14th Halvorsen Cup final preview- Madison vs. Roxbury

14TH HALVORSEN CUP FINAL

3-Roxbury (7-6) vs. 1-Madison (11-2)

Thursday, 6:15 p.m. at Mennen Arena

Previous meetings: Madison won both meetings between these teams this season, with a 6-0 win on Feb. 12, followed by a 5-2 triumph on Feb. 19.

CUP HISTORY

Madison

- Won its only Halvorsen Cup in 2018

- Will be seeking its fourth overall cup title- it won the Haas in 2015, Halvorsen in 2018, followed by the Mennen Cup in 2019.

- Fourth Halvorsen Cup final appearance- runner-up in 2016 and 2017 (lost to Roxbury both years)

Roxbury

- Making its second-straight Halvorsen Cup final appearance, after losing to Mendham, 4-2 in last year's final.

- Last won the Halvorsen Cup in 2017. It has two Halvorsen Cup titles to its name (2016, 2017), and also has a Haas Cup title in 2008 for a total of three. It will be seeking its fourth overall Cup title and third Halvorsen Cup.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Madison

Jacoby Erickson (13 g., 17 a.), Matt Gero (8 g., 17 a.), Johnny Hamwee (11 g., 10 a.), Aidan Niceberg (14 g., 15 a.), Tyler Shannon (9 g., 6 a.)

Goalie: Keaton Tom (.932 sv%, four shutouts)

Roxbury

Kyle Jenkins (6 g., 14 a.), Jake Kooyenga (3 g., 4 a.), Nick Thomas (13 g., 4 a.)

Goalie: Ryan Callahan (.896 sv%, three shutouts)

THE MATCH-UP

Can Roxbury be the team to finally slow Madison down?

Madison went a perfect 8-0 in the Halvorsen Division, and did so in absolutely dominant fashion. It scored five or more goals in all eight of those games, and outscored its opponents by a staggering 53-12 margin. Simply put, this is a very deep roster with a ton of talent up front, led by players such as Erickson, Niceberg, Hamwee, as well as Matt Gero on the blue line. It also has perhaps the best goalie in the division in Keaton Tom, who has put up a sparkling .932 save percentage in starting every game for the Dodgers this season.

Roxbury went through a very up-and-down season, which has been mostly down of late, as it comes into this game having lost three of its last four games and six of its last nine. It reached this game after its semifinal with Mendham was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols ended Mendham's season, and Roxbury advanced. While it certainly isn't the way Roxbury had hoped or envisioned it would get to this game, what matters is it is here, and it just needs one win to end the season with some hardware.

For Roxbury, if it can get its top line going, which includes the likes of Kyle Jenkins and Nick Thomas, that will be a good jumping-off point. It will also need a big performance in goal from Callahan against a very talented Madison squad.