News
Feature Image

Canandaigua Heads to Finals for First Time Since 2017

Top seeded Canandaigua defeated fourth seeded Thomas 7-2 to advance. The Braves offense had trouble getting started, but then stepped up with three unanswered goals in the second quarter.  With two more in the third, their 5 goal stretch took over control of the game.

In the first quarter, the scoring was limited with Thomas adding the lone goal.  Ryan Prine scored off a dodge along the right side to near the crease.  He finished into the net to put the Titans up with 4:31 remaining.  The Titans held that lead into the end of the quarter (1-0).  In the second quarter, Canandaigua added all the goals while holding Thomas scoreless.  There were three goals for the Braves.  The first two began with drives from behind the cage.  Tyler Goode drove from behind and after the slide, dropped the ball off to Aaron D’Agostino for a cross crease goal.  Two minutes later, they scored on another drive from behind.  This time, Mark Belles drove from behind and finished himself to give the Braves their first lead of the game.  The third goal came only 20 seconds later.  After a technical face-off win, the Braves quickly pushed the ball upfield and Casey Herod fed the ball to Dom Comella for the goal.  Canandaigua held the 3-1 lead going into halftime.  Between a patient Thomas offense and a strong Canandaigua defense, the Titans only put one shot on the cage (the goal) in the entire first half.

In the second half, Canandaigua continued their scoring run with the first two goals of the quarter.  The first of which came with 724 left on the clock.  Goode fed the ball from behind to D’Agostino at the crease.  The second came only 9 seconds later off a faceoff fast break.  Herod grabbed the loose ball and pushed it up to Mitch Pfeiffer.  Pfeiffer dodged to the cage and scored the fifth Braves goal.  The Titans broke their 24 minute scoring drought with a single dodge by Nick Vasile.  Vasile took his defender down the left side and finished into the bottom corner of the goal.  Both teams had chances going into the final five minutes, but neither capitalized.  The quarter ended with Canandaigua controlling the ball during man-up.

In the fourth quarter, Canandaigua once again opened up the scoring with a broken clear that resulted in Belles assisting Herod.  Herod’s goal was scored while still man-up.  The Braves won the next draw and took 3 minutes off the clock before Thomas got the ball back on offense.  They got off two shots, but did not hit the cage.  Canandaigua took back over with 6 minutes remaining and took another 2 minutes of the clock before scoring.  Belles scored his second of the day with a drive from behind and a backhanded shot into the cage.  The Braves won the next draw and continued to take time off the clock.   The Titans had one more shot at the cage, but could not capitalize.  Canandaigua moves on to the Finals on Wednesday at 7:30.

19_s5_banner
Image