Madison Hockey Earns Crucial Win Over West Morris

HACKETTSTOWN – After his team was outplayed by West Morris in the first period, Madison High School ice hockey forward Lou Cecala went over to beleaguered goalie Grant Perry with a message.

"I told him, 'You're playing a great game,'" Cecala said. "I'm gonna make a play and we're going to win this."

Cecala proved to be a man of his word on both counts. The forward scored twice and assisted on a third goal, all in the second period. And the Dodgers rebounded from an early deficit to pick up a pivotal Haas Division victory, 6-4, over the Wolfpack Friday night.

Greg Maxwell scored the game-winner five minutes into the third period for the Dodgers (10-4-1, 8-2-1), who moved into a second-place tie with West Morris in the Haas Division, with one week of play remaining. Erik Andersson scored a goal and added three assists.

Playing in an unfamiliar rink–the austere barn known as the Chill Out Arena–after an 90-minute-long rush-hour journey on Route 80, the Dodgers were vulnerable at the beginning of the game. And unlike in the teams' first meeting back on Jan. 4, West Morris jumped out to a quick lead, scoring two goals in the game's first three minutes.

"They outplayed us in the first period, no question," said Madison head coach Dave Hansen. "They're a good team, and this is a tough road trip. It's a smaller rink, there's different lighting. There are a lot of negatives to coming here to play."

Andersson pulled Madison within 2-1 with a long slapshot goal on a power play less than 90 seconds later, but West Morris (11-4-1, 8-3-1) dominated possession throughout the remainder of the period. The shot totals ended up being equal, but the Wolfpack controlled the puck in the Madison zone and methodically set up their shots; the Dodgers counterattacked well, but could not sustain possession.

Hansen, like Cecala, credited Perry (who finished with 22 saves) with keeping the Dodgers in the game in the first 15 minutes.

But everything turned in the second period, thanks in large part to Cecala.

"The second period was just all heart," Cecala said. "We were running around (in the first period), not playing as good as we usually do. And we know that West Morris is a good team. We had to come out and play with heart to beat them, and that's what we did."

With Madison on a power play, Cecala circled around the West Morris net and flicked the puck at Wolfpack goalie Ron Primavera. The shot was high enough that Primavera couldn't control it, and Brett Anton was waiting on the other side, an open net in front of him. Anton tallied the game-tying goal with 8:26 left in the period.

Momentum swung Madison's way just 11 seconds later, when Cecala came up with a beautiful backhander from the slot, beating Primavera and giving the Dodgers their first lead.

Cecala topped his previous effort five minutes later, shortly after West Morris tied the game at 3-3.

Spencer Waresk found himself trapped in the boards by a West Morris defender near the blue line at the edge of Madison's attacking zone. He somehow managed to flick a perfect centering pass to Cecala, who put another gorgeous backhander past Primavera.

"Lou loves to shoot the puck, and I told him to keep throwing it on the net," Hansen said. "It was a big spark for us. I'd say those two goals were the turning point of the game."

A disastrous final minute of the second period nearly undid the Dodgers' heroics, though. Seconds after Madison had killed off a frantic West Morris power play, the Wolfpack's Chris Williams cleaned up a scramble around Perry to even the game at 4-4 with 35 ticks left in the period. Then, Brett Perry was called for an interference penalty just before the end of the period.

But Madison managed to kill that power play, as they did all four West Morris man advantages.

That set the stage for Maxwell's eventual game-winner, a rebound a shot by Andersson, which put Madison up 5-4 with 9:50 left.

"We just hoped we could get out of the second period, but we didn't do that," Hansen said. "Killing the penalty was big. Definitely gave us momentum."

The Dodgers managed to hold onto the one-goal lead for seven minutes before receiving, in effect, a game-ending power play with 2:20 to go in the third period.

With West Morris playing virtually the remainder of the game shorthanded and still needing a goal to tie, Hansen stressed keeping control of the puck. The Dodgers did so, and Waresk cashed in with 1:03 left to ice the Dodgers' win.

"We want them to move the puck in that situation," Hansen said. "But most importantly, don't give it up. Last game we played against West Morris, we gave up a shorthanded goal with about five minutes left. They all move and skate well, and we had to make sure they didn't do it again"

The Dodgers ended a brief two-game losing streak that, because of a scheduling quirk, extended back to Jan. 21.

HAAS NOTES
Madison's win Friday tightened up the Haas Cup seedings considerably. The Dodgers moved into a second-place tie with West Morris at 17 points, three behind division-leading Roxbury. Madison has two league games remaining, against fifth-place Park Regional and Charette Division leader Mount Olive.

Two wins would earn Madison no worse than the second seed in the Haas Cup, which begins the following week. The Wolfpack and fourth-place Montville (16 points) each have one game remaining, both against Roxbury.

"We're keeping the Haas Cup in the back of our minds," Cecala said. "We know what we need to do to get a high seed and hold off on playing a team like Roxbury until later on."

NEXT UP
Madison returns to the familiar confines of Mennen Arena Monday night for a showdown with Haas Division rival Park Regional (7-10-2, 5-6-1). The Dodgers won . Brett Anton scored a pair of goals to lead Madison to their seventh straight league win. Park will be seeking its first win against a fellow Haas Division team, as their best result against a division opponent was a 2-2 tie against Montville in the season-opener Dec. 3.

SCORING SUMMARY
Madison             1  3  2  -  6
West Morris     2  2  0  -  4
FIRST PERIOD
W- Matt Shultis (from Kevin Cotter), 0:44
W- Devon Hall (from Shultis and Chris Williams), 2:03
M- Erik Andersson (powerplay, from Lou Cecala and Spencer Waresk), 4:17

SECOND PERIOD
M- Brett Anton (powerplay, from Cecala), 6:34
M- Cecala (from Andersson), 6:45
W- Eddie Hall (from Andrew Monaco and Tyler Kavanaugh),9:22
M- Cecala (from Waresk), 11:50
W- Williams (from Shultis and Kavanaugh), 14:25

THIRD PERIOD
M- Greg Maxwell (from Andersson), 5:10
M- Waresk (powerplay, from Maxwell and Andersson), 13:57

SHOTS ON GOAL
Madison             12   12  9  -  29
West Morris     12   12  6  -  26