Northern Highlands celebrates Public B state hockey title

Northern Highlands celebrates a 3-1 win over Middletown North for the Public B state championship.

Robert Aitken Jr., NorthJersey.com

Christian Brothers Academy's ice hockey team concluded a season that will go down in the lore of New Jersey scholastic ice hockey Monday night with a 3-0 win over Delbarton in the NJSIAA Non-Public championship game at Prudential Center, Newark.

CBA (27-0-3), which won a state title for the ninth time and second straight time the NJSIAA has had a state tournament, became the first team in the state to go unbeaten in a season since St. Augustine went 23-0 in the 2006-07 season.

When the horn blew, CBA's players celebrated first in the center of the ice and then went toward their delirious fans - "The Colt Crazies''.

The Coltswon their final 26 games after a 2-2 tie against Seton Hall Prep on Dec. 8. They also recorded their ninth shutout of the season. They outscored their opposition 144-30 on the season. They went 2-0-1 against Delbarton on the season.

Junior defenseman Patrick Reiley scored two goals, including the opening one with 4:42 left in the second period. He also added an empty net goal with 1:35 remaining. Junior forward William Thygeson had the insurance goal 3:27 into the third period.

Senior goaltender John Donohue stopped 22 shots as he recorded his fifth shutout of the season and fourth in the last five games.

"It's incredible, especially beating Delbarton," Reilly said."Their goalie (Jason Cai) is incredible. The CBA-Delbarton rivalry is probably one of the most iconic in all of high school sports. You're playing for more than just your school."

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After an evenly-played first period, CBA took control with a dominant second period. The Colts had the first nine shots of the period and outshot the Green Wave 20-2 in the period.

Reilly's goal came off a rebound of a shot from the right point by senior forward Ray Cartigano. He fired a shotpast goaltender Jason Cai from the left faceoff circle.

Thygeson's goal came 22 seconds after the Colts had killed off a Delbarton power play on the only penalty of the game. He took a puck bounced off a linesman and roofed a shot into the net from the left faceoff circle. Junior forward Leighton Biesiadeckiand sophomore forward Derek Fiore had the assists.

Reilly's empty net goal came on a shot from the corner to the right of Donohue. The shot went right into the center of the net.

-- Jane Havsy contributed to this story

Middletown North boys team fell short of its goal of winning the NJSIAA Public B championship, but its memorable run to the final was something it can remember for a long time.

Two goals in the final 6:23 gave top-seeded Northern Highlands a 3-1 win at the Prudential Center, Newark in a game which sixth-seeded Middletown North (16-8-1) had a 31-18 advantage in shots.

"Our guys battled like crazy,'' Middletown North coach Don Wood said. "They have nothing to hang their heads about. They played as hard as possible for 45 minutes, I thought.''

It was Northern Highlands' second state championship. Middletown North was denied its second state title and first since it won Public B in 2015.

Northern Highlands (22-3-3) broke a 1-1 tiein the game that was attended by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on a breakaway goal by senior forward Will Fuller from the slot.

Fuller's second goal of the game came just after a Middletown North flurry, which included a rebound of an Andrew Grossgoing wide.

The Lions then pulled goaltender Luke Chrzan with 1:25 remaining and 23 seconds later, Brett Beswick iced it for the Highlanders by firing a shot into the empty net from center ice.

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Middletown North, which had an advantage in shots in every period, tied the game with 1:07 remaining in the second period as senior forward Jace Koenigsmark scored from the right faceoff circle off a feed from senior John Betz.

The goal sent the large contingent of Middletown North fans into a frenzy.

Fuller, who had the game-winner in Northern Highlands'3-2 win over Ramapo in the semifinal gave the Highlanders the lead4:45 into the second period when he stuffed the puck in off a wild scramble in front of the Middletown North goal.

Middletown North players and coaches thought the whistle should have been blown during the scramble, but the puck was still visible to the officials and the goal stood.

The Lions controlled large portions of the play, but they could not generate many clear-cut chances. When they did create chances, Highlanders' goaltender Daniel Moor was up to the challenge. Moor had 30 saves.

"It wasn't like we just showed up and they threw the pucks out and that was that,'' Wood said. "Our guys weren't satisfied with just the RFH game the other night (Middletown North defeated Rumson-Fair Haven in a state semifinal). They came to play. Northern Highlands just got the best of us.''

Middletown North's run to the state final included a dramatic 4-3 shootout win over No. 2 seed Rumson-Fair Haven as Koenigsmark scored twice 1:04 apart in the final 1:39 to send the game into overtime. The Lions then converted all four of their attempts in the shootout, including one by Koenigsmark. Chrzan had three saves during that shootout.

"These kids are like family. They did a heck of a job all year,'' Wood said. "These kids really took ownership of their season.''

In the quarterfinal, Middletown North defeated No. 3 seed Summit 4-0 with the aid of two short-handed goals.

The Lions defeated Wall 6-3 in the first round of the tournament.

Prior to the state tournament, they won the Shore Conference's Handchen Cup with a 2-1 win over St. John Vianney.

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