By, Steve Ciaglia
Hard Work Rewarded with Team’s First Win of the Season
New Jersey high school hockey is one of the most raw and pure forms of the sport. There is a different level of energy in a local rink. The cold air, bone-crushing hits, and the last-second overtime goals. While the 2025-26 Morris Knolls/Morris Hills hockey season has had a rocky start, the record does not tell the full story. The co-op team, a common structure in high school hockey, is strong. However, they’ve been forced into a challenging opening stretch. The result is 1-5 early in the season.
It doesn’t help that the Golden Eagles have a gauntlet of a schedule, playing #5 in the state, Morristown-Beard, #18 Randolph, and other top programs, #16 Morristown and Chatham. The stats prove the difficulty. Knolls has been outscored 21 to 8. The strength of the schedule presents a unique challenge for the team, forcing one to reevaluate with a different lens.
The team competes in the Mennen division of the Morris County Secondary Schools Ice Hockey League (MCSSIHL), a division notorious for producing tough matchups. The division is also home to some of New Jersey’s finest programs, and Knolls proved it just two seasons ago when they won the state championships.
The season opened with a matchup with private school Morristown-Beard, right at Mo-Beard’s home rink, Twin Oaks. Mo-Beard is considered one of New Jersey’s premier teams, proven through the team’s preseason No. 5 ranking from Big State Sports. Mo-Beard got to work early, as freshman defenseman Logan Schonwetter found the back of the net on the power play. That wouldn’t be the only goal of the period. Mo-Beard tacked on two more goals before the end of the first period.
Knolls junior goalie Nick Trento would hold strong to start the period. However, Mo-Beard outplayed the Knolls’ defense and was able to add two more goals to make it 5-0 before the 9-minute mark. Even while down big, Knolls had an answer. On a power play, Knolls was passing it along the blue line in Mo-Beard’s zone. Senior defensemen Brandon Strunck slipped a pass to fellow senior Wes Vnenchak, who would hold it for a second before ripping a shot into the top left corner above the goalie’s pads from the blue line. It was a beauty of a shot, and was the brightest spot on the night for Knolls/Hills. Knolls looked to build off it, but couldn’t hold the momentum. Mo-Beard would sound the horn three more times, and when the final horn sounded, Mo-Beard walked away with an 8-1 win.
Beard’s senior forward John Gonnella was the MVP of the night, with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists). Sophomore Goalie Kyle Sipple would relieve Trento in the game and would finish the night with 24 saves on 26 shots. Meanwhile, Mo-Beard’s goalie, Mason Hriczov, would allow 1 goal on 16 shots. Overall, it was a rough night for MK Hockey, and they looked to get a win back against Morristown.
Against the Colonials, the Golden Eagles struggled further. But it wouldn’t start that way. After killing a five-minute penalty, the Knolls/Hills flipped the ice and forced the puck down the boards into the Morristown zone. With just over four minutes in the period, Wes Vnenchak got to the puck and slipped a pass from behind the net to freshman forward Landon Brookes, who was in front. Brookes fired a quick one-timer past the goalie, who was still playing on Wes, for his first varsity goal.
“It took a second for it to hit me,” Brookes recalled after the game, “and then a crazy amount of realization and excitement came over me. The next second, I was getting hugged and surrounded by my teammates.”
It’d be the only goal of the period, giving Knolls/Hills a 1-0 lead entering the second. With 10:50 in the second frame, Morristown found the back of the net. Junior Andrew Summa took a pass from sophomore forward Matty Dvorscak and, once past the blue line, fired a wrister past Knolls’ netminder Kyle Sipple to score. It’d stay 1-1 entering the third period.
The goal gave Morristown a boost, and Andrew Summa rode the wave early in the third. He wasted no time scoring. After Colonials defenseman Wesley Thomas sent it towards Sipple (who would deflect the puck away with his pad), Summa rebounded the puck with a strong shot that hit the bottom of Sipple’s pad and flipped into the net. A lucky goal perhaps, but it gave Morristown a 2-1 lead. After keeping the puck in Morristown’s zone for most of the period, Morristown would send it back down the ice. It wouldn’t work out for them. They’d fire three shots at Sipple before the Golden Eagles’ defensemen, Landon Brookes, rocked it back down the ice. Vnenchak would pick it up in the neutral zone and fire a shot, which was saved by the Morristown goalie. But he’d let the puck drop from his glove right for Dylan Regan, who ripped one past him for the equaliser. It would be Morristown who would get the last laugh. As the seconds wound down, the Colonials entered the Eagles’ zone. Knolls/Hills would do a good job at keeping the puck away from the net, but when junior defenseman Maxsim Lagutin got the puck off a Luke Williams pass, he fired a slap shot that landed just behind Sipple. The clock read 0:04. Four seconds away from overtime. It was a crushing defeat, and dropped the team to 0-2.
All eyes shifted to Randolph. This was a true, blue-blooded, Mennen division rivalry. Randolph had won the division in the past two seasons, proving to be a New Jersey powerhouse. In recent years, the rivalry has been a bit more lopsided. The last time MK/MH had defeated Randolph was in 2021. Since 2022, Randolph has had a perfect 6-0 record vs the Golden Eagles.
And that didn’t change.
After the first period, Randolph led 1-0. And by the 2-minute mark in the second, they’d have tacked on two more to make it 3-0. That’s when Knolls found its spark. After a Randolph clear into the Knolls’ defensive zone, senior forward Daniel Onufer scooped it up. Onufer carved through Randolph players to the blue line before firing a shot that landed in the back of the net. As the horn sounded to end the second period, it was a 3-1 Randolph lead.
Early in the third, the Golden Eagles were on the power play. In the neutral zone, Ryan Nevins slipped a pass to Brandon Strunck. Strunck slipped through three Randolph defenders with freshman forward Michael Stacey coming up the right side. In a 2v1 situation, Strunck flipped a pass to Stacey, who held, aimed, and fired to the left side of the goalie for his first varsity goal. Suddenly, Knolls was right back in it.
Four minutes later, Nevins found the back of the net to tie it up on a swift shot from in front of the net. It was a perfect set-up, as Vnenchak passed it to Nevins when he had another player on the opposite side lined up. The goalie was fooled, and Knolls capitalised to make it 3-3.
The improvement from the first two matchups was clear, but they would be unable to keep the train moving. After the 9-minute mark, it took Randolph four minutes to put the game away. Ryan Thomas and Vincent Crisafulli put two behind Sipple while Shane Melly completed the hat-trick with his third goal of the night in between. By the time the final horn sounded, Randolph walked away with a 6-3 victory.
The following week, Knolls went up against Chatham. Knolls looked to snap the three-game skid against yet another difficult opponent. Owen Young opened the scoring for Chatham on a wrister from in front of the net. The first-period goal came two minutes into the game and immediately set the tone. In the following frame, Nate Crowley found the back of the net on a smooth snap shot that went to the right of Sipple. Through two, it was 2-0 Chatham, and another defeat looked to be on the cards.
Something changed within that locker room between the 2nd and 3rd period. Knolls came out flying in the 3rd frame. They kept pressure in the Chatham zone, forcing shots, and when the puck was cleared back down, got the offense going again. And it paid off. On the power play, Dylan Regan took a shot that bounced off the goalie’s pad. Ryan Nevins, playing right off the left post, ripped a shot off the rebound, that flew right into the net. Suddenly, the 2-0 deficit was knocked to one. Knolls rode the momentum. With 9:20 to play and a player in the box, Knolls was shorthanded. Wes Vnenchak decided that wasn’t an issue. After a Knolls clear was scooped by a Chatham defenseman, Vnenchak intercepted a poor pass attempt. On the breakaway, the senior didn’t falter. He crossed up the goalie and slotted a shot behind to level the score. It was a huge goal for Knolls. And while Knolls would eventually fall 4-2, it was a moment that showed fans and players alike that the team was starting to find its footing.
All eyes looked towards then the 13th ranked team KJS (the Kinnelon, Jefferson, and Sparta tri-op team). A fair opponent in their own right, but if Knolls was going to get into the win column, this was the game to do it.
It didn’t start strong. 5:40 into the opening frame, senior defenseman Alex Roslan scooped a Knolls clear by his own red line. He followed by lifting the puck left for forward Eddie Brown, who then sent it up to junior Ryan Saletto. After looking up ice, Saletto picked out the crease in the Knolls’ defense. He ripped a snap-shot into the top left above Knolls’ goalie Nick Trento (who was making his return to the net after three games). The goal gave KJS some of the starting momentum.
But Knolls had other plans.
It’d take four minutes, but after an Aiden Marvel pass, Ryan Nevins flipped a shot. The puck bounced off the shaft of the goalie’s stick into the net. Knolls stayed firing on all cylinders, putting pressure on KJS goalie Stefan Filewicz. With 2:43 remaining in the first and KJS in the Knolls defensive zone, Dylan Regan intercepted a pass from senio you were at this has been what does hockey that’s why you said it just started very interesting. How many pages well, it’s something r defenseman Alex Roslan and broke away. With a defenseman hot on his heels, Regan pulled a fake left. The defenseman played it, but Regan wasn’t there. Roslan could only watch as he fell onto the ice. Regan pushed twice on the ice and slipped a pass to Wes Vnenchak. The pass was slightly offline, but Marvel was there to rip a shot past Filewicz and into the twine. Suddenly, the 1-0 deficit was a 2-1 Knolls lead. The Golden Eagles added one more goal in the first. With 20 seconds left, captain Brandon Strunck skated around the back of the net. With the goalie, a defenseman, and his own teammate blocking the net, Strunck threaded the puck through the traffic. When the first period ended, it was 3-1 Knolls.
From there, it was classic hockey. End-to-end action with nobody able to break through. At least that was the case until the 4:10 mark. On the power play, KJS had been pressuring Trento. Near the blue line, Cody Sutton tipped a pass to Eddie Brown. Brown ripped a shot toward Trento, who made the blocker save. But Trento’s effort wasn’t rewarded. Michael Pandiscia tipped it into the net past Trento. It wasn’t his fault, but the scoreboard does not care. KJS had pulled the game back to one. The third unfolded much like the second. KJS was feeling the loss creeping in. They knew they needed a goal. With four minutes left in the game, they found it. On a center-ice face- off, the puck stayed in the neutral zone by the MK blueline. That’s when a Knolls clear got broken up. Eddie Brown, who had two assists on the night, broke away with the puck. Brown skated around two Knolls defensemen and fired from the left faceoff dot off balance. He played Trento perfectly, sounding the horn and tying the game at three apiece. Knolls was suddenly in severe danger of dropping to 0-5. Trento and Filewicz would hold strong, not allowing another goal before the end of the third. The game would go to overtime.
Overtime rules are simple. In New Jersey, it’s 4 on 4 (plus goalie) for 5 minutes. The first goal wins, and if nobody scores, then the game ends in a tie.
The referee dropped the puck to open the extra frame, and KJS immediately started playing defensively. Defenseman Alex Roslan tried to rush the action into the Knolls zone, but was stopped by senior Ethan Shumaker-Gromek. It’d set the tone for the overtime period, both teams rushing into action. Both teams were unable to break the goalie. Defenses holding strong.
The period had an extra level of physicality as well. Players weren’t afraid to dish out a hit or take one as well. Throughout the period, it was commonplace to see a player down on the ice if they were near the puck. There were multiple times KJS had a chance to win. They were mounting pressure on Trento and Knolls as a whole. But Knolls was playing like a machine. They were able to keep pucks away from Trento, allowing him to breathe just a little bit easier.
With 1:08 left in the game, no matter what, Knolls won a faceoff in their own zone. Brandon Strunck took off with the puck, sliding past defenders and dangling the puck at will. His first shot was just offline. Instead of slowing down, he added a quick burst of speed and snatched the puck right back. He passed it out to a teammate and allowed the play to develop. When the play faltered, he was there, with the puck. The seconds were winding off the clock.
41…40…39…
Strunck, with the puck, skated in front of the net. He’d fire off a clean slap shot that sailed right past the goalie. The captain delivered. A hard-fought, gritty, 4-3 win versus the No. 13-ranked team in the state. From there, it was pandemonium in the Skylands Ice World Coliseum. The entire Knolls bench embraced Strunck by the boards. The team had secured their first win, and in one of the most dramatic ways possible.
The win was the payoff to the Golden Eagles’ hard work. The team, with one of the most brutal opening stretches in New Jersey, had managed to stay in almost every game. 1-4 does not define this team; it’s a label they don’t deserve.
While the Golden Eagles dropped their following game to Mendham in overtime, the season is still young. There is plenty to play for as the season progresses. Anyone following the 25/26 Knolls-Hills Golden Eagles should have high hopes for the second half.
