Fedak helps MHS into quarterfinals
By: Bob Nuse
Mark Fedak saved his best for last.
Now in his fourth year with the Montgomery High ice hockey program, Fedak has helped take the Cougars to a level they’ve never been before. With wins over Hopewell Valley and Paramus last week, the Cougars reached the state tournament quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
And Fedak, a senior co-captain, had a lot to do with the Cougars getting there. He scored three goals in an opening-round win over Hopewell last Friday, then came back to score the first three Montgomery goals of the game in a win over Paramus on Sunday.
The wins put the Cougars in the quarterfinals against top-seeded Ridge, where they dropped a narrow 4-3 decision on Wednesday night.
"He’s the go-to guy for us and he’s come up real big in the states," said Montgomery coach Yury Tarnavskyj, whose team finished the season with a 19-9-1 record. "He scored three goals in each game. He’s kind of stepped it up right when we needed it."
The six goals in two games, plus the one he scored on Wednesday, gave Fedak a team-high 31 for the season. Not bad for a guy who has been forced from the lineup twice this year because of injuries.
"We’re definitely playing better right now than we have all season," said Fedak, who also has 18 assists this season. "We have three solid lines that are really good and that helps. We are just a pretty consistent team. We don’t give up and we play hard the whole game through."
That was evident in the Cougars’ two opening state wins, where they spotted the opposition a 1-0 lead before storming back with a flurry of quick goals. Each time Fedak was right in the middle of the offensive explosion, doing what he does best.
Mark Fedak is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"Mark has had some injuries this year," Tarnavskyj said. "At the beginning of the year he separated his shoulder and he was out for about a month. Then he came back and got hurt in January against Middletown North. So I think now he’s really gotten himself into shape and he’s playing the best he has played all year. He’s finally healthy and you can tell that."
Fedak and his linemates, J.D. Hurley and Jon Jacey, form one of the most prolific scoring lines in high school hockey. The three have combined for 59 goals this season and they do it with great teamwork between them.
"I think it helps that he knows Jon and J.D. so well," Tarnavskyj said. "Mark and J.D. really move the puck well together, and so does Jon. The three of them play together very well. Each of them seems to know what the other one is going to do. Mark is very good our of the corner. He’s got quick hands and I think he’s learned that he doesn’t have to do it all himself."
Jacey has 21 assists this season and Hurley has 22, giving the three linemates 61 assists to go along with those 59 goals.
"I think we all kind of know where the other guy is going to be all the time," Fedak said. "That comes from playing together. We’ve been together for a while and we know each other real well."
The trio has helped make the Montgomery program one of the best in the state. And as a senior, Fedak is glad he helped with that turnaround.
"To go from where we were a couple years ago to competing for a state championship is a pretty big step up," he said. "I think we’ve all improved and that has helped. We all gained a lot of experience playing as freshmen and sophomores. Now that experience is paying off."
And even though the season ended with a loss, the Cougars have certainly laid the foundation to be a solid program for years to come. And a lot of credit for that goes to Fedak, along with his linemates Hurley and Jacey.