All-Tournament Team:
G-Joe Aliseo, Hudson Catholic
D-Jason Ortolano, Hudson Catholic
D-Aron Bell, Summit
F-Dave Bodson, Bayonne
F-Brady Crooks, Seton Hall Prep
F-Ryan Trott, Seton Hall Prep
3/20/00:State Final-Hudson Catholic 4, Bayonne 2
     Hudson Catholic earned its first state title on Monday with a surprisingly close 4-2 decision over Bayonne in a game that lacked the excitement of past championship games and past tournament games from this year.  The Hawks took control in the game's first three minutes.  Mike Lagola got it started at the 2:04 mark with a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Bayonne goalie Scott Lewkowitz.  Mike Caputo one-timed Ryan Trott's center from behind the net past Lewkowitz for a 2-0 lead.  It looked like the rout was on, but Bayonne struck with a shorthanded goal at the 9:53 mark.  Dave Bodson interecepted a pass at the Hawk blue line and skated in on Joe Aliseo with a breakaway.  He faked to his backhand and beat the junior netminder up high for his ninety-first and final point of the season.  After a 15-4 shot advantage in the first, Hudson took a 3-2 lead midway through the second when Pat Percella's shot from the right circle found its way through traffic and past Lewkowitz.  The Hawks sealed the game under a minute later when Pete Haglund one-timed a centering pass past Lewkowitz.  Hudson got its four goals in pairs, the first coming fifty-three seconds apart and the second coming forty-nine seconds apart.  Stephen Szara scored for Bayonne early in the third, but Joe Aliseo made enough key stops and Hudson Catholic was too skilled for the Bees.  Final shot totals were 37-18.
3/18/00:Parochial Final-(1) Hudson Catholic 2, (3) Seton Hall Prep 1
     Joe Aliseo stopped thirty-five shots to lead Hudson Catholic to a 2-1 win over three-time defending sectional champion and two-time defending state champion Seton Hall Prep.  The Hawks claimed their first sectional or state title in ice hockey despite being outshot 36-20.  Ryan Trott scored the game's first goal at the 1:25 mark of the second period.  The puck caromed off of a Seton Hall player and into the pads of Geordan Murphy.  Trott banged it home before the whistle could blow and Hudson had a 1-0 lead.  They made it 2-0 at the 6:36 mark of the third period with a beautiful goal.  After an excellent job at the blue line of keeping the puck in the zone, Mike Caputo sent a pass down low to Trott, giving Hudson a two-on-zero.  Trott cut to his right before dropping the puck back to his left where Frank Baker one-timed it over a diving Murphy.  Seton Hall got to within 2-1 a minute and half later.  Alex Beatrice hit Brady Crooks with a beautiful diagonal pass on the power play and Crooks, all alone, beat Aliseo with a perfect wrist shot to the upper right corner.  Despite pulling Murphy with 0:29.7 to play, the Pony Pirates could manage just one shot with the six-on-five advantage, and suffered their first state tournament loss since the state final in 1997.
3/18/00:Public Final-(2)Bayonne 6, (4)Summit 3
      Summit's Cinderella run was put to an end by a determined Bayonne team, but not before the Hilltoppers and their fans gave the state a surprise.  Summit took the lead at the 2:28 mark when Aron Bell found a loose puck in the neutral zone and took on a Bayonne defender in the offensive zone.  Bell faked to his left, brought the puck to his right, and beat Scott Lewkowitz with a high wrist shot.  Bayonne tied it soon after.  After some fancy stickhandling in front, star Dave Bodson fired a shot that Dana Henderson stopped.  The long rebound, however, caromed right to Brian Drago just to the left of the slot, and he blasted a one-timer into the top of the net to tie the game.  The first period went back and forth, and finished 1-1, with Summit holding a 10-8 shot advantage.
      Almost midway through the second period, Summit went on the power play.  Midway through the power play, a seemingly clean hipcheck was whistled as a holding penalty against Summit, and Bayonne eventually went on the power play.  The Bees capitalized, as Bodson made a perfect pass from behind the net to Joe Barone in the left slot, who one-timed it past Henderson for a 2-1 lead.  Yet Cinderella seemed alive and well when Mike Satorius' centering pass caromed off a Bayonne defender and past Lewkowitz at the 10:13 mark to tie the game once again.  Bayonne, which was in control most of the game despite being outshot, wasted little time in striking back.  The game's biggest goal was the only one on which Dave Bodson did not have a point.  Leo Smith came down the left wing with a two-on-two break.  He cut towards the slot and fired a wrist shot that caught Henderson off guard and slipped through the five-hole.  The Bees took firm command over two minutes later when Bodson banged a loose rebound past Henderson while the Hilltopper goalie didn't know where the puck was.
      Bayonne took an overwhelming 5-2 lead at the 11:08 mark of the third period.  Bodson hit Brian Drago with a slick pass and Drago finished his second goal of the game with a low wrist shot to the near post.  Summit got back to within two goals just a minute later when Matt Starker's centering pass from behind the net caromed off of a Bayonne player and past Lewkowitz, but Bodson's empty netter with 0:23 left sealed the game.  Bodson finished with two goals and three assists, giving him 90 points on the season as his Bees captured the sectional title with their third win of the year over a game Summit squad.  The Hilltoppers collectively acknowledged their fans' support following the game as the fans and players showed their support for one another.
3/10/00:Parochial Semifnal-(3) Seton Hall Prep 2, (2) Delbarton 1
      Geordan Murphy was the difference as (3) Seton Hall Prep upset (2) Delbarton in the parochial semifinals before a raucous crowd of over 2000.  Murphy made 30 saves, including many from point-blank range, as Delbarton dominated the game, outshooting the Hall 31-17.
      The first period contained few good chances and was fairly uneventful, with Seton Hall holding a 9-5 edge in shots.  Delbarton picked up its play in the second period, outshooting the Pony Pirates 10-3, but Seton Hall struck first.  At the 4:50 mark, Ryan Collis picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, split two Delbarton defenders, and slid the puck just under the pads of Ross Cherry for a 1-0 lead.  It took most of the period, but Delbarton finally tied it at the 13:00 mark as Chip Campbell deflected Chas McLaughlin's point shot past Murphy.
      The Green Wave dominated the third period, but with 7:12 remaining, Matt LaPaglia was whistled for interference.  The Delbarton penalty kill was dominant, as it had been throughout the game, but three men got caught up ice on a shorthanded rush, and Seton Hall then had an odd-man rush.  Scott Eberenz capitalized, beating Ross Cherry from the right circle with a shot to the far post with just 5:42 left.  Seton Hall held on down the final, frantic minutes as Murphy made the difference.

3/11/00:Parochial Semifnial-(1) Hudson Catholic 4, (4) Bergen Catholic 2
     Hudson Catholic overcame a lackluster performance to defeat Bergen Catholic 4-2 and advance to the parochial championship.  Brian Liamero gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead just 1:54 into the contest.  He stole the puck in the offensive zone and skated in on Joe Aliseo with a breakaway.  The lefty faked out Aliseo and flipped the puck in with his forehand.  Hudson Catholic tied it at the 6:00 mark as Logan Levy's wrist shot from just over the blue line caught BC goalie Eric Sotsey off guard and went between his legs.  BC held a 7-3 shot advantage in the first period and also rang two posts.
      Liamero got the lead back early in the second period.  He put in the rebound of a Jason May opint shot on the power play at the 1:46 mark.  HC tied the game also on the power play at the 12:31 mark.  In a play surprisingly similar to the Hawks' first goal, Jason Ortolano skated over the blue line and beat Sotsey with a wrist shot, glove side this time.  HC held a 9-6 shot advantage.
     The Hawks took over the game midway through the third.  Bergen Catholic turned the puck over in its defensive zone, giving HC a three-on-two, and one Crusader defenseman was without a stick.  Logan Levy fed Mike Caputo in the right corner, who hit Frank Baker at the far side of the slot.  Baker flicked it over a sprawling Sotsey and HC had control.  Bergen Catholic did have a goal waved off because a Hudson Catholic player dislodged the net, but Hudson Catholic held on and Peter Haglund added an empty-netter with 0:08 remaining.  Joe Aliseo finished with twenty-one saves for the Hawks, and the game finished even in shots, 23-23.

3/11/00:Public Semifinal-(4) Summit 3, (1) Brick Township 2
      Summit pulled off one of the biggest upsets in state history, and certainly the biggest in the six-year history of the public sectional when they stunned top-seeded and four-time defending public school champion Brick Township, 3-2.  The Hilltoppers got on top early, as Matt Tsiang found a loose puck in the slot and beat Joe Pearce stick side, sending the raucous Summit fans into a frenzy.  It brought back memories of last year, when Westfield took a 1-0 lead before Brick crushed the Blue Devils 8-1.  But this year, Dana Henderson was in the way, as the senior netminder held off the Green Dragons whenever they got shots on net.  Summit iced the puck innumerable times and was outshot 11-1 in the first period, but held a 1-0 lead.
      Mennen Arena got a notch louder at the 3:40 mark of the period.  Jeff Garibaldi threw the puck in front from the right corner and caromed off a Brick defender and past Pearce to give Summit a 2-0 lead.  Garibaldi took a centering pass from David Haire and beat Pearce stick side at the 5:13 mark, stunning both Brick Township and the fans.  "Holy cow!" and "good God!" were on everyone's lips as we stared at each other, openmouthed in astonishment and wonder at the possibilities.  Brick got one goal back at the 6:12 mark.  Bobby Acropolis won a face-off in the Summit zone and Brad Sorrentino tipped Danny Acropolis' shot past Henderson to make it 3-1.  Still, despite being outshot 12-4 in the period, Summit held a 3-1 lead heading to the third.
     Brick Township hurt itself in the third period, as they took five penalties.  Perhaps frustrated at being behind and without the home-ice advantage of the Ocean Ice Palace to back them, the Green Dragons spent a good portion of the period in the box, allowing Summit to only be outshot 11-10.  Yet they pulled to within 3-2 at the 4:26 mark.  Shorthanded by two men, Bobby Acropolis stripped Aron Bell of the puck at the Brick blue line, fought off Bell in the neutral zone, and collected the puck in the offensive zone for a breakaway before beating Henderson with a forehand wrist shot.  It seemed that Brick would overcome the Hilltoppers and that the upset bid would fail.  But Summit kept icing the puck and blocking shots, Henderson (thirty-two saves) kept stopping those that got to him, and Brick kept taking penalties, so it remained 3-2 into the final minutes.  The entire arena stood as Brick attacked six-on-five in the Summit zone over the final 1:07.  The crowd gasped as Hilltopper shots at the empty net missed twice and, agonizingly, hit the post once.  Despite three face-offs in their defensive zone over the final 1:07, Summit held on and celebrated wildly the biggest upset in recent state tournament history.

3/11/00:Public Semifinal-(2) Bayonne 6, (14) Ridgewood 0
      Bayonne star Dave Bodson took it upon himself to leave Summit as the only Cinderella team left in the tournament, assisting on his team's first goal before scoring the next five in a 6-0 win.  Ridgewood held down the Bees for the first half of the first period and play was fairly even, but Bodson struck at the 8:22 mark.  He came down ice with a two-on-two.  He beat his defender to the outside and slid a pass in front where Nick Lawson one-timed it to the far post past Ridgewood goalie Mike Reich.  Ridgewood had a chance with 1:35 left in the first period, but Ryan McKeon's rebound attempt hit the post, and the Maroons' best scoring chance was wasted.  The Bees held a 10-7 shot advantage in the first period.
      Bodson began his five-goal tear with a power play goal at the 4:15 mark.  Lawson sent a pass out of the corner to Brian Drago.  Reich stopped Drago's shot, but Bodson steered the puck around Reich before flipping it in for a 2-0 lead.  Just two and a half minutes later he struck again.  Floating near the blue line without the puck, he drove to the net, taking defenders with him.  Meanwhile, the puck came to Stephen Szaro at the point.  His shot was saved by Reich, but the rebound caromed to the low slot.  Reich hurried after it, but Bodson stickhandled around him and flipped in the puck for a 3-0 lead.  Ridgewood was outshot 11-3 in the second period.
      Bodson finished his run in the second half of the third period.  With 5:39 remaining he effectively nailed the coffin shot by deftly backhanding a rebound home despite a narrow angle.  His goal at the 12:50 mark might have been his best, as he took a drop pass from Drago (four assists), swerved around two defenders, faked out Reich, and fired in his fourth goal.  His fifth goal came with 0:19 left as he took a home run pass from Drago and fired a wrist shot past Reich high glove side.  Bodson ranks in the top five in the state in scoring with eighty-five points now, while playing in the state's second best division.  Reich, whose saves were key in the Maroons' upsets of (3) Montclair and (6) Toms River North, finished with twenty-five saves.  Scott Lewkowitz made seventeen saves for the Bees, including some acrobatic ones to preserve the shutout.  Bayonne will face National B rival Summit in the public final.  The Bees won both regular season meetings, 3-2 and 7-3.