13th-ranked Morris Knolls and 14th-ranked West Essex are about as familiar as two teams in different leagues can be. The teams have met four times in the past two years, including the championship game of the 2001 Cron tournament. In each season, West Essex has pulled off the upset in a close, feisty first encounter, while Knolls has blown out the Knights in the second meeting. In 2001-02, West Essex beat Morris Knolls 3-2 for the Cron championship before the Golden Eagles won the regular-season game by a 7-1 margin. Last year, West Essex won the first game 2-0, but the game was overshadowed by a minor fight. In the state tournament rematch, Knolls crushed the Knights 6-1. After winning their respective semifinals Monday, the teams will continue their rivalry Wednesday night at Warinanco before a February 22 meeting at Skylands.
Morris Knolls 7, Cranford 2
Freshman forward Tommy Tomensky and his second line spearheaded an easy victory for Morris Knolls over co-host Cranford in the first semifinal Monday at Warinanco Rink. Tomensky and linemate J.T. Baxter had a goal and three assists each, and final linemate Curtis Glaab had a goal and two assists to lead the deep Golden Eagles to a 7-2 victory over the outmanned Cougars.
Cranford skated just two lines against three for Morris Knolls over the first two periods, and the Morris County school’s speed was too much. Tomensky got things started just two minutes into the game, finding Glaab at center ice with a long breakout pass. Glaab touched the puck ahead to Baxter for a breakaway, which he converted with a backhand through the legs of Cougar goalie Ben Streko. Cranford kept it 1-0 for most of the period, but the Morris Knolls first line doubled the lead at the 11:40 mark. Top playmaker Dennis Zak stickhandled through the entire neutral zone and into the slot before slipping a pass to winger Tom Brzezinski on the left side for a solid wrist shot and a 2-0 lead. The second line struck again with just over a minute remaining, as Tomensky carried into the zone with Baxter on a two-on-two rush. Tomensky carried to his left before dropping a blind backhand pass that missed Baxter but found first-liner Dan Duda arriving in the slot. Duda beat Streko with a high wrist shot glove-side for a 3-0 Knolls advantage at the first intermission.
Cranford replaced Ben Streko with brother Tom Streko and did pull to within 3-1 at the 6:25 mark. On their third power play, the Cougars crashed the front of the net, distracting the Knolls defensemen. This allowed Joe Conte to walk out of the corner, avoid goalie Alex Gredysa’s pokecheck, and bank the puck between Gredysa’s legs. Knolls responded in 19 seconds, as tic-tac-toe passing went from Glaab to Baxter to Tomensky for a one-time finish at the back post. The second line scored again 26 seconds later, Tomensky’s centering pass on a two-on-one deflecting to Glaab for a backhand finish. Even the third line got into the act for Morris Knolls, as Jon Erik Randazzo and Josh Baptist set up Ethan Scripture to make it 6-1. Zack Lancaster added a backhand for a 7-1 lead after two periods, but the game turned feisty toward the end of the period.
The third period was a relative bore after the pace of the first two and basically consisted of all four Knolls lines holding Cranford at bay. The Cougars got a rebound goal from J.J. Hoeffler against Knolls backup Rich Sommerkorn, but the Golden Eagles cruised to the win. With 14 capable skaters, two dangerous attacking lines, a serviceable third line, and above-average goaltending, Knolls appears to be the real deal. We hear this every year, however, and they haven’t even won a league game yet.
Player of the Game: Tommy Tomensky (MK)
West Essex 3, Old Bridge 0
I’ll admit to being a little disappointed by the second game. West Essex rotated just 11 skaters, surprisingly few for a high-ranked public school, and Old Bridge typically lacked organization, especially offensively. That said, West Essex was definitely the superior team and fully deserved its victory. Old Bridge came out flying but, despite skating three lines, never matched the intensity or effectiveness of the first two minutes.
West Essex got two power plays in the first period and made the second pay off on a good move by forward Tom Giampapa out of the left corner. He was allowed to skate wide-open into the slot as the extra man and get Old Bridge goalie Chris Padula moving the wrong way to set up an excellent high backhand that beat Padula stick-side. The score was just 1-0 at the first intermission, but West Essex came out fired up after the three-minute respite. Still, the northern Knights needed a break to double their lead. Defenseman Dave Yates unleashed a powerful point shot that appeared to be going well wide right, but Padula failed to catch it cleanly, and the puck trickled into the net. It was the only bad miscue for Padula on the night, as he finished with 32 saves.
West Essex could not add to its lead despite having the run of the play, and the Central Red representatives did not wrap the game up until midway through the third period. Forward Mark Koechling scored on a wraparound virtually uncontested by any defenseman to make it 3-0. West Essex cruised from there to the 3-0 final. Sean Moran stood out by making 22 saves for West Essex, but was rarely tested from close range. Old Bridge played for the home-run pass and lacked a discernible breakout plan, while the southern Knights often failed to get shots off even on odd-man rushes.
Player of the Game: Tom Giampapa (WE)
Morris
Knolls 7, Cranford 2
Morris
Knolls 3 4
0 - 7
Cranford 0 1 1 - 2
Morris
Knolls 12 18
4 - 34
Cranford 8 9 5
- 22
2:06
MK #15 J.T. Baxter (#20 Curtis Glaab,
#41 Tommy Tomensky)
11:40
MK #27 Tom Brzezinski (#22 Dennis Zak)
13:47
MK #14 Dan Duda (#41 Tommy Tomensky,
#15 J.T. Baxter)
6:25
Cra (pp) #13 Joe Conte
6:44
MK #41 Tommy Tomensky (#15 J.T.
Baxter, #20 Curtis Glaab)
7:10
MK #20 Curtis Glaab (#41 Tommy
Tomensky, #15 J.T. Baxter)
9:10
MK #43 Ethan Scripture (#16 Josh
Baptist, #42 Jon Erik Randazzo)
12:49
MK #11 Zack Lancaster
2:43
Cra #96 J.J. Hoeffler (#13 Joe
Conte, #3 Corey LoForte)
Morris
Knolls 0-2
Cranford
1-4
#1
Alex Gredysa (MK) 17-16
#32
Rich Sommerkorn (MK) 5-4
#19
Ben Streko (Cra) 12-9
#1
Tom Streko (Cra) 22-18
West
Essex 3, Old Bridge 0
West
Essex 1 1
1 - 3
Old
Bridge 0 0
0 - 0
West
Essex 10 15
10 - 35
Old
Bridge 8 5
9 - 22
13:13
WE (pp)#11 Tom Giampapa
6:51
WE #28 Dave Yates (#9 Brian
Robertson, #24 Brian McCormick)
7:45
WE #19 Mark Koechlin (#11 Tom
Giampapa, #35 Nick Coiro)
West
Essex 1-5
Old
Bridge 0-2
#33
Sean Moran (WE) 22-22
#33
Chris Padula (OB) 35-32