This past week, the Passaic and Bergen County Tournaments each wrapped up, with Wayne Hills taking home the title in Passaic County, and Don Bosco Prep winning the championship in Bergen County.

Wayne Hills defeated DePaul 8-4 in the championship game of the 2013 Passaic County Tournament. (Photo/New Jersey Devils)

In the Passaic County Tournament, the first round saw defending-champion Lakeland defeat Passaic Valley 10-3, DePaul Catholic beat Wayne Valley 7-1, and West Milford come out on top against Clifton by a score of 2-1.

Top-seed Wayne Hills defeated West Milford by a score of 5-2 in the semifinal round of the tournament, led by Danny Reidel’s three goals. On the other side of the bracket, DePaul beat defending champion Lakeland by a score of 7-3, led by Kyle Scancerella’s four-goal effort and 34 saves from goalie Marty McIver. This set up a matchup between top-seeded Wayne Hills and two-seed DePaul.

The championship game was played at Little Falls’ Floyd Hall Arena and was a tight battle through the first two periods, as the two teams headed into the third period tied at three. But the top-seeded Wayne Hills squad overpowered DePaul in the third period, scoring five goals en route to an 8-4 victory. Kyle Scancerella once again aided the victory, adding a goal and two assists in the championship tilt. It was the first time that Wayne Hills won a county championship.

As for Bergen County, the first round of the tournament brought a few surprises, as all four lower seeded teams defeated their higher-ranked opponent. Ninth-seeded Ridgewood defeated eighth-seeded Mahwah 3-1. Tenth-seeded Fair Lawn was victorious over seventh-seeded Tenafly by a score of 5-3. Eleventh ranked St. Joseph of Montvale beat sixth-seeded Ramapo 6-5. Lastly, twelfth seeded Bergen Catholic upset fifth-seeded Indian Hills 5-4 in overtime.

The quarterfinals of the tournament had Paramus Catholic defeating Fair Lawn 5-0, with all five goals scored by team captain Matt Cofrancesco. Glen Rock beat Ridgewood 2-0 behind two goals from Jesse Kinney. Ramsey squeaked by St. Joseph 3-2, thanks to 25 saves from goalie Justin Larkin, and top-seeded Don Bosco was victorious over Bergen Catholic 4-1 behind 22 saves from goalie Jarred Liscio.

Don Bosco defeated Paramus Catholic 5-1 in the 2013 Bergen County Tournament title game. (Photo/New Jersey Devils)

There were no surprises in the semifinal round, as defending tournament champion Don Bosco defeated Glen Rock 10-0 behind a three goal effort by Hunter Garlasco. In what was expected to be a close contest, Paramus Catholic edged the second-seed and top-ranked public school squad in Ramsey 2-1 on a shorthanded goal by Alex Fleishmann in the third period. Thomas Pyrka also made 27 saves for Paramus Catholic.

The result put the fourth seed Paramus Catholic on a collision course with top-seeded Don Bosco Prep. The game, played at Wayne’s Ice Vault, was a game that was dominated by the Don Bosco group from start to finish. Don Bosco got out to an early 3-0 first period lead on goals from Connor Healey, Khan Kim, and Chris Moreira, and didn’t look back from there. They added one goal in the second period and another in the third on their way to a 5-1 victory, handing Paramus Catholic their first defeat of the season. The county title was the second consecutive won by Don Bosco Prep.

The next step for these teams is qualifying for the state tournament, which is scheduled to begin February 26, and leads up to the state championships at Prudential Center in mid-March.

All scores and statistics courtesy of The Star-Ledger.

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