Westfield Hockey Battles Summit to Tie in Cron Tourney

Both Westfield and Summit were coming off their first setbacks of the young ice hockey season Monday night prior to facing each other for the first time Wednesday evening in the Cron Tournament finale for both.

With at least two more games against each other in regular season Union County Ice Hockey League play upcoming, it appeared that neither squad really wanted to show the other just how competitive it could really be against each other.

That led to a slow-at-times, rather methodical performance by both squads.

In an uneventful-filled game that featured just 33 shots on goal and included only five two-minute minor penalties – which was a good thing - the two rivals battled to a 0-0 tie at Warinanco Ice Skating Rink in Roselle that included a 15-minute sudden death overtime period.

Both moved to 3-1-1 after the deadlock.

With the third-place trophy going to the winner on the line, you might have expected a game worthy of a little more emotion.

Although both teams fought hard to win, that wasn't really the case.

As a result, tournament officials are giving the third-place trophy to Cranford, which finished with a 2-1 record in tourney play and ahead of both Westfield and Summit, which finished with 1-1-1 tournament marks.

Morris Knolls won the championship and improved to 5-0 after beating defending champ Johnson 13-5 in Wednesday night's title contest. Johnson, which fell to 2-3, defeated Morris Knolls 5-3 in last year's title game, winning the tournament for the first time.

Westfield was coming off a very tough 11-1 loss to Morris Knolls Monday night in a game the Blue Devils had to play without one of their best players for almost the entire contest. Morris Knolls snapped a 1-1 tie as the second period began by outscoring Westfield 5-0 in both the second and third periods.

Summit was downed by Johnson 5-3 Monday night in a much closer affair. Johnson senior center Nick Villaverde, last year's Cron Tournament MVP, scored three goals, with sophomore teammate Sal Demarzo adding the other two.

As for the Summit-Westfield contest, both goalies were steady Wednesday night, with Summit junior Jason Stuckey making 16 saves in 60 minutes of play and Westfield sophomore Steve Wronski 17.

After being outshot 7-1 in the first period, Summit had the edge in total shots on goal at 17-16.

Westfield was 0-for-3 on the power play, going 0-for-1 in each of the first three periods. Summit was 0-for-2.

"I think it was a little carry over from Monday," Westfield head coach Dennis Doherty said.

Westfield, as well as Summit, could not get into any kind of flow or rhythm offensively. When enough offense could be mustered, most of the night's shots on goal by both teams were right at the opposing goalies.

"We had a tough practice yesterday, a good three-hour practice and we worked them hard," Doherty said. "That's what you do after you get beat 11-1."

In the first period, Summit did not register its first shot on goal until there was 6:07 left.

In the second period, Summit right wing Trevor Silverstein – who fired most of his team's shots on goal – missed an open net by firing the puck over the goal after getting to a rebound of a shot saved by Wronski.

That was the best scoring chance by either team the entire evening.

Westfield junior center and assistant captain CJ Meyer had four excellent scoring opportunities according to Doherty. One of them was saved by Stuckey from point-blank range.

"We were a little slow and a little lethargic today," Doherty said. "We had a couple of guys get injured on Monday that didn't suit up tonight, so we were asking a couple of kids who really haven't played much before this to step in and play a little bit."

Meyer got the puck ahead of Summit's defense and had a breakaway in the third period. Summit left wing Jeff Wycoff managed to get back just in enough time to thwart Meyer's attempt at a dangerous shot on goal.

"That's how Summit-Westfield games are, they are usually very tight, usually with low shot totals and you just kind of wait each other out and see what happens," Doherty said.

In overtime, Westfield had a two-on-one just 2.5 minutes in, with junior right wing Nick Attanasio getting the puck to Meyer. However, Meyer's point-blank shot did not end up on goal.

Silverstein, who scored all three goals for Summit Monday night vs. Johnson – one in each period – had two decent shots on goal in the extra session.

Both teams managed four shots on goal in overtime, but none of them too dangerous.

"The two teams are somewhat mirrors of each other - we want to be conscious defensively," Doherty said. "We've been playing against each other for years, so he (Summit head coach Keith Nixon) knows how I coach and I know how he coaches.

"You can see it was a matchup of our first line vs. his second and my second line vs. his first. You kind of want to work those matchups and try to take advantage.

"Nothing really happened today. It was boring. If you want to use a word, it would be boring."

NOTES: Westfield has two more games scheduled in December, both taking place next week. On Monday, the Blue Devils will be the visiting team in their first of two league games against Cranford. That game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Warinanco.

On Wednesday, Westfield will skate against Ridge at 8:30 p.m. at Warinanco in non-league competition.

Westfield defeated Cranford 7-2 on Dec. 7 for its only Cron Tournament victory.

The Cougars are now 2-3 and on a two-game winning streak after defeating Parsippany 5-2 on Dec. 10 and Mendham 3-1 Tuesday night in Cron Tournament play.

Before facing Westfield for the first time in league play, Cranford will skate against Governor Livingston Friday at 9:10 p.m. at Union Sports Arena in Union. That will be Cranford's first league game.

Westfield is 1-0 in league play, with a 10-0 win over Scotch Plains as the visiting team on Dec. 1 at Warinanco.

"Cranford is always a big matchup," Doherty said. "After we beat them they're going to be more fired up this time around.

"Ridge is definitely another step up in class for us."

Ridge reached the last two Public A state tournament championship games, defeating Watchung Hills 5-0 for the title in 2008 and falling to Randolph 1-0 in 2009, both games played at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Summit has one game left this month, which is a non-league contest Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Warinanco vs. Montville.

CRON TOURNAMENT CONTEST AT WARINANCO

SUMMIT (3-1-1)                                0       0       0       0 - 0

WESTFIELD (3-1-1)                         0       0       0       0 - 0

FIRST PERIOD:

SHOTS ON GOAL – Summit 1, Westfield 7.

SAVES – Summit 7, Westfield 1.

POWER PLAYS – Summit 0-for-1, Westfield 0-for-1.

SECOND PERIOD:

SHOTS ON GOAL – Summit 7, Westfield 3.

SAVES – Summit 3, Westfield 7.

POWER PLAYS – Summit 0-for-1, Westfield 0-for-1

THIRD PERIOD:

SHOTS ON GOAL – Summit 4, Westfield 4.

SAVES – Summit 4, Westfield 4.

POWER PLAYS – Summit 0-for-0, Westfield 0-for-1.

OVERTIME:

SHOTS ON GOAL – Summit 5, Westfield 2.

SAVES – Summit 2, Westfield 5.

POWER PLAYS – Summit 0-for-0, Westfield 0-for-0.

GAME TOTALS:

SHOTS ON GOAL – Summit 17, Westfield 16.

SAVES – Jason Stuckey, Summit, 16. Steve Wronski, Westfield, 17.

POWER PLAYS – Summit 0-for-2, Westfield 0-for-3.

27th ANNUAL CRON TOURNAMENT AT WARINANCO 

TEAMS (8): Morris Knolls, Parsippany, Westfield, Cranford,

Summit, Mendham, Johnson, Scotch Plains.

FIRST ROUND

Monday, Dec. 7

Morris Knolls 9, Parsippany 1

Westfield 7, Cranford 2

Tuesday, Dec. 8

Summit 3, Mendham 1

Johnson 12, Scotch Plains 2

CONSOLATION GAMES

Thursday, Dec. 10

Cranford 5, Parsippany 2

Mendham 8, Scotch Plains 2

SEMIFINALS:

Monday, Dec. 14

Morris Knolls 11, Westfield 1

Johnson 5, Summit 3

CONSOLATION GAMES

Tuesday, Dec. 15

Parsippany 7, Scotch Plains 1

Cranford 3, Mendham 1

FOR 3RD PLACE AND 1ST PLACE 

Wednesday, Dec. 16

THIRD PLACE: Westfield 0, Summit 0 (OT)

Tournament officials declared Cranford the third place

trophy based on its 2-1 record, which was ahead

of Westfield and Summit, which both finished 1-1-1.

FIRST PLACE: Johnson 13, Morris Knolls 5

CHAMPION: Morris Knolls, 3-0

SECOND PLACE: Johnson, 2-1

THIRD PLACE: Cranford, 2-1

FOURTH PLACE: Westfield and Summit, both 1-1-1

FIFTH PLACE: Parsippany, 1-2

SIXTH PLACE: Mendham, 1-2

SEVENTH PLACE: Scotch Plains, 0-3