River Road Rivalry Reprise: Summit H.S. Boys Hockey Defeats Chatham, 5-1
UNION, NJ – Different teams, different season, same year, same result.
Exactly nine and a half months after they were 'Ironbound for Glory' and skated around the Prudential Center's sheet of ice with the NJSIAA Public C chalice over their heads, the Summit High School Boys Varsity Ice Hockey Team again beat the team they vanquished that evening in Newark, storming out to a 5-0 lead en route to a 5-1 victory over Chatham at the Union Sports Arena.
Senior Charlie Collins set the tone with two goals in the first period, and sophomore Greg Spitznagel had a four-point game with one goal and three assists as the Maroon and White improved to 7-1 on the season. Freshman Summit goaltender Grant McCormick stopped 28 of 29 shots directed his way, coming within 1:12 of a shutout.
Junior Tom Pryymak and Spitznagel assisted on Collins' first goal at 10:47 of the first period, and then Spitznagel set-up Collins just over four minutes later to double the Hilltoppers' lead.
Spitznagel turned goal-scorer, finding the back of the net with just 53 ticks left in the second period, assisted by Pryymak, as Summit got a big goal at an equally big time, the late tally an emotional accelerant for the Hilltoppers and a gut-punch for the Cougars.
Junior Jake Puskar's goal early in the third was the clincher, but Pryymak scored on the power play with 4:32 to go to cement the victory. Chatham's Ryan Sordillo got a power play goal with 72 seconds left but, from the Cougars' perspective it was way too little way too late.
Summit now faces Seton Hall Prep December 28 in the Ice Vault Holiday Tournament in Wayne, Face-off is set for 6:30 p.m.