Ryan and Webb notch back-to-back Highlander shutouts.

West Milford - For the River Dell Hawks and the Wayne Valley Indians, it wasn’t a very productive weekend on the ice. The tag team tandem of Sean Ryan and Tim Webb posted back to back shutouts against these two White Conference foes. By doing so the West Milford Highlanders have locked up a trip to the state playoff tournament as well as solidifying their hold on second place in the conference. Ryan blanked River Dell 6-0 as he stopped all 18 Hawk shots with his most dramatic being a kick save on a breakaway midway through the second period. This one play seemed to break the back of the Hawks who were down 3-0 at the time, but Ryan slammed the door and West Milford pushed in three more for the 6-0 win. Lezette, Atieh, and Williamson swatted down the Hawks by combining for five goals and four assists. Junior winger Andrew Atieh notched the hat-trick and Nick Lezette tipped in two goals off shots from the outside. Steve Williamson assisted on two of Atieh’s tallies, and Lezette and Atieh traded assists on each other’s goals. Juniors Mike Hamilton and Keegan Saum earned assists on Lezette’s second deflection, and Matt McCann scored off the face off from the right circle to round out the scoring. Then it was Wayne Valley’s turn to be blanked. Highlander goaltender senior Tim Webb stopped all 11 shots by the Indians and earned his first varsity shutout. Wayne Valley’s netminder stopped 40 of 43 shots. The scoreless deadlock was finally broken in the second period as Junior Kevin Flynn won the race to the puck after a Highlander dump in, avoided a check and then delivered a laser of a pass to Jeff Reese’s stick in the crease. The Highlanders finally broke through for the 1-0 lead. Just two minutes later Lezette slammed in a low shot after being set up by Atieh and Williamson. Atieh finished off the West Milford scoring with a goal to seal the 3-0 win.