Dolan tallies twice in Morristown hockey victory

MORRIS TWP. – Whether it be Public A or Public B competition, the Morristown hockey team seems to thrive at NJSIAA tournament time.

After winning the Public B title last season, the Colonials moved up to Public A this winter. Through their first two tournament games, including Thursday’s 6-1 dismantling of 11th-seeded Montgomery, the No. 6 seed has outscored opponents 11-3 and appears primed for another long postseason run.

“Defense is a huge part of offense and I think we had that advantage tonight,” said Morristown junior defenseman Justin Leifer, who scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on the power play early in the second period. “Something clicked after the first period and we had a lot more energy in the second. The games only get harder from here. We have to play every game like it’s our last.”

Morristown’s likely quarterfinal opponent is third seed Ridge, which won 3-0 earlier this season.

After Montgomery applied some early pressure to open play, the Colonials struck first when junior winger Austin Cassabona found the rebound of a Jakob Defares’ shot sitting behind Cougars’ goaltender Chris Quesnelle and shuffled it into an empty net at 4:38 for a 1-0 lead. Morristown controlled the tempo for the remainder of the period, outshooting the Cougars 9-6. The visitors had an apparent goal disallowed in the period when it was ruled that the whistle had sounded before the puck crossed the goal line.

The Colonials capitalized on their initial power play at 2:03 of the second period to extend their lead when Leifer rifled a slap shot from the point past Quesnelle, who got a piece of the puck but not enough to keep it out of the net. Morristown’s third line then went to work less than two minutes later when Cole Shandlay took a feed from Jack Conlin in the slot and beat Quesnelle with a quick shot to make it 3-0.

The defending Public B champions kept their skating legs going in the second and scored again at 12:22 when junior Teddy Dolan stole the puck at center ice, skated in alone on Quesnelle, and flipped a backhand shot over the fallen netminder. Dolan added an empty net goal late in the third.

Morristown defenseman Nick Swiontkowski put the game completely out of reach at 1:20 of the third period when he scored off a solo rush to make it 5-0.

“It feels great to be back in the playoffs and get a game like this where things click,” Dolan said. “Our focus is on getting back to the state championship. We just want to start early and finish late like we did tonight.”

Montgomery 0 0 1 1

Morristown 1 3 2 6

First period: 1. Mtr, Austin Cassabona (Jakob Defares), 4:38.

Second period: 2. Mtr, Justin Leifer (Kyle Beyer, Bradley Greik), 2:03 (pp); 3. Mtr, Cole Shandlay (Jack Conlin), 4:00; 4. Mtr, Teddy Dolan, 12:22.

Third period: 5. Mtr, Nick Swiontkowski, 1:20; 6. Mont, Bryan Mayewski (Ryan Irving), 9:56; 7. Mtr, Dolan (Beyer), 12:37 (en).

Shots on goal: Montgomery 6-4-8—18. Morristown 9-11-7—27.

Goalies: Mont., Chris Quesnelle, Boris Gorelenkov (26-21). Mor, Evan Szary (18-17).