League rivals West Milford Highlanders and Lakeland Lancers faced off on December 23. Students and fans filled the bleachers to watch the long awaited match. The Highlanders rose as the victors after a very intense game ending 6-5. All of the West Milford goals were scored within the first period. Nik Latronica opened the game with an assist from Paul Roth at 13:42. Five minutes later, Joe Fenui secured his first goal of the game, and Jared Calise had the assist. Lakeland intervened to get on the board after this. At 4:09, Chris Dressler helped the Highlanders with a power play goal. Fenui and Ryan Pych were the assists. After this, Lakeland managed to get their second point of the game. With only 1:10 left in the period, Dressler scored again. Only four seconds after this, Fenui got another goal. With 55 seconds remaining, Fenui secured a hat trick with assists from Dressler and Kyle Little.
The second period featured two goals from the Lancers. Goalie Alex Crevina was very impressive in goal. The third period was the most intense, but Crevina and defensemen Calise, Pych, Little, and Matt Filipek all contributed to only letting one goal in from the Lancers at 7:47.
Over the holidays, the team was invited to a tournament held in Montclair. The first opponent was Mendham, which the Highlanders beat 3-1. In the next round, Montclair beat the Highlanders by a narrow 2-0 score. The Highlanders then dominated Northern Highlands 10-3 to finish the tournament; however, that game did not count.
Back in the regular season, the Patriots from WayneHills were the first opponents of 2015. Unfortunately, this resulted in a 7-3 loss. In the first, Fenui had an unassisted goal, followed by a power play goal by Andrew Ajello with assists from Fenui and Dressler. The Patriots closed the period with a goal at 2:44. Fenui had the only Highlander goal of the second period, and the final of the game, this time with Little assisting.
Starting on January 17, the Highlanders will be participating in the Passaic County Tournament at Floyd Hall Arena. Senior Paul Roth admitted, “There is more pressure this year. We are expected to make it very far, if not win, this tournament.” Captain and senior Jared Calise added, “Last year we were the underdogs and weren’t expected to win, this year we’re contenders for the title.” Calise thinks the pressure will not affect the team, while Roth thinks “I think this pressure will help us play a better game of hockey.” Sophomore Kyle Little personally feels that added pressure means “I have to perform my best game in and game out.” Calise ended by quoting worldwide superstar Beyonce when he said, “I think it’s healthy for a person to be nervous – it means you care. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show.”
During the first round of the county tournament, West Milford lost to Lakeland 3-0. The defense just could not prevent the Lancers from scoring. The second round was the third time this season that the Highlanders and Lancers met. This game resulted in a 3-3 tie. Jared Calise led the Highlander scoring with two goals within 20 seconds of each other, and Chris Dressler finished with one spectacular goal.
