Winning the battle of the power plays, and with another strong performance by its goalie, the Montclair ice hockey team advanced farther than it has in 14 years in the state tournament. The Mounties defeated Ridgewood 3-0 in the Public A quarterfinals at Clary Anderson Arena.

In a hard-edged game, both teams had plenty of power-play opportunities, but it was Montclair that took advantage. The Mounties scored all three of their goals with the extra man while killing off Ridgewood's chances.

Defenseman Brock Bowers scored twice and added an assist. Mike Gerne had the first Montclair goal and assisted on the other two.

Remy Parker and Shane Duffy also notched a pair of assists.

Goalie Ondrej Smalec earned the shutout with 24 saves. Some of his toughest chances came in the first period, as Ridgewood had the better of play for much of that stanza.

The 11th-seeded Maroons suffered their second loss to Montclair this season, and failed to score in either game. David Woodford made 28 saves for Ridgewood, which ends the season 16-8-1.

Montclair is now 19-1-3. The third-seeded Mounties advance to the Public A semifinals on Tuesday at Mennen Arena, where they will take on defending state champions Randolph.

The Montclair hockey program has won four state titles in its history, but this will be its first visit to the semifinal round since 2002.

For sports video highlights of this New Jersey high school boys' high school state tournament game, click play in the box at left.