Summit Hockey Falls to Rival Chatham 2-1

The (4-1-1) hockey team was handed its first loss of the season on Friday at the hands of the defending NJ Group 2 champion, Chatham by a score of 2-1. Despite a young roster, the Cougars found a way to hold off the Hilltoppers and steal the road victory in front of a raucous Summit crowd.

Senior defenseman Mike Nyitray was the lone scorer for Summit. Senior forward Trip Burke scored both goals for Chatham. 

Summit controlled the action throughout much of the first period and was able to create plenty of scoring opportunities all of which were turned away by freshman goaltender C.J. Albenese, who was impressive all afternoon.

The Hilltoppers struggled throughout much of the second period and had trouble with the physical play of the Cougars. Conversely, Chatham seemed to use the intermission to figure out a way to break out of its own zone and create solid odd-man rushes throughout, only to be turned away by goaltender Garrett McGowan. The sophomore was excellent on the night in the face of constant pressure from the opponent.

Burke was able to break the scoreless tie with just over six minutes to play in the period on a beautiful wrist shot from just in front of the left goal line. The snap shot went just over the right shoulder of McGowan and gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

Despite being outplayed for most of the period it appeared that Summit had tied the game with 16.9 seconds left on a Frank Lawrence rebound goal. It was not to be though as the official quickly waved off the tally ruling that the puck had been covered and protected by the goaltender before it was knocked into the net.

The third period was much of the same as Chatham continued to control the action on both ends of the ice. Summit had a great opportunity to tie the game with 11:10 remaining but sophomore Jarrett Ross was unable to put away the rebound. Instead, Chatham broke out for an odd man advantage and took a 2-0 lead on Burke’s second goal of the day. The veteran calmly led a two on one breakout into the Summit zone and fired a wrist shot from the left side that got by McGowan and into the upper left side of the net.

Summit was not ready to go quietly though and would pull to within one on a Nyitray power play goal. The senior defenseman, a dangerous power play point man, blasted a shot from just inside the blue line and past Boles to awaken the Summit crowd with 8:47 to play.

Chatham’s fourth penalty of the game came at an opportune time for Summit who needed a goal to tie it with 3:54 to play. The Hilltoppers were unable to get a good look on net throughout the penalty and the Cougars were able to get out of it unscathed.

Summit pulled their goalie with just over a minute remaining as they tried to make one final push. Burke once again came up with a big play for Chatham and nearly got the hat trick on an empty net goal after he had broken free of the defense. With no other options defenseman Will Brenn was forced to take down the forward, drawing a penalty with 45 seconds to go and essentially ending the game.

The Hilltoppers held the shot advantage with a total of 31 to Chatham's 15.

Despite the tough loss, games such as these will prepare Summit for the gauntlet that is the state tournament. The Hilltoppers have loaded their schedule with some of the state’s best including Middletown South (2011 Public B runner-up), Randolph (2011 Public A champion), Montgomery (2011 Public A runner-up), Ridge (2011 Public A quarterfinalist) as well as its two yearly match ups with Westfield (2011 Public A semifinalist).

Summit return to the ice in the new year when they take on Johnson at Warinanco on Jan 4, at 6:00 p.m.