1 week Ago
Chris Palawasta couldn’t buy a goal. A breakaway in regulation was thwarted, and his first dangerous chance of overtime was gloved down. On the bench, one of his coaches gave him a vote of confidence and his next shot hit the mark.
With 2:23 left in overtime, he had almost the same opportunity off the rush as he did seconds earlier in the same spot. He got off the shot he wanted and ripped it off the far post and in. His first goal of the season lifted Madison (1-2) to its first win of the season, 3-2, over Mendham (0-1) at Mennen Arena in Morristown.
12/12 - 4:15 PM Boys Ice Hockey Final Madison 3 Mendham 2 ”It’s always great to win an OT but especially when it’s one of your seniors that finishes it,” said Madison head coach Joe Cecala. “But then also for Chris, because he had such a good game today, and he had so many opportunities, and it just wasn’t going for him.” For the first 47:37 of play, Brendon Eigner, who had 29 saves for Mendham, had his number.
On the opposite side of the rink, Nick Worthington was just as dialed in. Making just his third start, he had his best performance and turned aside 45 of the 47 shots that came his way. Mendham's Jake Fox (23) looks to the net against Madison at Mennen Arena in Morristown.
12/12/24 Brian Bobal | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com ”Lot of pressure, high standards, but I’m doing my job,” he said. The pressure comes from taking on the same role his older brother, Bryan, held.
Bryan Worthington played parts of three seasons for the Dodgers and two as the team’s starting goalie. He played in almost 50 career games and had over 1,300 career saves. Mendham might be tired of seeing a Worthington in the crease.
In three games across the past two seasons, the Worthington brothers own a combined .943 save percentage against the Minutemen. “We saw some confidence out of him here today,” said Mendham coach Joe Cecala.
“That I think just energizes the entire team. It becomes contagious there.” Worthington nearly held Madison’s 2-1 lead for the final 17:39 of play but the 45th shot of the game for Mendham came off the stick of Kacper Lesiak after a slick dangle.
He went bar-down to tie it with 2:17 to go in regulation. Just seconds later, Lesiak had time in space in the slot off the rush and nearly put Mendham ahead, but Worthington shrugged it aside for his biggest save of the game. A tense moment for someone making his third career start, but he’s felt comfortable in the crease since the first day of practice.
“Didn’t take long to feel at home,” he said. “These boys are lovely.” “Good goalies know that they can put the team on their back and energize the defense and show up in those big moments,” Cecala added.
“Other athletic goalies might not be as strong mentally in that situation. You give up the game-tying goal, you shut down. You’re hanging your head.
You’re feeling sorry for yourself. He had the perfect response, come out to make the next big save and wake the guys back up on a bench.” That set up Palawasta’s heroics in overtime.
Madison also needed a pair of goals from Lucas Gero, one in the first and one in the second off of a gorgeous deke on a breakaway. Both goals gave Madison the lead but Mendham had the answer. First, it was Aschille Pasquier with 33.
8 seconds left in the opening period and then Lesiak in the third. Gero is one of the players the team will be counting on if it wants to capture a Halvorsen Division title, especially since his cousin, Sam, transferred to the Millbrook School in New York. Gero has two goals and two assists in three games.
“Despite being a little on the smaller side, he’s got a heart and a drive that we don’t see often” Cecala said. “He’s the kind of guy that wants the puck on his stick, and he’s been, I think, a little snakebitten in the first two games, where he was making plays, but he just couldn’t get it to go. So, he got that first one early, and you could just see he had the handles today.
He was able to weave in and out of guys, and he was getting opportunities. So it was so good to see him get rewarded.” Another major test lies ahead on Sunday against another divisional rival in West Morris.
A post shared by Brian Bobal (@brianbobalhs) Brian Bobal may be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on X at @BrianBobal.
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appears in mailboxes 5 days a week.
Sign up now! Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter).
