Clifton fends off Passaic tournament nemeis by Greg Tartaglia of The Record
LITTLE FALLS – Shawn Meneghin was the last Clifton player to take the ice after the second intermission Friday night.
The senior captain delivered a message to each of his teammates as they reentered Floyd Hall Arena’s Nova rink for the third period: “15 minutes.”
The Mustangs heard it loud and clear, holding the lead against Passaic County hockey tournament nemesis West Milford for the entire time en route to a 5-3 quarterfinal victory.
“For that [final] 15 minutes, it was either all or nothing,” Meneghin said. “I was just trying to get it through the guys’ heads, ‘You’ve got to come through for each other’.”
By so doing, No. 3 seed Clifton (7-4-1) will return to Floyd Hall today for a 5:50 p.m. semifinal against No. 2 Passaic Valley/Cedar Grove (8-6).
The Mustangs capitalized on a pair of second-period penalties by No. 6 West Milford (5-9-1) to take a 3-1 lead. Sophomore James Fusaro had both power-play goals and sealed the game with an empty-netter that caused Clifton fans to erupt with 54.4 seconds left.
The Highlanders had eliminated Clifton from the county quarterfinals three times in the previous four seasons.
“James putting that last one in definitely gave us a good feeling,” said Meneghin, who assisted on Fusaro’s go-ahead goal in the second.
Junior Nick Petriella was involved in all five Mustang tallies. He assisted on three and scored two, including a backbreaker with 18.6 seconds to go in the second. Sophomore Jason Finan added four assists, as the Petriella-Fusaro-Finan line racked up 13 points on the night.
“Last season was our first year together, and we put up a couple points together,” Petriella said. “But this year, we’re starting to click.”
Senior Chris Dressler pulled West Milford even at 1-1 with 34.5 seconds remaining in the first period and got his team within 4-3 with 3:27 to play. The winger also assisted on Dylan Dinzik’s 4-on-4 goal in the second.
“They’ve been a thorn in our side for the last couple of years,” Clifton coach Tom Danko said of the Highlanders. “They’re always a handful for us, no matter what seed they are.”
Goaltender Tyler Gibson made 25 saves for the Mustangs. He has allowed three goals or fewer in every one of their victories this season.
“He’s the kind of goalie that can steal a game for us,” Danko said, “and he helped steal one [Friday night].”
Freshman Nick Johansson stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced for West Milford.
WAYNE HILLS 5, WAYNE VALLEY 1: Dean Hulbert collected a county-tournament hat trick against the Patriots’ crosstown rival for the second year in a row.
The junior had one in the 2016 semis to set up a title-game meeting with Lakeland, and his three goals in Friday’s quarterfinal earned No. 5 Wayne Hills (5-7-1) another date with the top-seeded Lancers (9-3-1) in today’s 4 p.m. semifinal.
Alex Waterman added two goals and two assists for the Patriots, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Senior Daniel Mirman has missed the past three weeks with a broken wrist.
The No. 4 Indians (4-9-1) were missing three of their top four scorers – two of whom are starting defensemen – due to an out-of-town club tournament and were out-shot, 51-13.