Sectional titles and state championships are up for grabs and teams have the next few weeks to chase those dreams. Check out favorites and contenders in Non-Public.
Non-Public
Favorite
Delbarton: The Green Wave (17-2) enter the tournament undefeated against New Jersey competition, including second-ranked and second-seeded Seton Hall Prep and fourth-ranked and third-seeded St. Augustine. The St. Augustine win came just four days ago, when Gavin Romweber, Chase Houser, Andrew Johnson, Christian Troczynski and Brandon Fodor helped the Green Wave pull away from a tie game early in the third quarter for a 12-5 victory. Senior goalie Tanner Shimko made 10 saves in the game while Troczynski, Kane Quenault and Philip Minardo all chipped in to control action at the faceoff X. Will Pedicano, Bob Popham, Dara Corr and Anthony Pallone anchor a smart, skilled defense that know how to make opponents pay for mistakes. Delbarton last crowned as Non-Public A champion in 2023.
Contenders
Christian Brothers: The Colts have a very young offense and that’s led to an up-and-down year. At its peak, Christian Brothers looks like one of the best teams in the state. Jackson Chaney, Daniel Varone, Turner Cooke and Christian Fox are all underclassmen who have seen time and made key plays. Davis Campbell, Caden Lucich and Carter McGuire are the veteran guys who CBA will lean on offensively in the playoffs. The defense is also going to need to step up in a bracket loaded with elite teams. Harvard commit Quinn Kelly, Air Force commit Jackson Gervais, Bryant commit Luke Krebs and senior Michael Poskay are tough to go up against. Sacred Heart commit Hunter Kilpatrick and Cole Buchenberger play well as short-stick middies in front of goalie Shayne Boresen. Kelly is a defensive leader, but he’ll also get his chance to make an offensive splash. The long-stick midfielder has seven goals and 10 assists this season and 24 goals and 27 assists the past two seasons.
Don Bosco Prep: The Ironmen are not quite as prolific as they have been in recent years (averaging 9.5 goals per game), but they can orchestrate shut-down defense when necessary and can dominate possession time through the stellar faceoff work of Delaware commit Scott Conte, who wins 71 percent of his draws. Don Bosco’s only in-state loss came May 17 against No. 3 St. Augustine, 8-7. Offensive sparks Brady Scioletti, Johnny Devir, Brady Kushner and Hudson Villaruel all played big roles behind the Ironmen’s Non-Public A championship last spring, as did defenders David Corb, Ben Linder, Timothy Norum and Carson Cherven. One of the new faces is sophomore attackman Dashiell Lane.
Gill St. Bernard’s: The Knights made history a few weeks ago when they won their first-ever Somerset County championship. Gill St. Bernard’s went through three-time defending champion Pingry to make that happen. This team is stacked with talent, especially on offense. Dartmouth commit Max Voigt leads the team in scoring. He’s a game-changer on an offense that also relies on Hofstra commit Robert Herrington, Franklin and Marshall commit Brendan Schwalb, Brown commit Griffin O’Sullivan, Bucknell commit Luke Greenseid and Rollins commit Zach Blinkoff. The defense is headlined by Lafayette commit Noah Blinkoff. Chase Wieder, Evan Wanamaker and Kellen Sturm are also long poles for Gill St. Bernard’s defense. Nick Fusari, Jackson Murray and Brady Domsic make their impact as defensive short-stick middies. Vermont commit Colin Anderson helped Gill St. Bernard’s win back-to-back Non-Public B titles. He’s one of the best goalies in the state and will give the Knights a chance to win another state championship. Sophomore Dante Lam has taken over games at the faceoff X this season. He’s another X-factor this team will count on as it goes into a bracket with the best teams in New Jersey.
Pingry: The Big Blue came up short in the Somerset County final, but there is so much this team has done well along the way in 2025. The Big Blue need to refocus and set their sights on making a run at the Non-Public championship. Yale commit Dylan Blekicki is a great scorer and he’s put up 50-plus goals in all three of his varsity seasons. The senior paces an attack that also counts on junior Jonah Ziv, who has stepped up into a much bigger role in 2025. Franklin and Marshall commit Jack Goodwin has come up clutch in some key spots, including a double-overtime win in the regular season over Gill St. Bernard’s. Colin Blekicki, Jesse Busch, Freddie Field, Alex Finkelstein and Gavin York round out the offense. Senior Jack Moye is one of the best short-stick defensive middies in the state. He plays alongside Connor Lamb and long poles Tyler Katt, Charlie Ackermann, Jack Sherman and Anthony Truncale on Pingry’s defense. Junior Luke Burns has stepped up and played really well in his first season as a starter. Pingry uses a rotation of players to take faceoffs and they’ve all had some big wins this spring.
Pope John: The Lions did not look much like a contender when it lost to Chatham, 16-3, on April 12, though has made appreciable strides since then with a well-balanced offense and some outstanding goalkeeping by senior Daniel O’Leary. Just three days ago, 16th-ranked Pope John took No. 7 Westfield to the wire before falling, 11-10. T, the Lions are never out of contention with senior Mikey Ramirez, the most successful faceoff man in the state with an .865 success rate. Travis Heller, Jack Gallucci, Sam Conetta and Ramirez pace an offense averaging 12.1 goals a game.
St. Augustine: This team sent a message to the rest of this bracket when it beat Don Bosco Prep in triple overtime a few weeks ago. The Hermits dropped their first game to an in-state opponent all year when they made the trip to Delbarton last week. St. Augustine might get another crack at Delbarton if it keeps playing well going into the postseason. Penn State commit Ryan Wodazak leads St. Augustine with 33 goals. He has one of the best shots in the state. Air Force commit Ryan Diamond is also a strong shooter and hit the game-winner against Don Bosco Prep. St. John’s commit Sebastian Varallo, Mason Raucci and Brayson Thurber are also trusted playmakers. Junior Chris Marino is St. Augustine’s primary FOGO. Air Force commit Jack Gounaris is a tone-setter on defense. Gabe Beyer, Nikolas Morze, Carson Slates, Jackson Foley, Cole Schleicher and Kaiden Jentsch have also stepped up on defense. John Peters and Justin Marengo are the team’s top short-stick defensive middies. Senior captain Ben Zaitz, a Elizabethtown commit, and Richmond commit Kyle Helphenstine split time in net.
St. Joseph (Met.): The 20th-ranked Falcons average 10.7 goals a game behind the play of Nick Hengerer, Wayde Smith and Zach MacDougall, though only 6.3 goals in their Top 20 battles against Rumson-Fair Haven, Ramapo and Christian Brothers. St. Joe’s fell to Rumson to begin the season, 8-4, and lost to Ramapo, 11-6, just last Thursday. The Falcons had spun off nine straight wins before that game with some outstanding defense executed by Aidan Paris, AJ Shearer, Walter Scott, Enrique Mercado and goalie Nick Zaneto.
Seton Hall Prep: The second-ranked and second-seeded Pirates (15-3) seek a third straight final appearance behind a robust offense averaging 12,3 goals a game and a stubborn defense that allows just 5.2 goals a game. Senior goalie Conor Keenan backs up that tough unit led by Michael Clifford, Sean Hayes, David Manzo, Jagger Zemachson and Michael Meany. Joe DelMauro, Nolan Sabel, Clark Rich and Owen Dunleavy spark that balanced offense. The Pirates’ only N.J. loss this season came against No. 1 Delbarton, 8-5, on April 12.
Mike Kinney can be reached at mkinney@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeKinneyHS.
Brandon Gould can be reached at bgould@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @BrandonGouldHS.
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