Semis: Class A Really Close
June 3, 2008 - Fans who chose to go to Aquinas tonight to see the Class A semi finals were treated to two of the best games of the season. Canandaigua held on to their undefeated season by one goal as the defeated a fired up Thomas team. Irondequoit was the winner of "round three" as they defeated Penfield 13-10, in a game that went right down to the last minute. Penn Yan and Geneva won their games over Midlakes and HFL and will face Livonia and Aquinas who won their games.
The stage is now set for Friday's Championships. In Class C, Penn Yan takes on Livonia (3:30), Geneva plays Aquinas (5:30) and Canandaigua takes on Irondequoit (7:30). All games are at St. John Fisher College.
CLASS A: Canandaigua 10 - Thomas 9
Canandaigua held on to defeat Thomas 10-9 in the most exciting game in the all the Semi-Final match-ups. Canandaigua scored six of the first seven goals and with 7:24 remaining in the second quarter was leading 6-1. Thomas, however, scored 8 of the last 12 goals and nearly came all the way back.
The Titans scored the only three goals in the fourth quarter and the last four goals of the game as they attempted one of the best comebacks of the season. However, the Braves were too strong and used victories in the first (5-1) and third (4-2) quarters to solidify their victory. Thomas won both the second (1-3) and fourth (0-3) quarters.
To say that Nick Scalzo was the Titan offense would be an understatement. Scalzo took eight shots, resulting in five goals. He scored five of the first six Thomas goals (and assisted on the sixth). He was the only Titan to shoot in the first quarter and he was the driving force for their offense for most of the game.
The final two goals were both scored by Kenny Tomeno on fast-break straight drives from midfield. Tomeno scored with 1:02 and 0:23 remaining.
The major problem for Thomas during their comeback was Canandaigua's Marshall Johnson. Johnson played well in nearly every area. He finished with 3 goals for the Braves and won 12/19 face-offs, including the final two face-off's to keep the Titans from getting the ball and looking for a quick face-off fast-break. Johnson finished with 12 ground balls.
Brian Scheetz and Justin Tomzak, through both their own play as well as that of the Titan defense were both held scoreless (both assists and points). Scheetz took 13 shots (six on cage) and Tomzak took 2 shots. Henderson, however, could not be stopped and scored 3g-1a for the Braves. The midfield demonstrated the scoring power for the Braves as, along with Johnson, Andrew Knoblauch (2g), Austin Rogers (1g) and Tom LaCrosse (1g) each added to the Braves tallies.
Canandaigua had some problems in the cage where Scott Bement had a rare off day with 6s/9ga (40%). The situation, however, could not be completely blamed on Bement as five Thomas goals were scored in unsettled fast-break situations, one was scored during EMO, and one was scored as the shooter was pushed into the crease.
While watching the game, one point became clear. The Braves looked professional in their scoring. Henderson drew the ball out and drove one-on-one, Johnson pulled out his defender and beat them one-on-one, Canandaigua stripped an attackman and slowly and methodically passed the ball up field for a clear (16/18 on the game). Canandaigua made methodical and planned attempts and looked as though they were in control. On the other hand, 
Thomas used situations where there was no plan and came out on top. Capitalizing on fast-breaks and unsettled clears, passing to the crease, taking chances and coming out on top. The Titans used their impressive speed to run around edges and look for opportunity to present themselves, and then capitalized on them.
Both teams played extremely well, albeit in different styles, and the result was one of the best games of the season.
In the cage for Thomas, James O'Neil finished with 12s/10ga (55%).
Scoring for Canandaigua were Henderson (3g-1a), Johnson (3g), Knoblauch (2g), Rogers (1g), LaCrosse (1g) and Roth (1a).
Scoring for Thomas were Scalzo (5g-1a), Hinderland (2g-1a), Tomeno (2g-1a), Max Gurowski (1a) and Pat Morrill (1a).
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
CLASS A: Irondequoit 13 - Penfield 10
Drew Coholan led Irondequoit to victory over Penfield, 13-10. Coholan finished the game with 5 goals for the Eagles,
however, it wasn't until 4:08 remaining in the second quarter that Coholan got his first shot off (2:04 in the second for the first goal). Irondequoit made a number of key changes at the half and outscored the Patriots 10-3 in the second half.
Penfield's Kyle Denhoff scored the first goal and demonstrated that his presence was missed during the regular season. Denhoff led the Patriots with 4 goals. Connor Rice assisted the next two goals, both of which were smart plays by the graduating attackman. In the first, both Rice and James Dwyer drove from X and Rice passed the ball cross-crease to an open Dwyer after the slide. The following goal was scored after a time-out where Rice drove from midfield and found Denhoff on the crease for the goal. The Patriots led 3-0 with 3:28 remaining in the first quarter. Irondequoit, however, added two goals in the final minutes. Tony Micelotta scored (assisted by Greg Wright) on a fast-break and Tyler Kleehammer scored 
on a drive. The score was 3-2 Patriots after one quarter.
Penfield dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 4-1. Penfield scored the first three goals to take a 6-2 lead. Tucker Nelson, Dwyer and Denhoff all scored. Irondequoit's Coholan scored his first goal (as noted above) at 2:04. Kevin Randall marked up on Coholan and generally shut him down in the first half. Although his first goal was a one-on-one drive against Randall, none of the remaining four goals were on-on-one drives against Randall who came back for an exciting final goal of the half. Defenseman Jon Wheaton took the ball down the field and took a shot on goal with about 0:04 remaining, Nash made a strong save but could not control the ball and Randall picked up the loose ball and scored with 0:00.4 remaining in the clock. Penfield led 7-3 at the half and seemed to be in 
control of the game.
The second half was nothing like the first with Irondequoit making all the necessary changes during the half. The Eagles scored the first four goals of the quarter to tie the game at seven with 5:40 remaining. Coholan scored three of the four goals. The first was scored with an outside shot where Brady Del Pozzo made the save, but could not control the ball; which resulted in a goal for the Eagles. The second was on a broken clear, as Mike Beckwith found Coholan on the crease. Finally, the third was scored as Coholan subbed into the field and drew a short stick up at the top of the box and easily scored. (Coholan tried this move twice more but was unsuccessful as the Patriots were not be caught off guard twice). Rice and Micelotta traded goals to retie the score at eight at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter continued with the Eagles in control, winning 5-2 win. Greg Coholan and Denhoff traded goals early in the quarter to keep the score tied at 9. However, the Eagles scored the next two (one of which in EMO) to take a two goal lead, and they never looked back. James Dwyer scored the last Penfield goal with 4:41 remaining. Mike 
Wallenhorst and Wright added the last two goals, both under the 2:00 mark. Wright's final goal was scored as he beat three players on the outside to keep the ball in the box and found himself open and heading for the crease. He could not pass up the opportunity and found the back of the net.
Wallenhorst had an excellent game on offense, defense, and special teams. He finished with 2g-1a, 9 groundsels, and was 17/24 (71%) at the face-off.
Del Pozzo played extremely well for the Patriots he finished with 16s/13ga (55%); Including a number of key saves to keep the Patriots in the game as long as they were. Tyler Nash had a good day for the Eagles with 9s/10ga.
Scoring for Irondequoit were Coholan (5g), Micelotta (2g-1a), Wright (1g-2a), Wallenhorst (2g-1a), Kleehammer (1g), Greg Coholan (1g), John Padulo (1g) and Beckwith (1a).
Scoring for Penfield were Nelson (1g), Rice (1g-2a), Dwyer (3g), Van Thof (1a), Denhoff (4g) and Randall (1g).
Irondequoit will face Canandaigua in the Finals, Friday at 7:30 PM at St. John Fisher College.
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
CLASS B: Geneva 17 - HFL 8
Geneva defeated HFL 17-8 to move onto the Finals. Geneva scored led 10-3 at halftime.
Alex Love was unstoppable and finished the game with 7g-2a. Love surpasses the leader in goals (however, he is now tied with Matt Osgood of Penn Yan who also surpassed the former leader) and maintained his lead in total points. Love has 75 goals and 116 points so far with at least one more game in the season.
On the other hand, Cade Norris and Zach Whyte (HFL's top two scorers) were held nearly scoreless was Norris went (0g-0a) and Whyte had (1g-1a). Matt Lesczynski stepped up for the Cougars and finished with four goals on six shots. In the cage, Ross Dinan finished with 7s/7ga for Geneva and Kyle Brimm with 4s/1ga (80%) in the last five minutes for the Panthers.
Geneva finished the game with nine different players scoring points (four midfielders, four attackman and one defenseman). In the first quarter four different players scored the first five goals for the Panthers. The first time these two teams met in resulted in a one game goal, the Panthers came out tonight to prove that they are stronger than that.
The win moves Geneva into the Finals against Aquinas on Friday at St. John Fisher. This will be the second meeting of the Panthers and Little Irish with Geneva winning 14-5 in their first match-up.
For HFL, Jay Tallon finished the game with a disappointing 6s/17ga but finished his season with a respectable 159 saves (49%).
Scoring for Geneva were Love (7g-2a), Jim Warner (2g-1a), Frank Triana (2g), Willie Rago (2g), Eric Legott (1g), Tyler Travis (1g), Sean Bennett (1g), Gary Parmelee (1g) and Kyle Boncaro (1a).
Scoring for HFL were Lesczynski (4g), Mickey Allan (2g-2a), Whyte (1g-1a), and Zach Yager (1g).
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
CLASS B: Aquinas 11 - Eastridge 6
It was Aquinas over Eastridge 11-6 in a semi final game at Waterloo tonight. The Little Irish had a 3-2 lead after the first quarter and led 5-3 at the half. The Lancers mounted a comeback in the third but Aquinas held on to an 8-6 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. Aquinas now moves on to face Geneva in the Class B finals at St. John Fisher College on Friday (5:30).
Scoring for Aquinas were Anthony Bianchi (3g-2a), Cameron Corsaro (2g), Marc Brondon (3a), Mike Messina (2g), Mike Gray (1g), Jasen Torres (1g), Austin Gorman (1g), and Neil Foley (1g). Kraig Heston had 15s/6ga for Aquinas (15-5).
No scoring data from the Lancers who finish their season at 5-13.
CLASS C: Penn Yan 18 - Midlakes 3
Penn Yan won the first quarter 6-1 and led at the half 11-3 on their way to an 18-4 semi final victory over Midlakes tonight at Hobart College. Penn Yan moves on to the finals against Livonia at 3:30 on Friday afternoon (St. John Fisher College).
Scoring for Penn Yan were Matt Osgood (7g), Cole Castle (3g-2a), John Linnan (3g-1a), Adam Trombley (3g-3a), Brendan Minor (1g), Ty Trombley (1a) and Dana Wilber (1g). Ethan Kamholtz had 9s/4ga for Penn Yan (12-7)
Scoring for Midlakes were Ben Uveges (1g-2a), Tyler Brooks-Lambert (1g), Tom Cheney (1a), Nick Judge (1g) and Justin Huntsman (1g). Jared Schoonerman ends his high school career with 21s/18ga for Midlakes (9-11).
CLASS C: Livonia 9 - Haverling 3
Livonia won the first semi final game in their history and will play their first Championship game against Penn Yan after winning what started out as a close game with Haverling, 9-3. Livonia and Haverling were tied after the first quarter and the Bulldogs led 2-1 at then half. After advancing their lead to 402 after the third, they scored five goals at the top of the fourth quarter to bring home the win.
"We played aggressive on the defensive end yet it cost us time allowing a tough Haverling team to keep it close while we were man down," said Coach Brett Wood after the game. "We know we are the underdogs in the finals but these kids are looking forward to facing Penn Yan".
Scoring for Livonia were Chris Bausch (2g-1a), Tyler Russell (4g-2a), Mike Donals (1g-1a), Jeff Wester (4a) and Matt Girolmo (2g). Justin Becker had 12s/3ga (47:30 mins) and Kyle Whitford had 0s/0ga (0:30 mins) for Livonia (13-7).
Scoring for Haverling were Mckenzie Durham (2g) , Andy Nesbitt (1g), Dave Harris (1a) and Zach Reed (1a). Chris Wolfer had 12s/9ga for Haverling who end an exciting season at 10-9.
