Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point basketball game is a popular choice for greatest individual performance of all time, but Klaus Harthaus has entered the chat.

The Vernon sophomore isn’t a stranger to facing a deluge of pucks. After all, he entered Saturday’s matchup against Mountain Lakes-Boonton seeing an average of 54.7 shots in the first 33 games of his career.

He nearly doubled that and turned aside an astonishing 104 shots in a 4-0 loss.

“It was really just a matter of determination. It was a mental game, and I think that’s the best way of putting it,” Harthaus said. “I was fighting myself to stay awake on some shots and try to stay focused. But ultimately I think I would have saved a lot less if it weren’t for my defense.”

It’s unclear if 104 saves is a state record.

According to NJ Advance Media’s stat database, no other goalie in the past 16 years has hit 100 saves in a game.

Harthaus’ previous career high was 81 in a loss to Morris Catholic on Dec. 21, 2024.

“It’s the greatest goalie performance in high school hockey that I’ve ever seen,” said Vernon head coach Nicholas VanDerlofske.

Harthaus averaged one save every 26 seconds during Saturday’s game.

Rank
Player
School
Saves
Date

1
Klaus Harthaus
Vernon
104
1/31/26

2
Nicolas DiNardo
Passaic Valley
88
2/21/19

3
Mason Caruso
Steinert
84
12/20/24

3
Mason Caruso
Steinert
84
1/3/25

5
Brendan McGrane
Lawrence
83
1/12/26

5
Mason Caruso
Nottingham
83
2/9/24

7
Klaus Harthaus
Vernon
81
12/21/24

8
Louis La Ratta
Bishop Eustace
81
11/30/21

9
Connor Casey
Pennsauken
79
1/26/22

10
Matt Schoer
Pope John
79
2/26/18

11
Michael Slivak
Paul VI
78
12/16/13

12
Sydney Fogu
Bayonne
77
2/25/22

13
Matt Altomare
Gov. Livingston
77
1/11/14

14
Troy Callahan
Nottingham
76
2/17/23

14
Adam Katz
Morris Hills
76
12/4/13

14
Nick Wallace
West Milford
76
2/4/18

14
Danny Cobb
Lawrence
76
1/19/18

Above stats are from what has been reported by coaches and school officials from 2010 to 2026.

He kept Mountain Lakes-Boonton off the scoreboard for the first two periods, in which he stopped 70 shots. He allowed the first goal of the game on the 73rd shot he faced.

“I was dead after the first period. Second period was a battle, and second period was really tough because that period was really long. There was a lot of long stoppages, which made that even harder,” he said. “Something I’ve learned from experience is that when you are in a fatigued state, you can’t stop moving. You have to keep going or else the fatigue will really start to set in.”

“After the second period, he definitely was a little more red in the face than he normally would be,” VanDerlofske said. “He was well over in the 60s in shots at that point, but he was motivated to keep going. He didn’t even want to cut the ice.”

It was in that middle frame that what he was on the verge of accomplishing started to sink in. Every once in a while he’d peek at the scoreboard and the total number of shots kept piling up.

“Second period, I’m looking up, wow, this is on track for last season’s (personal) record of 90 shots in a single game. I’m like, wow, I might beat that,” he said.

“I was viewing it as a personal record because I didn’t think it could be anything beyond that. Then, when it kept going, it went beyond 90, and there’s still two, three minutes left. It’s a weird feeling and that was the first time I’ve ever seen the shot counter go into the triple digits.”

Harthaus had 33 saves in the first period, 37 in the second and 34 in the third. His team was outshot 108-4 overall in the game.

He’s up to 1,658 career saves in just 34 games but he’ll never complain about the workload.

He loves it.

“I’ve been on some less than desirable teams in the past for travel,” he said. “Teams who don’t have the best record, where I’m getting, you know, 30-, 40-shot games consistently, and that’s in travel. That definitely contributes to the mindset that I’ve developed, that every shot is a blessing.”