The 2026 state tournament is on the horizon.
It’s time to dive into each of the six brackets and highlight some of the most intriguing storylines for each.
Check out some of the biggest storylines you won’t want to miss below.
Chatham-Millburn-Livingston’s Alex Donoghue (left) and Kent Place’s Molly Brozowski (right) are closing in on a 19-year-old girls hockey record.NJ Advance Media File PhotoGIRLS HOCKEY
The pursuit of the goals record
While Chatham-Millburn-Livingston’s Alex Donoghue already broke the state goals record, the race to finish at the top is still intense. The senior enters the state tournament with 138 career goals, of which 50 came this season. Kent Place’s Molly Brozowski is right behind her at 137 goals. Kent Place is the No. 4 seed and opens against 13-Morristown. Chatham-Millburn-Livingston is the No. 7 seed and will face 10-Oak Knoll. This story isn’t quite done yet.
Can Immaculate Heart keep it up?
The Blue Eagles have reached the state final two years in a row. The reigning state champions are potentially in the way on the road back to Prudential Center and Immaculate Heart has struggled against them this season. While the team is 1-1 against Morristown-Beard, it’s 0-3 with a pair of one-goal losses against Princeton Day. Both teams are even, which will make that potential semifinal matchup must-watch hockey.
Morristown-Beard is ready to rise again
It’s approaching three years since Morristown-Beard last won a state championship. This year’s squad is rolling with a 16-1 record entering the Librera Cup final against Princeton Day. Regardless of how that game plays out, the Crimson are set on completing their goal of getting back to the top of the mountain. They still have yet to lose in regulation this season.
Hoboken celebrates victory over Cranford in Sunday’s high school girls ice hockey matchup in Roselle. Hoboken reigned, 8-1. 01/11/2026Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advance
How far can the new teams go?
Two teams are making their state tournament debuts. Morristown checks in as the No. 13 seed and Hoboken-Weehawken-Secaucus are No. 11. Both teams are set to square off in the Annis Cup final on Thursday. Both face tough battles in their first tournament games. Morristown will face 4-Kent Place. Hoboken-Weehawken-Secaucus faces off against 6-Westfield.
Last hurrah for Cisar
Trinity Hall’s Katie Cisar has put together one of the more decorated careers in the crease for girls hockey. She’s a saves machine and while there isn’t enough runway left for her to reach 3,000 saves, she’s still capable of reaching 2,600. She also owns a .964 save percentage this season. This is the senior’s last shot at a state title and the program itself is looking to win multiple state tournament games for the first time ever.
Summit looks to ride momentum from Cohen run
Entering the Cohen Cup playoffs, Summit had won consecutive games just once this season. The team took down Westfield and Chatham-Millburn-Livingston to reach the Cohen Cup final for the second time in three years. The Hilltoppers’ first game is a battle with a Madison squad it went 1-0-1 against this season.
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Ice Hockey: Delbarton vs Don Bosco Prep, Jan 11, 2026.
NON-PUBLIC
Bosco, Joe’s lining up for Round 5
Should Don Bosco Prep and St. Joseph (Mont.) both win two games, they’ll square off for the fifth time this season. Don Bosco Prep took the No. 2 seed in this bracket thanks in part to a 3-0-0-1 record against St. Joseph this season. The only loss came in overtime in the Bergen County final and the Ironmen rebounded with a statement 5-1 win in the Gordon Cup semifinals. While St. Joseph is 1-2-0-1 against Don Bosco Prep, it’s 13-1-1 against everyone else on its schedule.
Can Delbarton keep the streak going?
The in-state unbeaten streak for Delbarton checks in at 36 games ahead of its Gordon Cup final bout with Don Bosco Prep on Wednesday. The Green Wave are also on a 10-game winning streak since a 3-1 loss to Hill (PA) on Jan. 8 and has allowed just seven goals in that span. A successful state title defense would give Delbarton back-to-back championships for the first time since 2018.
Morristown-Beard pushes to enter the top tier
There’s no doubt that Morristown-Beard is one of the best teams in the state, but it’s trying to jump into that elite tier of teams that features Don Bosco Prep, Delbarton and St. Joseph (Mont.). The Crimson squared off with Don Bosco Prep and St. Joseph and suffered 4-2 and 2-1 losses, respectively. Those are the only two games the team has lost. It secured the No. 5 seed and will have to likely go through 4-St. Augustine to set up a potential clash with top-seeded Delbarton in the semifinals.
St. Joseph (Met.) wants to make noise
St. Joseph (Met.) snapped its Kolodney Cup drought and hopes to turn that into a playoff run. It faces a daunting challenge in the opener on the road against Christian Brothers but a win would be the program’s first in the state tournament since 2023. St. Joseph (Met.) hasn’t won multiple state tournament games in over 16 years.
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Boys Ice Hockey: Big North Gold Cup – Northern Highlands vs. Ridgewood, February 13, 2026
PUBLIC, NORTH
Top-seeded Ridgewood aiming to get back to state final
The 2023-24 season was a celebratory one for Ridgewood, but it ended in heartbreak after a loss in the state championship game to Westfield. All season long the Maroons have been intensely focused on getting back to the Prudential Center. Now that opportunity is here after the Maroons earned the top-seed in Public, North after a 17-4 regular season. The spotlight will be on the top line of Will LoSauro, A.J. LoSauro, and Sam Sherman to produce goals at a high clip. Scoring has been the Maroons’ top strength all season with an average of 5.47 goals per game.
Which version of Northern Highlands will show up?
Northern Highlands’ nine losses are the most that it’s suffered through a regular season since 2019-20. There are a lot of reasons for that – sickness, injuries, and most of all one of the toughest schedules in the state. Regardless, the Highlanders struggled to find a rhythm but have seemingly turned things around as of late. The Highlanders have looked like a totally different team during a three-game winning streak, and were dominant in the Big North Gold Cup final against Ridgewood. If this current version of the Highlanders shows up, this is a team that can win another state championship. It can’t be the team that was winless in seven of eight games from early Jan. into early Feb.
David Weinrib (20) of Livingston celebrates with Matthew Zocks (10) after scoring a goal against West Milford-Pequannock-Pompton Lakes during the Ice Vault Classic hockey game at the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne, NJ On Sunday, December 29, 2025.Tom Horak | For NJ Advance Media
Senior-heavy Livingston going for glory
Of the 21 players on second-seeded Livingston’s roster, 10 are seniors. This experience-laden Lancers team has one last shot with this group of talented seniors to contend for a state championship. There is a lot to like about this team, mainly because of those seniors. Matthew Zocks, Rhys Bernstein, Jayden Rogers, David Weinrib, Ben Diamond, Zach Givner, Andrew Downey, and Brody Teitelbaum can take this team far, but it will have to happen against a tough bracket. The Lancers’ shortcomings the last two seasons have all come against other top-ranked Public schools, some of which are in this section – Westfield, Randolph, and Ridgewood.
Morristown goes from 1st-round darling to top-five team
In what was a drama-filled first round of last season’s state tournament, Morristown was one of the teams to pull off an upset. The 10th-seeded Colonials defeated seventh-seeded Chatham to snap a postseason drought. The Colonials built off the momentum from that win, and won 11 games in the regular season and finished in the top-three of the Mennen division standings. Now, the Colonials will be expected to win its first round game against 12th-seeded Madison. A sectional quarterfinal matchup against fourth-seeded Northern Highlands would definitely be one to monitor.
PUBLIC, SOUTH
How far can Scotch Plains-Fanwood go?
Back-to-back Kelly Cup champion Scotch Plains-Fanwood is one of the most intriguing teams in the entire state tournament. The Raiders won 17 games last season, but after earning a seventh-seed were upset in the first round. This year they’ve been dominant with 19 wins and earned a six-seed. The Raiders’ strength of schedule improved slightly this season, and wins over Ramapo and North Hunterdon-Voorhees were very nice. Don’t get it twisted – the Raiders are a very good team with great goaltending and depth but they were not tested as much as some of the teams seeded above it. The Raiders have shown that it’s capable of winning in the first round, but a potential quarterfinal matchup against Middletown North would be very intriguing.
Liam Bonifas (8) of Scotch Plains-Fanwood celebrates with his team after scoring a goal against Frisch during the Kelly Cup Final at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange NJ on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.Tom Horak | For NJ.com
Strength of schedule matters
By the looks of how this section was broken down, it’s clear that which teams you schedule throughout the regular season will matter by the time of state tournament seeding. Teams like fourth-seeded Ridge, fifth-seeded Hillsborough, and seventh-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven all faced bumps in the road but were rewarded with top-eight seeds because of who they all played. A team like sixth-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood, who is still very good, dropped from its power point positioning. The Raiders won 19 games but were not tested as much as the Red Devils, Raiders, and Bulldogs were.
Bridgewater-Raritan blocking out last season’s disappointment
Bridgewater-Raritan had all the makings of a state semifinalist last season, but those dreams came crashing down in the sectional quarterfinals against Monroe. One year later, there are once again massive expectations for the Panthers after it earned the section’s top-seed. A 17-win regular season had some major highs – wins over Westfield, Robbinsville-Allentown, Northern Highlands, Toms River, and Manasquan-Point Beach. Now it will need to follow up on that success with a run to the Prudential Center.
Westfield celebrate after a score during the Union County Tournament boys ice hockey final between Westfield and Gov. Livingston-New Providence at the Warinanco Ice Rink in Roselle, NJ on Friday, January 23, 2026.Mile Djordjiovski | For NJ Advance Media
Repeat dream alive for Westfield
After winning the first state championship in program history last season, second-seeded Westfield followed up by winning 16 games in fairly dominant fashion. The Blue Devils have outscored opponents 91 to 32, and its two losses came to top-ranked teams in Bridgewater-Raritan and Delbarton. Following that loss to the Panthers, the Blue Devils rattled off eight straight wins. The top line of Andrew Lisnock, Chris Smok, and Liam Reed has been incredible, but it’s the depth of this team that makes the biggest difference. That’s a trait that not many other teams in this section possess.
Middletown North eager to get back to Prudential Center
Middletown North won a state championship in 2023, but the next two seasons the Lions fell short and managed to finish either just below or above .500. This year has been different. After returning most of last season’s production, the Lions are 13-6-2 and look like a threat for the sectional title. It found success against a schedule that included opponents like Catholic, Westfield, Toms River, Manasquan-Point Beach, Livingston, Brick, Howell-Matawan, Morristown, and Christian Brothers. The lessons learned from playing teams like that could benefit the Lions at this time of the year.
PUBLIC CO-OP, NORTH
The road to repeat for KJS United
The last public teams to repeat as state champions were Ridge and Gov. Livingston-New Providence, who both accomplished the feat in 2023. When at full strength, this is a group that has enough talent and experience to get the job done for the second time.
Morris Knolls-Hills looking for more
The stretch run the Golden Eagles are on makes them one of the more intriguing teams to watch. They won three of their first 15 games but are 6-1 since. In this latest stretch, they’ve averaged 3.86 goals compared to 2.2 in the first 15 games.
Big North teams are everywhere… which will contend?
Of the 16 teams in this section, nine come from the Big North Conference. We have three first round matchups that pit two of the conference’s teams against one another – 5-Pascack Valley-Hills-Park Ridge vs. 12-Northern Valley, 4-Paramus-Mahwah-Lyndhurst vs. 13-Fair Lawn-Bergenfield-Dumont, and 2-Wayne vs. 15-Tenafly-Cresskill-Leonia. For most of those nine teams, there’s a case to be made that they could make a deep run. It’s impossible to predict which teams it will be though, and that’s mainly because a lot of Big North teams play very different schedules. Regardless though, it will be fun to follow along.
EJ Scherer (31) of Paramus-Lyndhurst-Mahwah celebrates after winning the Big North Silver Cup boys ice hockey game between Clifton and Paramus-Lyndhurst-Mahwah at the Ice Vault in Wayne, NJ on Friday, February 13, 2026.Mile Djordjiovski | For NJ.com
Intriguing 4-seed vs. 13-seed matchup
After two straight disappointing seasons, fourth-seeded Paramus-Mahwah-Lyndhurst has come out of nowhere to earn a top-spot in this section. The Spartans ended the regular season on a tear with six wins in seven games, and that included a Big North Silver Cup championship. The Spartans’ opponent, 13th-seeded Fair Lawn-Bergenfield-Dumont, was in the Spartans exact position last season. The Cutters were the fourth seed and were upset by Nutley-Columbia-Bloomfield. Now, the Cutters have a chance to avenge that loss and pull off a big upset of its own. The two sides played just once in the regular season, with the Spartans winning 6-4.
Wayne, Pascack look to avenge last season’s early exits
Two of the most shocking losses of the first round last season came out of this section. Top-seeded Pascack was defeated by eight-seeded (and eventual state champion) KJS United in the sectional quarterfinals. Fifth-seeded Wayne was upset in the first round by 12th-seeded Park Regional. The two sides are back as top seeds this season – Wayne at second and Pascack as fifth – and have deep runs on their mind. Wayne especially is in the midst of one of its best seasons in years. For Pascack, the Panthers lost a lot of production in the offseason but still managed to win 12 games.
Can the West Milford tri-op make another run?
The West Milford-Pequannock-Pompton Lakes tri-op was one of the darlings of last season’s state tournament. The 11th-seeded Highlanders advanced all the way to the sectional final before falling to KJS United. One year later the Highlanders earned the eighth-seed after a 9-12 regular season. The explosive scoring trio of Joe Barroquerio, Timmy Riche, and Max Diee can take this team far, and Matt Montena has been well tested in goal all season. It will take a lot to get there, including getting past West Essex-Caldwell and potentially KJS United, but the Highlanders have already shown once it can pull off a few upsets.
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Boys Ice Hockey: Handchen Cup – Howell vs. Brick, February 12, 2026
PUBLIC CO-OP, SOUTH
Which Shore team will rise up?
The Handchen Cup was one of the most wild and unpredictable of the in-season tournaments with eighth-seeded Brick knocking off sixth-seeded Howell-Matawan. The Shore Conference has seven squads in this bracket, including top-seeded Toms River. Any Shore Conference team can beat each other, making this one of the most interesting brackets.
Gov. Livingston co-op an under-seeded threat
While Gov. Livingston-New Providence did move up four spots from where it landed on the Power Points list, the eight seed seems low for a team that had to play Livingston and Westfield six total times. This is a team that can make a run. After all, it won two state titles and has made three Prudential Center appearances since 2022.
Toms River East celebrates a goal during the Winding River Holiday Tournament boys ice hockey game between Toms River and Manasquan-Point Beach at Winding River Skating Center in Toms River, NJ on 12/29/25.Scott Faytok | NJ Advance Media
How does Toms River handle the pressure?
The top seed puts a target on your back. Toms River is a motivated bunch after an exit in the Handchen Cup semifinals. It’s been a tale of two seasons for the tri-op. It started 11-2-1 but is 4-5 since. A typically strong defense has allowed 23 goals in its last nine games as opposed to 24 goals in its first 14 games.
North Hunterdon-Voorhees ready to take another step
It’s Year 3 for the young co-op and there’s a good chance a lengthy playoff run is on the horizon. North Hunterdon-Voorhees meets Bridgewater-Raritan in the Skyland Cup final once again on Wednesday. After that, the team is looking to win multiple state tournament games for the first time ever. The skill is there to make it happen. It has to start with a win against 13-Woodbridge-Colonia-Iselin Kennedy and then a date with 5-Howell-Matawan or 12-Hopewell Valley-Montgomery would be next.
Jake Lachance (17) of Robbinsville takes a shot against Matthew Shaw (9) of Paul VI during the boys ice hockey game between Paul VI and Robbinsville at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, NJ on 1/9/26.Joshua Guirguis | For NJ Advance Media
The chase for 50 goals
At this point, the battle to 50 goals is a one-man race. Robbinsville-Allentown’s Jake Lachance leads the state with 46 goals and has a seven-goal lead on West Morris’ Rhone Armijo for second. The senior got close last year but finished with 45. His squad is the No. 2 seed in the bracket and will face 15-Millburn-Kearny-North Arlington in the first round. A win would set up a quarterfinal bout against either 7-Marlboro-Holmdel or 10-South Brunswick-North Brunswick-Monroe.
Families drive to lead Freehold Township
It’s not just the two Wozniaks hoping to lead the charge for Freehold Township-Point Boro. Alex and Nick Lombardi and Luke and Mark Policelli hope to do the same. Those six have a combined 74 goals and 47 assists. They get to square off against a Gov. Livingston-New Providence squad that eliminated it from the state tournament last year. Freehold Township is looking to win its first state tournament game since 2019.
More magic from Marlboro-Holmdel?
This co-op’s run to the state final was compelling every step of the way. What does the reigning sectional champ have for a repeat performance? The No. 7 seed in the bracket is a major contender. David Furman is enjoying a stellar season in goal with a .940 save percentage. Nick Silacci proved last season he could step in and play just as well. It’s not an easy road to the sectional title in such a wide-open bracket, but this team has the talent on both sides of the puck to get there again.