“This year will be especially tough, with the chance of playing two teams that we’ve lost to already this season,” senior captain Shane Melly said. “We need our best hockey to bring home the Mennen Cup.”  

Randolph enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will face the winner of No. 3 Kinnelon and No. 6 Chatham in the quarterfinals on Monday night, Feb. 9. On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Morristown and No. 5 Mendham will square off, with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Mo Beard, the defending Mennen Cup champions.  

Mo Beard enters the tournament as the clear favorite. The team won the Mennen Cup last season and remains undefeated in Mennen Divisional play this year, establishing itself as the team to beat. If the Rams hope to bring the Mennen Cup back to Randolph, they will almost certainly have to knock off Mo Beard in the finals, a task that no team in the Mennen has accomplished this year.  

Last year Randolph’s Mennen Cup run ended in heartbreak, as Chatham upset the Rams in the semifinal round in overtime, despite Randolph not having lost a Mennen game prior to that matchup. This loss is still used as motivation heading into this year’s tournament.  

“The loss stays with me to this day,” Melly said. “It showed us that any team can beat any team on any given day.”

Before Randolph can even think about a finals matchup, the Rams must survive a dangerous semi-final opponent. Chatham and Kinnelon each present unique challenges. The Rams handled Chatham this season, sweeping both matchups, but in the last three seasons, Chatham has knocked out Randolph twice. Kinnelon has been an even tougher opponent, handing Randolph a loss in the season opener and battling to a tie in the rematch.