- First Posted: 2019-05-24
- Updated: 2019-05-24 23:15:13
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Hilton Heads to the Finals for First Time
For the first time in program history, Hilton advances to the Sectional Finals with an 8-7 overtime win against second seeded Pittsford. The Cadets played four strong quarters and held off the late push by the Panthers. In overtime, the game winning goal was scored by Matthew Mojsej.
Although the first quarter of play did not have any scoring, there was strong defense on both sides, goalies Brecken Catalano (Pittsford) and Jacob Kelsey (Hilton), both came up with multiple strong saves to keep the game scoreless. Both goalies finished the game strong with Catalano recording 8 saves and Kelsey recording 10 saves.
The first goal of the entire game came 14:07 into play with Hilton scoring off a skip pass around the outside. Matthew Mojsej fed the ball to Ryan Butts who came up with an outside shot. The next goal came much quicker with face-off midfielder Shawn Doran grabbing his own groundball and rushing to the cage to score only 0:06 later. The Cadets did let up and scored again one minute later with a hard drive along the right GLE from Zach Boyatzies. Within 1:06, the Cadets had taken a 3-0 lead. The Panthers scored their first goal of the game 19:28 into play. The goal began with a technical broken clear. Hilton grabbed a loose ball and ran upfield, the play was stopped from a loose ball push. The Panthers pressed the unsettled situation into a break. The goal came from Harrison Cross feeding across the cage to Ryan Dumont at the goal line. Hilton held the 3-1 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, Pittsford came out swinging and tied up the game. The Panthers scored the first goal during a man-up with Cross scoring with a cut from behind the cage. Hilton responded with their lone goal of the quarter; Mojsej scored with a midrange shot from the top. The Panthers scored the next four goals to take their first lead of the game. The next two goals were both feeds from behind the cage to top sided shots. The first was Ben DiGiovanni scoring off a feed from Dumont and the second was the opposite with Dumont scoring off a feed from DiGiovanni. Pittsford's fourth goal of the quarter was scored with 1:31 left by DiGiovanni with a broken clear and a drive straight to the close pipe. He finished with a close range shot to the high corner. Pittsford took their first lead 5-4 to the end of the quarter.
In the fourth, the scoring was back and forth. Hilton scored 39 seconds into the quarter with their own man-up goal. Tyler Hacker scored off a feed from Boyatzies. Pittsford re-took the lead just over a minute later with a drive from behind the cage by Cross and then a feed to Dumont who finished from the left flat. Hilton tied the game for the third time with a strong single player effort from Brenden Howell. He drove directly to the cage and scored after beating a triple and putting the ball into the back of the net. Pittsford won the next draw but could not capitalize on offense. Hilton's Doran finished 14/17 at the draw and was a major factor in giving Hilton the possession time they needed.
With 5:07 remaining, Pittsford had another man-up opportunity. The Panther used the chance to take another lead. DiGiovanni fed the inside pipe to Cross. Cross finished at point blank range to score. With a little over 3 minutes left in regulation, Hilton took possession and cleared the ball upfield. With 2:24 remaining, Ben Mitrano scored with a drive from the right flat to the crease. He came in close and finished high into the corner. Doran won the next draw and the ball stayed with Hilton. After a missed pass, Pittsford's Marc Tommasi picked up the loose ball and pressed up field. Once they crossed midfield, Pittsford called timeout. With 1:28 left on the clock, Pittsford's offense took control of the ball. They waited until 15 seconds on the clock before pushing. After two shots at the cage (neither on), time expired and the game went into overtime.
Doser won the draw and an immediate timeout was called. Mojsej scored the game winning goal 16 seconds later with a sweep across the top and down the middle. He beat his man and ran straight down the edge with a shot from 10 yards out. The third seeded Cadets move on to face the top seeded Fairport Red Raiders. This is the first time that Hilton has ever made the Finals.
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