The first battle for ranking in Class A was settled this afternoon when Fairport (6-1) knocked off Thomas (5-1) 12-7 at Webster. In the other game played today, Batavia beat Each Rochester 11-10 in overtime. Junior attackman Will Mulcahy scored the game winner for the Blue Devils.

Fairport 12 - Webster Thomas 7 

 --  This was a big game for the currently top two ranked Class A teams in the Section, and although the lead shifted during the game, in the end, it was Fairport over Webster Thomas 12-7.

Fairport defeated Thomas 4-1 in both the second and fourth quarters to cement their 12-7 victory. Thomas won the first quarter 2-1 and both teams scored 3 goals in the third quarters.

Thomas scored the first two goals of the game. Less than two minutes into the game the Titans scored with Jack Hinderland passing the ball across the crease to Brad Hutton. Hinderland led the Titans with 1g-2a. Kenny Tomeno scored the next goal for Thomas (unassisted). The Titans held their 2-0 lead for the majority of the first quarter. It wasn't until 0:54 remaining in the quarter that Fairport scored their first goal. Brendan Saylor started with a dead ball from behind the cage and used a straight dodge to put the ball into the back of the net. The score was 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.

The first three minutes of the second quarter were the most hectic of the game. The quarter began with a three minute non-releasable stick penalty against the Raiders. The Raider coaching staff was irate about the penalty, but the penalty was the catalyst that began their scoring run. Thomas began with possession of the ball and the Titans went right to work. Only 0:30 into the quarter the Titans scored when Nick Scalzo passed the ball to Hinderland for the extra-man goal. Fairport won the next face-off on a technical win and that is when the scoring began. Chris Button scored a Fairport "man-down" goal after picking up a loose ball on the crease. Fairport won the next face-off with long pole James Cunningham picking up the ground ball from the wing. With two minutes remaining in the stick penalty the Titans were assessed a one-minute slash penalty.

The game then shifted to five-on-five (with each team with one in the penalty box). The Raiders took only 0:11 seconds off the clock before scoring to tie the game at 3-3 with Saylor scoring (unassisted). After the goal was scored a defenseman from Titan checked the Saylor and was assessed an illegal body check penalty and Fairport was awarded the ball. This time the Raiders were slightly more patient, taking 0:26 seconds before scoring their second five-on-five goal. The Red Raiders scored three goals during their three minute non-releasable stick penalty.

The Red Raiders added one more goal before the end of the quarter with Connor Lowe scoring on a fast-break with 1:17 remaining. Fairport led, 5-3, at the end of the first half.

In the third quarter both teams scored three goals. Fairport scored the first goal (to bring the total to five unanswered goals). The first goal was scored when the teams were attempting to substitute on the fly. The Titans overextended and were beat on the outside by Martin Manilla. Manilla then looked inside to Button who was on the crease, open after the slide. Thomas then began playing faster and strong, scoring three goals in a row to tie the score at 6-6. Nick Scalzo (assisted by Billy Gurowski), Tomeno (assisted by Hinderland) and Pat Morrill (assisted by Kyle LaVallee) scored the three Titan goals. The first two goals were scored with passes across GLE. The third goal was scored with an inside pass to the center of the crease, Morrill was hit and as he fell he threw a hard shot to the upper corner that beat goalie Kris Sterzin. Sterzin finished with 7 saves (50%).

Before the end of the third quarter the Red Raider added two more goals. Aaron Jones scored the first goal after pulling his defenseman nearly all the way to the midfield line and driving past him towards the cage. Tomeno pulled up from his drive early and hit a hard shot to the upper corner for the goal. The final goal of the quarter was scored man-up with Jones scoring his second goal with an assist from Manilla. Fairport led 8-6 after three quarters.

Jones scored his third consecutive goal to open the fourth quarter. he scored with an outside shot from a circle offense during yet another man-up opportunity. Thomas added their final goal of the game with a fast-break goal from Morrill with an assist from Gurowski. The final three goals for Fairport were scored by Mike Lehmann and two from Manilla (Paul Dancy also had one assist).

At the face-off Lehmann was strong for the Red Raider. He finished the game 13/20, however, each of the seven losses where all awarded to the Titans on technical fouls. Kris Sterzin led the Red Raiders with 8 ground balls. Andrew Kristy (6) and Button (5) also had high ground ball totals for Fairport. Ted Knowles led with three takes for Fairport.

Kristy was a key player for Fairport. He was a major factor on the face-offs, picking up five ground balls from the wing line. Additionally, Kristy was a key short stick defenseman for the Red Raiders turning back a number of drives from Thomas' midfield.

Morrill (4), Scalzo (3), Tomeno (3), Hutton (3) and AJ Glagolev (3) led in ground balls for the Titans. Glagolev and Scalzo had two takes each for Thomas. In the cage, James O'Neil and Austin Fox both played one half for Thomas. O'Neil finished with 5 saves (50%) and Fox finished with 5 saves.

Scoring for Fairport were Manilla (3g-2a), Jones (3g), Button (2g), Saylor (2g), Lowe (1g-1a), Lehmann (1g) and Dancy (1a).

Scoring for Thomas were Hinderland (1g-2a), Morrill (2g), Tomeno (2g), Gurowski (2a), Scalzo (1g-1a), Hutton (1g) and LaVallee (1a).

For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics. 

Batavia 11 - East Rochester 10   OT

 --  It was an overtime win for Batavia as they beat their hosts, East Rochester by a score of 11-10. The game was tied at three at the end of the first quarter. Batavia scored four goals in the second and led 7-4, but the Bombers came back with five goals in the second half to force the tie. The overtime face off was won by Batavia's Chip Chapman and junior attackman Will Mulcahy scored the game winner for the Blue Devils with an assist from Joe Muoio at 2:46 in the overtime period.

"ER came out of halftime and started shooting, they had us on our heals and possessed the ball very well for a first year team," said Batavia Coach Chuck Hammon.

Scoring for Batavia were Chip Chapman (4g-2a), Joe Pedro (1g), Joe Muoio (2g-5a), Taylor Hubbard (1g), Kyle Maniace (1g), Josh Marr (1a) and Will Mulcahy (1g). Theo Hill had 24s/9ga including 12 saves in the third quarter. Batavia won 18 of 23 face offs.

Scoring for East Rochester were Nick Reiss (4g-1a), Jordan Michele (1g-2a), Torin Hudson (1g), John Reiss (2g) and Clayton Vaughn (1g). Hayden Walsh had 19s/10ga for the Bombers.