Randolph edges out BTHS in hockey quarterfinals

Randolph High School coach Rich McLaughlin didn't need a detailed scouting report on the schemes for Brick Township High School's hockey team for Sunday's NJSIAA public school quarterfinal game at Mennen Arena in Morris Township.

"Brick plays the same way," said McLaughlin, whose team lost to Ridge in overtime in the semifinals last year. They're in a time capsule and play the same way they played 35 years ago when I was in high school playing against them. They're always working hard out there."

Nick Kovary scored in the crease off a pass from Evan Jones from just inside the blue line that beat Eddie Rafferty, who has been the No. 1 goalie for the Green Dragons through the latter part of the season. That was all Randolph (17-4-4) needed as it recorded its seventh shutout in a 1-0 victory, and Brick Township ended its season 12-9-2.

"I told them there's no hanging their heads," coach Bob Auriemma said at the postgame meeting in the locker room. "We played a tough, hard game and they were fortunate to get a goal and we didn't, although we had some good chances to tie it up."

Brick Township beat Randolph, 5-1, in their last meeting in the state tournament in the 2002 public school final. Randolph won its first state title over Brick Township in 1998.

The goal on Sunday was the only one allowed by Rafferty in three state tournament games that included a 10-0 victory over South Brunswick and a 2-0 triumph over Fair Lawn as Mike Auriemma and Connor Noonan scored and Rafferty turned away only 11 shots.

Brick Township on Sunday was outshot 19-18, but had some good opportunities in front after a slow start in which Randolph contained the puck through the first 12 minutes before Brick Township seized the momentum in the closing minutes of the period. It carried over to the second period where Brick Township had a 9-4 edge in shots.

"I think we were a little casual in the first period, giving them a lot of opportunities, and [we] burnt our legs chasing them down," Auriemma said. "The second and third periods, we started to stick handle and pass and dump in and work the low end.

"We came out a little cautious and not reacting quickly to make the perfect play, and that hesitation gave them the chance to have the extra step on us," he added. "And their goalie robbed us a couple of times in the second period, and their defense did a good job in front of the cage, so we couldn't get the rebound and get the stick on it."

That shift in momentum concerned Randolph's McLaughlin at the end of the first period.

"There was a lot of concern after that the entire game," he said. "They outplayed us in the second period and outworked us and outwanted it. Maybe we thought it was over, but they really took it to us in the second period."

A change in strategy by Brick Township changed the tempo.

"We were concerned early on," said Brick Township's Matt Dornacker. "We weren't getting the puck off the red line deep and knew we had to do that coming into the game. We tried skating through the neutral zone, but the coaches between periods said we had to get it through the red zone and get it deep. Our D [defensive] zone coverage was a little off, and we had to tweak that between the first and second periods. It ended up working out better for us."

"We didn't get our forecheck going. We didn't get it deep enough," said teammate and cousin Patrick Kearns. "We finally settled down and got the nerves out because none of us had been this far in the states."

But Randolph's defense responded. "They're a very disciplined team," Dornacker said. "You can't make mistakes, and they capitalized on our mistakes."

Jim Whalen revived Brick Township late in the first period when he fired a shot from the left side that was off the goalie's glove back onto the ice and Mike Graf was barely out of position for the follow-up. Moments later, Brendan Dowd took a shot that was saved.

Kearns fired a backhander in front in the second period that was saved, and Jesse Halleck had another opportunity in the crease moments later off a pass from Mike Graf, but could not convert. Dornacker had a rush to the net in the closing seconds of the second period with Kearns applying the pressure that was saved.

"This entire team is all friends," Dornacker said. "I've never played on a team like this. We're all so close, and I think that's what brought us so far. We're all friends, and we all wanted to win, the same goal. This was a good way to end my career. None of us had ever played in a game this big."

"We just have to move on from this," said Kearns, who is a junior. "We had a lot of good memories this season.