No joke, there was some exciting play in Section Five today, with Midlakes beating Livonia, East Rochester with their first ever win, Thunder taking out Eastridge and Thomas over Penfield in overtime. There were also some mismatch wins by Brighton, Fairport and Canandaigua.

Midlakes 13 - Livonia 11  

 -- Midlakes defeated Livonia 13-11; winning the third and fourth quarters by one goal each. The game was back and forth and both teams had opportunities, but the Eagles capitalized on more chances. One of the deciding factors for Midlakes was Tyler Brooks-Lambert who finished with 3g-1a, 20 ground balls and 74% at the face-off draw.

The game started with Livonia taking an early two goal lead. Wyatt Struble scored the first two goals during unsettled situations. The first goal, scored 0:36 into play, occurred when freshman attackman Josh Wester picked up a lose ground ball behind the crease and found Struble open in front. The second goal was scored during a fast-break situation with Mike Donals assisting. Matt Barilla added the first goal for Midlakes with an unassisted goal after a broken clear. He finished with 3g-1a for the Eagles. Josh Wester added another goal during a fast-break with 6:00 remaining. The Bulldogs led 3-1 halfway into the opening quarter but the Eagles tied it up with goals from Nick Judge and Brooks-Lambert. The tying goal was one of the prettiest of the game with Brooks-Lambert cutting toward the goal along with Mike Newlands who drove towards the crease as he was feeding Brooks-Lambert. Two minutes later, Chris Bausch added his first of four goals for Livonia with an assist from Jeff Wester who finished with 4g-2a for the Bulldogs. The final goal of the quarter happened at 0:02 when Nick Judge shot and missed the cage, allowing Barilla to scoop up the ground ball and hit Brooks-Lambert on the crease. The score ended 4-4 after the first quarter.

Each team added two goals in the second quarter. Livonia scored first with Jeff Wester scoring unassisted with a drive from behind. Cory Gray quickly re-tied the score at 5-5 with a goal from the crease with a feed from Newland. Wester added another unassisted goal for Livonia. The second quarter ended very similar to the first quarter with Midlakes scoring in the last 10 seconds. With 0:09 remaining Brooks-Lambert broke a clear with Livonia goalie Jake Keller out of position and found Gray open down field. Gray, after an inside dodge, looked across the crease back to Brooks-Lambert for the goal. The score was still tied at the half.

The third quarter is when differences started to add up. Midlakes opened the scoring just 0:47 into the quarter to take their first lead of the game. Brooks-Lambert added his final goal of the game after picking up a ground ball in front of the cage. Midlakes continued the pressure with Brandon Sauve dodging from the top and finishing in the back of the net. Midlakes led by two goals. Livonia, not to be put down, scored the next two goals to retie the score at 8-8. Bausch scored the first goal and assisted the second (with Jeff Wester scoring the latter). With 4:37 remaining Midlakes' Judge scored with a drive from the top. The third quarter ended with Midlakes holding a slight one goal lead.

The fourth quarter was all about extra-man goals with five goals coming during man-up. Livonia tied the game when Bausch picked up a ground ball in front of the cage and sent it to the back of the net. At 9:00 Jeff Wester and Wyatt Struble hooked up for the first man-up goal to take a two goal lead for the Bulldogs. Midlakes quickly struck to tied the game at 8:12 with an inside feed from Newland to Gray. With 8:12 remaining the game was still tied. Another penalty resulted in another man-up goal. Bausch and Wester hooked up for the final goal of the game for Livonia and the last time the Bulldogs led. Three more penalties for Livonia resulted in the final three goals. Barilla from Brooks-Lambert, followed by Gray (unassisted) and Gray (unassisted). The Eagles held off the final advances by the Bulldogs to control the end of the game.

Midlakes controlled nearly all aspects of the game. The Eagles led in ground balls 46-33, had 35-28 shots with 19-16 on cage. Joining Brooks-Lambert (20gb) in ground ball production were Gray (6) and Judge (3). For Livonia Jeff Wester (10), Josh Wester (4) and defenseman Nick Jonasse (4) all made contributions. Jeff Wester had three one-on-one takes for Livonia. In the cage, Midlakes' Matt Brennessel played the entire game and had five saves. Livonia's Keller finished with six saves. Midlakes demonstrated that they are ready for upcoming season and should not be underestimated by anyone.

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

The game tied after three quarters; 3-3 after the first, 10-10 after the third and 15-15 going into overtime. Penfield held the lead in the second quarter (5-4). The game was close overall with Thomas winning the ground ball battle 31-23 and outshooting Penfield 48-30.

At the face-off draw the two teams nearly split with Thomas winning just one more (17-15). Penfield face-off man Connor Russell was 15/30 while Thomas' Kenny Tomeno was 9/16. Russell also had 15 ground balls for the Patriots. Goalie Jamie Solomon finished at 50% for the Patriots.

Churchville-Chili 16 - Gates Chili 8  

 -- Gates Chili scored this first goal, just thirty seconds into the game, but Churchville-Chili came back with five unanswered goals on their way to an 8-5 half and a 16-8 win in the first game of the season for both teams.

Eleven different Churchville-Chili players combined for the win and although the Saints were able to get a number of players into the game by the last quarter, some of the better players remained in the game throughout.

One minute after the Spartan's opening goal by Tyler Webb (from Grant Ferguson), senior attackman, Alex Pavone scored on an interior feed from Ryan Yunker, who then scored three unassisted goals in a row. Pavone then struck twice with an assist on the first by senior attackman Jon Hemink, taking the score to 5-1. Gates, still looking like they were in the game, returned with two goals by freshman attackman, Matt Martin with assists on both by Ferguson (junior attackman). Sophomore middie, Pat Bonafede scored with 0:32 left in the quarter on a feed from Pavone and the quarter ended with the Saints up 6-3.

The talk on the sidelines during between the quarters was very different, as the Saints were focusing on ways to correct mistakes while the Spartans were talking about playing to potential and boosting confidence.

The second quarter was more quiet, by comparison, with each team scoring two goals. Ferguson scored first, just a minute into the quarter when he stole the ball from the C-C goalie with his stick outside the crease and then popped it into the goal, taking the score to 6-4. Eighth grader, Trevor Hodgins, a scrappy and athletic attackman, scored the first of his 2g-1a which was followed by four minutes of no scoring before sophomore middie Taylor Kolmer scored on an inside fast break with a feed from senior middie Zach Yehl. When the Saints weren't scoring on fast breaks, they set up a very successful wing feed to a crease cutter which produced a number of goals. Gates finished the scoring for the half when Matt Martin scored on a Webb feed with 0:04 left. The Saints went into the halftime break up 8-5 and the Spartans were still very much in the game.

The second half, however, belonged to Churchville as they took the score to 12-5 with the next four goals to finish the quarter.

Gates tried to mount a comeback at the top of the fourth quarter, scoring two in a row, both unassisted by Ferguson and sophomore middie Pete DiLaura but C-C returned with four unanswered goals, the first two by Hemink and Yehl, and latter by junior Chris Arsenault and junior middie Scott Shamp (assisted by Nick Gray). Tyler Webb scored the last goal of the game with 0:36 left.

On a beautiful afternoon game, more common in June than in April, both teams had good moments and ones that look more like the beginning of the season. Clearing was a problem for the Spartans who managed fifty percent, but lost ball on simple mistakes. The face off edge (15/27) belonged to Churchville, who used four different players, led by Yehl who went 8/12, but Spartan lead face off man, Pete DiLaura had a respectable 9/19 and a number resulted in quick ball possession for the Gates. Although the whistles blew all afternoon for pushes and procedures, there was only one time-serving penalty (against C-C) and their man-down unit prevailed. Regardless of the score, Gates Chili looked respectable and will certainly win some big games. Churchville-Chili, who are hoping to win at the top of their class this year, will need some work before their first major test against Penfield on April 6th.

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

Brighton started right off with six goals in the first quarter and five more before the half while junior goalie Jordan Carey and the Baron defense held the Lightning to one goal in each quarter. Carey ended the game with five saves (3ga in 27 mins). Junior goalie Matt Ingalls finished the game (1s/2ga - 21 mins). Junior face off man, Max Brauer, won 14/21 at the draw for Brighton.

Greece Arc/Oly was led by Rob Kitchen who had three goals. Sophomore goalie, Shane Trost played in the first half, making 11s/11ga and junior goalie Tyler Catalfano recorded 9s/6ga in the second half for Greece.

Hilton started off strong, scoring the first three goals of the contest. David Smith, Kyle Schmidt and Jake Montgomery scored for the Cadets over the first seven minutes. With 4:25 remaining in the first quarter the Cadets led 3-0. The Blue Devils then buckled down and scored the next five goals, spanning twelve minutes. D'Angelo scored the first goal of the comeback (unassisted) and assisted the second goal by Mitch Rupp scored with 0:39 remaining. At the conclusion of the first quarter Hilton remained the 3-2 leader.

Victor kept up the pressure in the second quarter scoring the first three goals. Connor Kimball opened the scoring in the quarter with O'Shea assisting. O'Shea then added unassisted goals at 7:02 and 4:44. The Blue Devils held a 5-3 lead. Junior midfielder Kyle Youngman scored (unassisted) to bring the Cadets to within one goal. O'Shea scored the final goal of the half with an assist from D'Angelo. The Blue Devils held a two goal lead at halftime.

In the third D'Angelo scored the opening goal with an assist from TJ DiSanto. DiSanto, who scored one goal last season, returns for his sophomore year with the Blue Devils. Hilton had a mini-run in the closing minutes of the third quarter with two goals from David Smith; the first in man-up and the second assisted by Mike Meeks. The Cadets had pulled within one goal (7-6) at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, both teams added one goal. Victor struck first with D'Angelo's final assist to sophomore midfielder John Maloney (scoring his first Varsity goal). Hilton added the final goal of the game with 0:55 remaining in the game. Schmidt added his second goal of the game unassisted.

At the face-off midfielder Collin O'Shea finished 9/16 (56%) for the Blue Devils. Sophomore defenseman Alex Davis led in ground ball production with 5; Rupp, Steve Basile, Kimball and Nick Waseleski added three ground balls each. For Hilton, Smith (4), Shane Endres (3), Ken Stiles (2) and Meeks (2) led in ground balls. In the cage, Basile finished with 19 saves (73%) for Victor. For Hilton, Stiles finished with 15 saves (65%).

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

Vaughn finished with 2g-2a and Jordan Michele finished with 3g to lead East Rochester. The Bombers split the goalies in the third quarter with both Jonathan Caton and Liridon Dervisholli finishing with four saves. For Batavia, Theo Hill finished with 23 saves for the Blue Devils.

At the face-off, Nick Reiss finished 11/19 and Kyle Knopp 3/3 for the Bombers. Winning 64% of the face-offs helped the Bombers to control the pace of the game and give them ample chances on offense. Batavia scored two goals in the final minute of play in hopes of pulling out the win, however they fell just short.

Corning West 6 - Geneva 4  

 -- Corning West (Section IV) scored the winning two goals in the first quarter, as they and Geneva traded goals for the rest of the afternoon. The Vikings won 6-4 in a game played at Geneva.

The big talk in Corning these days is about merging their Corning-East and Corning-West athletic programs, which could happen as early as next fall. That means that Geneva may not get a chance to play this game over again. 

Canandaigua 16 - Rush-Henrietta 9  

 -- Canandaigua pulled ahead in the second quarter to defeat Rush-Henrietta 16-9 this afternoon. The Royal Comets kept the game close in the first quarter, however Canandaigua scored seven goals in the second quarter. The Royal Comets tied the Braves in the fourth quarter 3-3.

The Braves Head Coach Ed Mulheron writes, "I was very pleased to the 10 kids in our scorebook. RH played very well and battled until the final whistle." The Braves, now 2-0, increase their winning streak to 22 games. At the face-off Rush-Henrietta's Brad Sauln 12/20.

Fairport 18 - Brockport 3  

-- Twelve different players made the scorebook for the Red Raiders as they scored ten goals in the first quarter on their way to an 18-3 win at Brockport. Fairport outshot the Blue Devils 40-16. Gerry Warner won 8/11 face offs and Kyle added 7/9 to lead the Raiders face off group (Steve Danylyshyn 2/4 and Tim Modesti 2/2). Gerry Warner (7gb) led the group of twenty-five players who scooped up ground balls.

Ath/Ody 9 - Eastridge 8  

-- The Thunder took the first quarter 5-4 on their way to a 9-8 win over host, Eastridge. Senior attackman Danny Vyverberg scored what would become the winning goal for Greece Ath/Ody.