Surging Bergen Catholic earns shutout victory by Jim McConville special to The Record
WAYNE – It can be sensed in the locker room. It can be sensed on the practice ice. It can be sensed with every next game. Bergen Catholic is coming on, and it might just be the right time.
The surging Crusaders are now in prime position to take down the No. 2 seed in the Bergen County tournament after a 4-0 defeat of St. Joseph of Metuchen in a game that showcased just how far they have come since opening the season 0-4.
“The guys came in knowing what they had to do, and they executed,” BC coach Brian Monteverdi said. “You can see the way they process the game on the ice, they have an awareness and it’s those little details that are adding up to the successes we’re having.”
After a scoreless first period in which St. Joseph outshot them 8-5, Bergen got a pair of goals 41 seconds apart after killing off a penalty. The first goal came from Will Frasetto, who found the puck in a pile of players in front of the net and shoved it in.
The second tally came as Pierre LaMonica set up Bryan Hallenbeck from the left side, LaMonica’s second helper of the game. The two scores were indicative of the kind of grit that BC has been playing with lately.
“We’ve had some tough teams in our way, and we’re getting prepared better every game,” Monteverdi said. “We’re creating these chances by playing aggressively under control, and that translates into opportunities that we’re getting results off of.”
Good fortune sided with BC on the third goal, as the Falcon goaltender made the save and appeared to have it in the glove, only to see it pop out. Hallenbeck stabbed at it and it sat for Dylan Pasley to punch it in the net.
Frasetto added his second of the game with just under five minutes to go, and Chris Branch finished off his second consecutive shutout with a 22-save performance.
“What we’ve done is clean up that area in front of our net,” Monteverdi said. “We’re forcing the shots from further out, and when there is a rebound or a puck in front, the defense is swiping it out to the boards. That’s something we weren’t doing last year.”
Only a game with Summit on Friday stands in the way of BC and the two seed when the county tournament is selected next week. Monteverdi made sure his players didn’t get too content with .500.
“We talked about it right after the game,” he said. “You don’t want to see everything we’ve done right come undone because we get sloppy and complacent.”
MONTVILLE 6, RAMAPO 5 – The Raiders put their Bergen County tournament hopes in jeopardy, squandering a 5-2 lead and allowing the Marauders to win their first game of the season (1-9-1).
Things started out wonderfully for Ramapo (3-6-2) as Michael Pear scored just 15 seconds into the game. Pear added a second goal 7:24 in as the Raiders took a 3-1 lead after one period.
They increased it to 5-2 on an unassisted goal by Dalton Graham, but Montville scored four unanswered goals in the final 10:34 of the second period. Aaron Scheine’s third goal of the game tied it at 14:04.
Danny Scheine then scored his second of the game with seven seconds remaining in the second period for the eventual game-winner. Ramapo had a power play goal waved off with 58.3 seconds left.
RIVER DELL 5, WAYNE HILLS 1 – The Golden Hawks broke open a close game with three third-period goals to improve to 9-1 on the season. Wayne Hills fell back to .500 at 4-4-1.
Jackson Henig put the Hawks up in the first period only to see Tyler Mirman equalize for the Patriots. Joey Ragno made it 2-1 RD with 1:27 left in the opening period, and the teams went scoreless in the second period despite an 11-6 edge in shots for WH.
Jed Morone got the important third Hawk goal 2:25 into the final period and Eddie Dahdah picked up his third assist when he set up Christian Proot at 7:15 to make it 4-1. Ragno got second of the game at 9:33 to round out the scoring.
Matt Ajello had 22 saves for River Dell, which now awaits its seed for the upcoming Bergen County tournament.
MONTCLAIR 2, RIDGEWOOD 1 – The frustrating 2016 portion of the season ended on a sour note for the Maroons (1-6-3), as they dominated play for much of the game but could not find the scoring touch.
Down 1-0, Ben Reinke evened the game for Ridgewood in the first period. Montclair got a second period goal from Cary Collucci with 41 seconds left and made it stand up.
Ridgewood outshot Montclair 55-20, with Ondrej Smalec making 54 saves for the Mounties. The Maroons had a goal waved off and forced Smalec to make 8 saves in the final 1:30 while also hitting a post.
INDIAN HILLS 2, KINNELON 1 – A day after their first loss of the season, the Braves (8-1-2) righted the ship and continued their push for a top three seed in the upcoming county tournament.
The game got a strange start when Kinnelon was called for a delay of game penalty just six seconds in. Liam Johnson made them pay, scoring 21 seconds into the game on the power play.
Shane Lovell made it 2-0 in the opening period on an unassisted goal, and after a scoreless second period Jared Fatzer got Kinnelon (4-5) within a goal, scoring unassisted at 2:15 of the third period.
Max Flink stopped 23 shots for the Braves while Sean Hofmann collected 34 saves for the Colts
LAKELAND 4, NORTHERN HIGHLANDS 1 – In a battle of top public school teams, both teams played an aggressive first period that turned out scoreless. The Lancers finally broke through 5:31 into the second period, taking advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone.
Dan Martin scooped the loose puck and rushed the right side, throwing the puck in front where Andrew Heck was able to convert.
The Highlanders (5-3) even the game with a Keenan Alward score at 6:03 of the third period, but Lakeland netted three unanswered tallies, beginning with a Heck mini-breakaway down the middle at 7:22 of the period.
Luke Broderick scored an insurance goal and Heck completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with 59 seconds left. Carl Lorenz turned aside 25 Highlander shots for the Lancers (8-2-1)..