Montclair 3, Chatham 2 (1995)

Montclair 3, Chatham 2 (Overtime)
03/15/1995 - Public Final

Some players will do just about anything or play through anything if it means competing for a state championship. Most would certainly agree with that assessment, but saying it and actually performing the act are two separate animals.

In the 1994-95 public schools final before 2,300 at Mennen Arena, Montclair defenseman Doug Rozsa played with a 102-degree fever and leading scorer Mike Reavely performed with a slightly sprained ankle. Yet both athletes refused to give in.

Reavely took a pass from George DeLuca at center ice and curled into the Chatham zone uncontested before depositing a shot into the lower left corner with just 1:34 left in overtime to bring first-year coach Peter Herms his initial state title. It was Reavely's second goal of the game and 43d of the season for the 3rd-ranked Mounties.

Jim Wilson's unassisted goal, his second of the game, with 6:22 left in the third pulled Chatham, which was ranked 11th, even at 2-2.

I remember entering the Montclair locker room after the game and shuffling over to Rozsa along the bench. The boy certainly didn't look good and, obviously, he was hurting inside. It was just another example of how the mind can overcome the hurt in any situation.

Herms was named State Coach of the Year following his inaugural season as a high school coach and he had some very interesting comments for me at the conclusion of the campaign:

"The more complex you make things defensively, the more apt you are to make mistakes. If you have a strong offensive team, you should play a defensive system because its easier to counterattack. If your club is strong defensively, it would make sense to run an offensive-minded system. I've learned to always work off your strength.'' Something to think about for all you young HS instructors out there.

Chatham certainly had plenty of talent on their side. The Morris school had some great penalty killers in Matt Cohen, the coach's son, Peter Dunn and Jason Cook and goalie Dean Jankovic had played exceptionally well all year. The Morris County school, however, was just beaten by an exceptional player in Reavely.

And Reavely was another intriguing story line. With Herms as coach, he really turned his game around to the point where he was one of the more respected performers in the state. And don't think Reavely wasn't appreciative.

"Coach Herms was a father figure to all of us," Reavely said. "Whatever he said, we did, because we knew it would work. He was a great influence on all of us."

So to was Chatham coach Harvey Cohen on his players:

"My kids did a terrific job this season and I'm extremely proud of their effort. We didn't want to stray away from our game plan but Reavely is a great player and he made a great play (in OT)," Cohen said.

Two well-respected coaches who delivered one memorable hockey game!