Canandaigua has reached the Sectional Finals eight of the last ten contests, including the last three tournaments that have been held.  The Braves have not won since 2013 with an 11-10 win over Victor in overtime.  Tonight, the Braves added their second win with a 7-3 victory over Irondequoit.  Senior midfielder Jaxon Grant finished the game with 3g-1a and was named All Tournament MVP.  Attackman Matt Belles (who scored the overtime goal against Spencerport earlier in the tournament) was also named to the All Tournament team.  Rounding out Canandaigua’s picks were midfielder Drew Williamee, attackman Nate Sheridan and defensemen Eric Platten and Brady Comella.  For Irondequoit, Aidan Greco scored two of the three goals and was named to the All Tournament team.  Midfielders Dan Buckley and Cooper Moore were also named to the team.  From the semi-finals, Victor’s Liam Wheeler and Webster Thomas’ Eli Adams rounded out the team.

Canandaigua came out to play scoring four of the first five goals to lead 4-1 at the half.  The Braves scored the opening goal with a outside shot from the top of the restraining box.  Grant scored the first of his three goals unassisted.  Just over a minute later, Elliot Morgan scored his with a drive from the top and a turn back before the shot.  Irondequoit got on the board with a drive from behind the cage by Gibson.  The first assisted goal of the game came with 01:44 remaining on the clock.  Matt Belles drove in from the left GLE before finding a cutting Grant coming down the middle.  The Braves led 3-1 going into the second half.

In the second quarter, only a single goal was scored.  Canandaigua’s Grant scored in a similar manner to his last goal with a cut down the middle.  This time the feed came from Williamee (from behind the cage) with 9:11 remaining on the clock.  The last nine minutes of play was back and forth with both teams having shots at the cage.  Canandaigua took control with 90 seconds left and held the ball for the last shot.  They failed to convert.  Irondequoit goalie Nick Lepiane recorded three saves in the last nine minutes.  He finished the game with 7 saves.  Canandaigua took the 4-1 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Canandaigua extended their lead by one.  Irondequoit scored first on a man-up goal from Greco with 6:06 left on the clock.  The Braves added two more before the end of the quarter.  With 4:03 remaining, Nate Sheridan scored from a fast-break down the right side with an assist from Williamee.  Three minutes later, they paid each other back with Williamee scoring off a feed from Sheridan.  Canandaigua led 6-2 going into the final twelve minutes.

Each team added a single goal in the fourth quarter.  Canandaigua scored first with a goal by Belles from the top of the restraining line with a feed from Grant.  Just over a minute later, Irondequoit scored their final goal of the game with rapid passing that culminated in Greco feeding Buckley at the top right.  The Eagles kept possession for long stretches in the fourth quarter with Canandaigua goalie Jack Faiola recording five of his six saves in the final quarter. The Eagles end their terrific season at 16-3.

Canandaigua moves on to the State Tournament this Saturday where they will play Hamburg at 3:00 at Williamsville East.     [BOX SCORE]       - - More images in the photo gallery.