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April 2020 www.nyhockeyjournal.com 23 second of the night) and Nick Gallo. The celebration was on. "It is a great feeling," McLaughlin said. "To see these guys I've known since they were 6 because they played with my son, this is what they've wanted to do when they were 6, wearing Randolph shirts. It was a lot of fun. It never gets old. People ask, 'Do you get used to it?' but it's differ- ent kids. To see how they react, it's all the kids, not just the superstars … it's a big deal for them, something they'll always remember." Public C: Hilltoppers hat trick Summit's 5-2 victory over Ramsey clinched the Hilltoppers' third consecu- tive Garden State championship. "I think we had a lot of returning play- ers and a lot of confidence in our return- ing players and themselves," first-year head coach Ian Bell said. "We didn't change a ton. We changed a little in our defensive zone coverage. Everything was pretty seamless in terms of what was held up. When you can allow your players to come into a situation they're comfortable in, it's beneficial overall." Summit had undergone a stretch from Dec. 20 through Jan. 11 where the team was winless in five of seven con- tests, but Bell said that schedule was designed to challenge his team and give them some experience against the cali- ber of opponent that would test them in the state playoffs. The team responded well, rattling off 14 consecutive victories to land in the NJSIAA Public C finals against Ramsey, the only public school team to defeat Summit during the season. Summit jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and although Ramsey would score two in the second period to get within one goal, the Hilltoppers responded with two more of their own to close out the victory. Tom Pryymak scored three goals and tallied one assist while Dylan Goldfarb scored a goal and added two assists. Tom's broth- er, Nikita, made 28 saves in goal. "That's a special moment, to enjoy that with your coaches, to see the kids and them enjoy it," Bell said. "Some ju- niors only know winning, which is kind of special. They've never lost. The se- niors had one blemish on their record. We lost to Glen Rock four years ago. They learned from that. … To see our seniors learn from that, each year they gained confidence. "Seeing everyone celebrate, to the sophomores getting a chance to two freshmen playing on the top two lines who had big impacts, I told them, 'You're not going to realize what you accom- plished right away, but don't ever forget what you accomplished. All the alumni who are texting are saying to tell you the same thing.' It was surreal but phenom- enal nonetheless." feedback@nyhockeyjournal�com CONNECTICUT DOMINATES NEPSAC POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS READ MORE AT HOCKEYJOURNAL.COM All three NEPSAC postseason championships went to Connecticut-based schools. A balanced Salisbury team broke through for title No. 6 to scale the prep summit in the Elite tournament, while Loomis Chaffee ruled the Large School and Gunnery the Small School brackets. Check out the April issue of New England Hockey Journal for features. NEHJ TV: Also, don't miss the April episode of New England Hockey Journal TV, airing this month on NESN. Past episodes of the show are available online at hockeyjournal.com/videos. Tom Horak (Randolph, Summit bottom); Catalina Fragoso Randolph's Ben Yurchuk (left) and J.T. Zangara after the win. Zangara recorded a hat trick in the 3-2 OT final against Ridge. Summit celebrates its 5-2 victory over Ramsey for its third straight Public C banner. Summit's Tom Pryymak Summit's Nikita Pryymak The state title was the first for the Randolph Rams since 2015.