Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point basketball game is one of the greatest individual performances of all time, but Klaus Harthaus has entered the chat.
The Vernon sophomore isn’t a stranger to facing a lot of shots. Entering Saturday’s matchup against Mountain Lakes-Boonton, he averaged 47 saves per game in his career. He more than doubled that, turning aside an astonishing 104 shots in a 4-0 loss.
“It was really just a matter of determination. It was a mental game, and I think that’s the best way of putting it. I was fighting myself to stay awake on some shots and try to stay focused. But ultimately I think I would have saved a lot less if it weren’t for my defense,” Harthaus said.
It’s unclear if 104 saves is a state record. According to NJ Advance Media’s stat database, no other goalie in the past 16 years has hit 100 saves in a game. Harthaus’ previous career high was 81 saves in a loss to Morris Catholic on Dec. 21, 2024.
“It’s the greatest goalie performance in high school hockey that I’ve ever seen,” said Vernon head coach Nicholas VanDerlofske.
Harthaus averaged one save every 26 seconds during Saturday’s game. He kept Mountain Lakes-Boonton off the scoreboard for the first two periods, stopping 70 shots. He allowed the first goal of the game on the 73rd shot he faced.
“I was dead after the first period. The second period was a battle, and it was really tough because that period was really long. There were a lot of long stoppages, which made that even harder,” he explained. “Something I’ve learned from experience is that when you are in a fatigued state, you can’t stop moving. You have to keep going or else the fatigue will really start to set in.”
“After the second period, he definitely was a little more red in the face than he normally would be,” VanDerlofske added. “He was well over in the 60s in shots at that point, but he was motivated to keep going. He didn’t even want to cut the ice.”
It was during that middle frame that it started to sink in what he was on the verge of accomplishing. Every once in a while, he’d peek at the scoreboard as the total number of shots kept piling up.
“Second period, I’m looking up, wow, this is on track for last season’s personal record of 90 shots in a single game. I’m like, wow, I might beat that. I was viewing it as a personal record because I didn’t think it could be anything beyond that. Then, when it kept going, it went beyond 90, and there’s still two, three minutes left. It’s a weird feeling and that was the first time I’ve ever seen the shot counter go into the triple digits,” Harthaus said.
He recorded 33 saves in the first period, 37 in the second, and 34 in the third. His team was outshot 108-4 overall in the game.
Harthaus is now up to 1,658 career saves in just 34 games, but he’ll never complain about the workload.
“I’ve been on some less-than-desirable teams in the past for travel,” he shared. “Teams who don’t have the best record, where I’m getting, you know, 30-, 40-shot games consistently, and that’s in travel. That definitely contributes to the mindset that I’ve developed, that every shot is a blessing.”
https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2026/02/greatest-goalie-performance-in-hs-hockey-youll-never-guess-haw-many-saves-he-had.html