NJ Advance Media’s HS sports department used some of its time over the summer to republish semi-recent postseason honors that, for a variety of reasons, had become largely inaccessible, even to us.
We hope these republications will be a resource for HS sports fans around the state to settle Thanksgiving Day “remember when” arguments and to reconnect the HS sports community to its recent past. Look out for more sports and seasons as we continue to dig into the archives.
Please enjoy a look back at all of the champions from the 1991-92 boys ice hockey season.
State Championship
Delbarton wins final, 3-2, on Sullivan’s goal in OT
By Mike G. Morreale
It was natural that Delbarton’s junior center, John Sullivan, would score the winning goal against St. Joseph of Montvale. Last night, however, it provided the Morris County team with the NJSIAA ice hockey championship.
In two previous encounters this season with St. Joseph, Sullivan popped in both game winners. Last night, before 3,200 at the Mennen Arena in Morris Township, he did it again.
With 1:13 remaining in overtime, Sullivan banged in his 31st goal of the season to give top-seeded Delbarton, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 15, a 3-2 victory in a drama-packed game.
Oddly, the victory enabled Delbarton (23-3-2) to avenge last winter’s 3-2 loss to St. Joseph, also in overtime, in the state final.
If the game had ended at 2-2 after the 10-minute, sudden-death overtime session, the teams would have shared the title. The teams in 1989 had shared the tournament title when a measles outbreak forced the cancellation of the final game.
Sullivan’s goal was the game-winner, but it didn’t take away from a superb effort by St. Joseph’s senior goalkeeper, Dave Lehanski, who turned aside 31 shots, including many from point-blank range. He also stonewalled Sullivan on a breakaway attempt with just eight seconds left in the third period.
Second-seeded St. Joseph (23-5-1), ranked third in the Top 15, had won state tournament titles in 1984 and ’85.
But it just could not get anything generated in the Delbarton zone during the overtime.
“We had our backs to the wall and the kids weren’t thinking about a co-championship,” said Delbarton head coach Jim Brady. “We played with great determination in the overtime and I’m proud of our effort.”
The two clubs opened up in the second period by scoring twice apiece.
St. Joseph jumped to a 2-0 advantage on goals by senior center Ryan McKenna and senior right wing Peter Hurry.
McKenna’s 30th goal of the season came with 9:58 remaining in the period, with assists from Scott Soffel and Pat Moran.
Hurry’s 17th goal of the season came just 2:25 later. McKenna started the play when he blasted a shot from center ice that Delbarton keeper Dan Whalen could not control. The rebound bounced in front to where Hurry was stationed and he sent it into the cage.
Following that goal, Brady replaced Whalen in the Delbarton goal with senior Scott Ames, who didn’t face a single shot until only nine seconds remained in the period.
By that time, Delbarton had stormed back on goals by senior defenseman Kevin Mahoney and sophomore wing Pat Nelson to tie the game, 2-2.
Mahoney’s 18th goal of the season came off a perfect feed from Sullivan, who went down his left side and drew two St. Joseph defenders to him before finding Mahoney wide open in front.
Nelson then knotted the game with 3:04 left in the second on passes from Chris Loudon and Max Von Zuben before finally scoring.
Said Sullivan:
“We were never worried about losing in overtime. We knew we had to play hard in order to beat St. Joseph.
Last year, St. Joseph got the bounces in overtime. This year we got them.”
– The Star-Ledger, March 15, 1992
Full 1991-92 Slate of Champions
State Final
Delbarton 3, St. Joseph (Mont.) 2
Gordon Cup
St. Joseph (Mont.) defeats TRN for title
Scott Soffel and Ryan McKenna each scored twice to lead top-seeded St. Joseph of Montvale, No. 3 in The Star-Ledger Ice Hockey Top 15, to a 4-1 victory over third-seeded and No. 5 Toms River North yesterday in the championship game of the Gordon Cup tournament at South Mountain Arena in West Orange.
Soffel hit 6:58 into the first period on assists from Keith Bland and Pat Moran to give St. Joseph (20-4-1) a 1-0 edge. McKenna converted a Matt Mi-chalski pass 1:22 into the second period before Matt Brescia scored to bring Toms River North (17-5) to within 2-1.
Soffel knocked in his second goal with 3:50 remaining in the second and McKenna connected again with 23 seconds left.
– The Star-Ledger, March 1, 1992
Mennen Cup
Randolph wins Mennen Crown
Dave Stokoe, a senior center, scored twice to lead Randolph, No. 7 in The Star-Ledger Ice Hockey Top 15, to its first-ever Mennen Cup Tournament championship with a 3-2 victory over second-ranked and five-time defending champion Delbarton yesterday at the Mennen Arena in Morris Township.
Mike Wenzel gave Randolph (14-3-4) a 1-0 lead in the first period. In the second period, Stokoe scored on the power-play and then hit shorthanded to make it 3-0. Tucker Kroll connected in the second and Max Von Zuben put home a shot in the third to bring Delbarton (19-3-2) to within the final margin.
– The Star-Ledger, February 28, 1992
Handchen Cup
Montclair Kimberley 4, Indian Hills 1
Peter Benedict, a senior center, had two goals and an assist to propel top-seeded Montclair-Kimberley, No. 8 in The Star-Ledger Ice Hockey Top 15, to its first Handchen Cup tournament championship with a 4-1 victory over sixth-seeded Indian Hills yesterday at the South Mountain Arena in West Orange.
Benedict scored the only goal of the first period off a feed from Chris Burchell with 8:11 remaining. He gave Montclair-Kimberley (22-2-1) a 2-0 edge 1:13 into the second stanza off assists from Jeff Glasser and Mike Leichtner, before Indian Hills (9-11-4) cut the deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Glen McLachlan. Cliff Finkle hit 1:44 later to give Montclair-Kimberley a 3-1 advantage.
Burchell closed out the scoring in the the final period when he converted passes from Leichtner and Benedict.
– The Star-Ledger, March 1, 1992
Mercer County Tournament
Princeton wins championship behind Pearle
Brandon Pearle scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1:12 to play, to give Princeton a 3-2 ice hockey victory over Lawrence for the championship of the Mercer County Tournament yesterday at the Mercer County Park Ice Rink in Hamilton Township.
Pearle hit with one second left in the second to give Princeton (14-3-1) a 2-2 tie. Jason Battle opened the scoring for Princeton, on an assists from Pearle, before Carl Lester and Chris DiMeglio put Lawrence (18-3-1) in front.
– The Star-Ledger, February 25, 1992
New Jersey Invitational Tournament
Lawrenceville roars to title, 5-0; Delbarton wins consolation, 3-2
By Mike G. Morreale
Joe Zona, a junior center, celebrated his 17th birthday by firing in two goals and assisting on another to lead Lawrenceville, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Ice Hockey Top 15, to its third consecutive New Jersey Invitational Tournament title with a 5-0 victory over Peddie at the Lavino Rink in Lawrenceville. In the consolation game, junior center John Sullivan scored with 1:24 left in the third period to give No. 4 Delbarton a 3-2 decision over top-ranked St. Joseph of Montvale.
Lawrenceville (9-6), which got 18 saves from Paul Hutchins, took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Sean Owen ripped a shot past Peddie goaltender Brian Jacobs.
Zona took over in the second period when he scored two goals. His first came with 8.54 remaining in the perioc on passes from Russel Lee and Erik Johnson. “Everyone put in a fine effort,” praised Lawrenceville coach Allen Fitzpatrick,” whose team beat Peddie, 5-1, in last winter’s final. “It wasn’t a good skating game, but we got the performance we needed to win. It’s not that easy to play against Peddie, because they attack in spurts. We usually wait for teams to attack and then we counterattack. Against Peddie, we had to be the aggressor.”
Zona’s second goal came on the power-play with 56 seconds remaining in the second period. The play was set up by a strong move by Loucks, who
cruised from his end of the ice into Peddie’s zone, curled around the net and fed the puck out to Zona, who slapped it into the lower left corner.
Rob Miles and Loucks completed the scoring in the third period when Lawrenceville outshot Peddie (5-12-1), 11-2.
“The team played better than respectable today,” said Peddie coach Barry Luovich, whose team upended St. Joseph of Montvale in Friday’s first-round contest. “We had great efforts from Jacobs in goal as well as Mike DiMarco, Jason Healy and Matt Loftus. I’m hoping our performance in this tournament will give us a lift. I’m proud of the way everyone played this weekend.”
Delbarton (14-2-1) received a fine effort from senior goalkeeper Dan Whalen, who made 21 saves, including a block on a breakaway by Peter Hurry in a 2-2 game.
Matt Whiting had given Delbarton: a 1-0 advantage in the first period on a power play with 2:53 left. St. Joseph (12-3-1) struck back 1:34 later when junior Scott Soffel took a perfect feed from Pat Moran and skated in alone.
The two teams exchanged second-period goals. Kevin Mahoney connected for Delbarton 25 seconds into the period before Bill Sands ripped a shot into the upper right corner of the cage with 4:58 remaining.
Sullivan then scored the game-winner after he collected a loose puck in the offensive zone and quickly snapped a shot under Dave Lehanski’s pads from 12 feet away.
“It’s our biggest victory of the season and a big boost heading into the latter part of our schedule,” said Delbarton coach Jim Brady. “John (Sullivan) showed great composure out there Zoday and I feel Kevin (Mahoney) also had a splendid game.”
– The Star-Ledger, February 2, 1992
