Ramsey’s Alex Whelan (left), Glen Rock’s Brendan Rosario (center) and Kinnelon’s Dan Whritenhour (right) all played key roles in Round of 16 victories. The three schools are the only three North Jersey teams remaining in Public B.
We’re going to start off with the bottom half of Public B first, because the bottom half of the bracket was much more appealing in the Round of 16 than the top half.
PUBLIC B
Bottom Half
No. 3 Glen Rock defeats No. 19 Mahwah, 5-4
Man, what a game this was. The first thing Fair Lawn athletic director and Big North hockey liaison Cory Robinson, who was at what sounded like a classic at the Ice House, said to me when he got to the Ice Vault for the Bosco/Joes and Ramsey/Point Boro games was what an unbelievable effort Mahwah gave. “They really left it all on the ice,†he told me. My colleague Bob Shwalb was also at the game covering it for us and Glen Rock’s Griffin Meyers even told him, “Every time we scored, Mahwah came back at us 10 times harder. They refused to fold and I give them all the props. They showed a lot of character.†Following the game on Mahwah Hockey’s Twitter feed, that’s exactly how it seemed. Glen Rock would score, Mahwah would tie it. It happened like three times… and then Glen Rock was put on major Upset Alert when the T-Birds’ Marty Kapoian tied it late in the second and Zack Toy put Mahwah ahead, 4-3, with 27 seconds left in the period. “Being a senior, you see 15 minutes left and you’re down by one,†Meyers told Shwalb. “That’s our season right there. We used that as motivation to get the game back and take control.â€
Showing championship-caliber resiliency, Glen Rock did weather the storm early in the third, when Brendan Rosario delivered a highlight-reel laser three minutes in to tie it at 4. Luke Visconti then delivered the tip-in game-winner with 3:56 left in regulation — seconds before Rock goalie Matt Rosario made what Shwalb called the “save of the game†on a Kapoian potentially game-tying breakaway. Meyers left Shwalb with one lasting quote: “There’s no pressure on us. All the pressure is on Chatham and Ramsey not to mess it up. And I’d love to be the team that messes them up.†We are now just one round away from a potential Glen Rock-Ramsey, Part II. And to Mahwah, what a superb effort against a team that could very well end up at The Rock in two weeks. The Thunderbirds, after going toe-to-toe ’til the very end against Glen Rock, put out arguably the best performance of any Big North Liberty team in the Round of 16 — and that includes Ramsey. The T-Birds, who will lose 100-career point scorer Tyler Gutierrez (1 goal vs. Glen Rock), will bring back 10 of their top 13 scorers next year, including Kapoian, Nick Carabin, Luc Roberts, Shane Ciongoli, Paul LaDuca, Joe Moschetta and Toy.
No. 11 Nutley defeats No. 6 Summit, 5-1
Time to start taking Nutley seriously. The Raiders beat a very quality Summit team, 5-1, and will now get No. 3 Glen Rock in the same round in which the Panthers were upset last season (a penalty-filled 5-3 loss to No. 6 Mendham). Nutley is now 18-5 — with three losses to Montclair Kimberley (a team many believed was worthy of an at-large bid into the state tournament), one to Montclair and one to 27-1 Madison. Nutley also has a win over St. Joseph (Mont.) this season, too, which is looking better and better with each state win the Green Knights pick up.
No. 10 Madison defeats No. 7 Cranford, 4-3 in OT
The dream season in Madison stayed alive Wednesday night when Jack DeBoer’s overtime game-winner sent the Dodgers to the Public B quarterfinals in thrilling fashion with a 4-3 overtime upset win over Cranford. As I mentioned the other day, Madison is now 27-1 and, as fate would have it, will be attempting to tie the New Jersey public school state record for most wins in a season against Ramsey — the same program which set the 28-win record last season. Should be a good one Sunday night at the Ice Vault.
No. 2 Ramsey defeats No. 18 Point Pleasant Boro, 4-2
We have seen games like this from Ramsey at times this season. There was a 2-1 win against Ramapo (trailing, 1-0, late into the third before surviving with goals from Alex Whelan and Anthony Steffe), a 3-3 tie against Lakeland (bailed out by Whelan’s hat trick after trailing, 2-0) and again Friday night against Point Pleasant Borough. The Rams never trailed, but after taking a 1-0 lead on a Jack Jordan goal, they were locked in an unexpected nail-biter against a feisty and upset-minded Panthers squad who struck twice for game-tying goals in the first and second periods. But again, it was Whelan to the rescue, giving Ramsey a 2-1 lead in the second and then Whelan again, giving Ramsey a 3-2 lead in the third with his 45th goal of the year (Friday night only embellished just how important Alex Whelan is to Ramsey hockey, and credit Jonathan Yardley for digging up this stat: Whelan has scored a goal in 15 straight games and 17 of his last 18). Only after Justin Nicholson’s goal to put the Rams up 4-2 just over halfway through the third could Ramsey breathe a bit.
As is usually the case, Ramsey dominated the shot count (46-13… and they have actually outshot every opponent they have faced this season), but perhaps this was a case of the Rams looking ahead a bit. At this point in the year, it’s all about surviving and advancing… style points don’t matter anymore. But while Point Boro didn’t get a lot of chances, the ones they did get had to be alarming if you’re a Ramsey fan. A team like Chatham, Glen Rock, or even the Rams’ quarterfinal opponent, Madison, might take advantage of those chances more so than Point Boro did.
Now, Ramsey could come out Sunday night against Madison and drop a seven-spot in a 7-0 win (like they did in last year’s Round of 16 against a Madison team that was 17-7-2 at the time) and their performance against Point Boro would be forgotten. Maybe Friday night was a wake-up call for the Rams, but they didn’t have a game like that all throughout the state tournament run last year (10-0 W vs. Mount Olive, 7-0 W vs. Madison, 6-1 W vs. Roxbury, 7-0 W vs. Mendham before state final vs. Morristown).
Top Half
No. 1 Chatham defeats No. 16 Lakeland, 8-1
It was 3-0 midway through the first and 7-1 at the end of two periods, with Brendan Darby and William Barnett combining for eight points, as the Lancers were no match for the top-seeded Cougars in the Round of 16. For Lakeland, it is left wondering “What if,†had the Lancers been more generously seeded in Public B and didn’t have to see Chatham, Ramsey or Glen Rock until later on the tournament. Don’t expect the Lancers (15-8-3) — this year’s Passaic County champions — to go away anytime soon, however, with Danny Mullin, Shane Davison, Andrew Heck, Chris Wands, Luke Broderick, Michael Reilly, Kyle Andreniuk, Stephen Tuttle, Jake Joyce and goalie Sean Komjian all returning next season. Expect Lakeland to beef up its non-division schedule this year, too.
No. 8 Middletown South defeats No. 9 Wayne Hills, 7-5
The Patriots fell into an early and deep hole, trailing 3-0 and 4-1, before making a valiant effort at the comeback attempt with a four-goal third period, but the damage had already been done and was too much to overcome. Trailing, 4-1, entering the third period, Wayne Hills’ Maros Adamec and Danny Reidel delivered back-to-back goals in the opening two minutes of the third to cut the deficit to one before Middletown South struck for three straight goals to take a 7-3 lead. Refusing to go down without a fight, Wayne Hills’ Dean Hulbert and Reidel added goals in the final six minutes to make it 7-5, but that’s where the comeback bid would end. Wayne Hills outshot Middletown South, 49-35 (I wasn’t there, but seems very much like Wayne Hills’ 6-3 loss to Summit earlier this year), though allowed two power play goals and seven overall. Danny Reidel finished his brilliant high school career with two goals and an assist, giving him 50 points — 25 goals and 25 assists — on the year. Wayne Hills finishes the year at 13-8-2. Middletown South will get No. 1 Chatham in the quarterfinals.
No. 5 Kinnelon defeats No. 21 West Milford, 8-2
I was way off on this game, thinking there was some potential for an upset, though as Kinnelon proved, it was another case of the Mennen Division just flexing its muscle against non-Mennen competition. The Colts, who finished dead last in the Mennen and didn’t win a game (0-7-3) in the relentlessly competitive division, raced out to a 2-0 lead in the opening three minutes (goals from Dan Whritenhour and Ryan Less) and erupted for a five-spot in the second (Pat Grant, John Hatch, Ryan Less and Doug Caci twice) to go ahead, 7-0. West Milford didn’t score until the third, when the Highlanders — which finish the year at 9-11-3 and proved they were worth the at-large bid they received with a first-round upset of No. 12 Brick Township — received goals from Dylan Dinzik and Joey Fenui (I’ll get the full season and career stats later on, but Fenui has to be up there in goals, assists and points in the West Milford books). After struggling to find the net for the majority of its 3-1 win against Sparta in Round 1, Kinnelon looked very much like a state title contender in Round 2. Should the Colts get by Middletown North in the quarterfinals, they could very well see Chatham with a trip to The Rock on the line.
No. 4 Middletown North defeats No. 13 Indian Hills, 4-0
Though the Braves’ season ended in the Round of 16, chalk up coach Anthony Tabbacchino’s first year running the show as a success, with Indian Hills ending the season at 14-8-2 after starting the year 1-4. The Braves couldn’t hang with No. 4 Middletown South on Friday, falling behind, 2-0, midway through the first period while getting outshot, 34-14, on the night. Friday marked the end of Indian Hills goalie Josh Welte’s brilliant career (much to the delight of Big North Liberty coaches, I’m sure). While whoever replaces Welte will have some big shoes to fill, Tabbacchino’s specialty is coaching goaltenders so expect Indian Hills to again be in the mix near the top of the standings next year, especially with the Braves bringing back a slew of talented underclassmen, including junior Jon Hoogendoorn and sophomores Matt Paiotti, Liam Johnson and Cameron Cotter.