or frustrated with the call,” Morristown-Beard coach Scott Greene said. “It’s huge because sometimes that stuff happens, and you can feel sorry for yourself and get down. But Evan making an incredible individual effort to put us ahead, was huge for us.”
Freshman Justin Blair-Herms had two assists, including a great feed to Cassidy for what proved to be the game-winner. Another freshman in Mikey Gonnella made his first career start in the crease for the Crimson, and made 11 saves to pick up the first win of his career.
“He was outstanding,” Greene said of his goaltender. “It’s tough in these games where it’s a low shot volume against, to stay in the game. He’s not the tallest player, so the pucks that got through were basically screens. But he stood on his head in important times and made some timely saves.”
In total, five freshmen were in the lineup for the Crimson on Friday. Sure, there is plenty of talent on this Morristown-Beard squad, with headliners like Evan Redman, John Gonnella, Trenton Fei, Marcus Cassidy, along with Alex and Mason Hriczov.
But even with talented veterans like them, there are still a good amount of younger players on the squad, and adversity-filled moments- like the ones it faced on Friday night- should serve as a big learning experience going forward.
“That’s going to be huge for us,” Redman said. “We’re a young team, and that just gives us a lot of confidence. Beating a good Chatham team like that on a Friday night, that gives the boys a lot of confidence.”
Greene added, “That was the message to the group. It’s tough playing in this environment. It’s the first game playing at Mennen for a lot of the kids. I think it’s going to serve us well in the long run, facing some adversity and seeing how we overcome it. Having that trust that if we stick with the process, we’ll have good results. I’m really proud of all the guys who were in the lineup today.”
NOTES
— Chatham forward Luke Brendle was injured in the third period and did not return.
— More from Evan Redman, on the team’s goals this year: “Obviously a Mennen Cup, another one (going) back-to-back. Hopefully states, that’s everyone’s goal, but I think we have the team to do it this year.”
SCORING SUMMARY
First period
CHA — Kieran Brendle (Luke Brendle, Rory McNally) 2:36
Second period
MB — Evan Redman (John Gonnella, Nate Cortell) 8:58
MB — Evan Redman (Logan Turner, Justin Blair-Herms) 7:27
Third period
CHA — Jack Kostrowski (Rory McNally) 9:22
MB — Marcus Cassidy (Justin Blair-Herms, Trenton Fei) 5:48
Shots on goal: Morristown-Beard 28, Chatham 13
Saves: Snowden Lange (Chatham) 25, Mikey Gonnella (Morristown-Beard) 11
Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 