Scotch Plains Wins Kelly Cup
With A Late Surge Vs. MKA

WEST ORANGE- Scotch Plains coach Matt Gunther said he has seen similar situations this season at other rinks revolving around contested decisions on whether the puck had actually crossed the goal crease.

Fortunately, for the second-seeded Raiders the most critical call that would be made all game long vs. top-seeded Montclair Kimberley Academy in Monday night’s Kelly Cup final at Codey Arena went their way as a 1-1 tie on a power play goal with 5:54 remaining quickly turned into to a 2-1 lead just 10 seconds later.

A wild, late surge by Scotch Plains turned what had been a 1-0 Cougars’ lead into a 4-1 victory for the Union County school which earned its first New Jersey Interscholastic Ice Hockey League cup championship and first-ever win vs. MKA to improve to 1-6-1 all time vs. the Cougars.

The game turned on the critical goal call as Scotch Plains’ star forward Anthony Lorenzetti tallied his second of three goals in the final 5:54.

The red goal light did indeed flash on the Raiders’ pivotal second goal; however, it didn’t appear to be clearly defined at the moment as far as how the puck had proceeded to wind up briefly in and then out of the net.

However, after a fairly lengthy discussion by the three officials in front of the goal judge, the score stood and Scotch Plains had its 2-1 lead.

“We’ve seen that type of situation a number of times this season, and like that where we thought the puck went into the back of the net; however, sometimes there was no one was there to make the call,” said Gunther. “Fortunately, this time a goal judge was there and it went our way.”

The officials ruled that puck had hit off the post and then when under the back bar.

“My eyes told me that it went in, but there were some stressful moments there before they (the officials) made their decision,” said Lorenzetti, who proceeded to earn his hat trick with his team’s final goal which came in the closing seconds on a shot from center ice that took an odd bounce past MKA goalie Daniel Canizares and into net to make it 4-1. “I’m definitely glad that they made the right call.”

Raiders’ freshman forward Charlie Sacchetti had made it 3-1 with a short-handed, empty-netter insurance goal with 39.4 seconds remaining after MKA had pulled its goalie and was attempting to net the equalizer.

Still, the evening had come down to that topical shot that had resulted in a 2-1 Scotch Plains lead.

MKA Coach Tim Cook was able to see a replay of the Raiders’ critical second goal in that frenetic, late stretch of the third period and it was evident to him that the call was correct.

“The video shows it went in, so fair enough,” said the veteran Cougars head mentor. “I don’t know if the ref defers to the goal judge, but that is what they did.

“And, it did go in per the replay.”

Top-seeded MKA (10-4-3, 8-2-2) had taken a 1-0 lead at 2:39 of the second period when Ethan Kilcullen fired one home from the slot for his 11th goal of the season off an assist from fellow sophomore forward Adrian Canizares, goalie Daniel’s younger brother.

The back-and-forth action saw each team take turns in controlling play as Scotch Plains (17-4-3, 8-2-2) held an 11-2 edge in shots in controlling play in the first period before the Cougars outshot the Raiders, 10-3, in the second period and had the better of play.

However, this time, Scotch Plains was ready to be the team to make the most of its solid play in the third period.

“It’s really been that way for us all year going into the third period,” said Gunther. “Several times we have applied the pressure first then stumble a little in the second period before coming out strong in the third.

‘Plus ‘Ant’ (Lorenzetti0 is our guy and he knows how to find the back of the net plus I knew our guys were locked in and ready to go heading back out on the ice for that third period.”

The way that the third period initially proceeded it appeared that the two teams were simply continuing a trend of just how closely contested the three games have been this season between the two Kelly Conference powers.

Back on Dec. 6 MKA scored two goals in the third period to turn a 2-0 deficit into what wound up as a 2-2 tie. Then, on Jan. 14 at the Montclair Clary Anderson Arena, it was a 1-1 game until the Cougars once again had a late surge, this time to produce a 5-1 victory with its own late surge.

“When we lost in January it was 1-1 until about five minutes left in the third period when they took control,” added Gunther. “They’re a great team over there and that’s why it’s been a tie, a loss and a win as we went 1-1-1 against them, and they never made it easy tonight.

“They have great goal tending, their defensemen are big and know how to move the puck and they are very well coached. My hat’s off to them and we just happened to get their number tonight.”

For Cook and the Cougars Monday night’s Kelly Cup final may not have been their best performance in terms of what has been a tremendous, late season surge by the Montclair private school which has gone 7-1-1 in the last month.

“To be honest, besides a good second period I was disappointed with our physicality and puck management,” said the MKA head mentor. “Those two factors are what brought us success this year, and were there in the second period.

“But, if you turn pucks over and don’t put them under pressure, they will be able to capitalize. And that is what they did. We did not do the little things necessary to win.

“Congratulations to them.”

Scotch Plains, which will now turn its attentions to the upcoming NJSIAA state tournament, has had its series of ups and downs this season, beginning with a 10-0-3 mark to start things off in December before going 7-4 in its last 11 games.

“It’s high school hockey and it’s a long season where some kids start getting sick resulting in a little hiccup in the road as you face some adversity,” said Gunther. However, we know that we have a really good team with a solid group of seniors and a bunch of underclassmen who buy into our system.

“They’ve just continued to work hard the entire season and you saw proof of that tonight!”

NOTES- Lorenzetti’s third goal of the night was also the 100th of his career. He has 35 goals and 16 assists this season…Both goalkeepers, junior Lorenzo Tittanegro for the Raiders and Daniel Canizares for MKA, played well and each had his share of terrific saves…The first penalty call in the game, which came with 7:15 remaining in the third period, was a hooking call on MKA junior defenseman Alex Shilkrot…Senior forward Ryan Mauer was called for high sticking for the Raiders’ first penalty with 1:15 remaining…Scotch Plains rebounded nicely this season after finishing just 5-17 and 0-11 in the Kelly Division last winter…Last season’s Kelly Cup final was a memorable contest as Verona edged Glen Rock in a 5-overtime thriller.