Canandaigua returned to the Sectional Finals for the first time in four years to secure the 11-10 victory over two time defending Champion Victor. The Braves and the Blue Devils have faced off for the Title six previous times with each team winning three titles against each other. The game saw Victor leading for the majority of the contest before a strong fourth quarter streak of four goals moved the Braves from being down by two to leading by two with six minutes left in the contest. Senior Mike Belles led his team in scoring with 4g and was named Class B All Tournament MVP. He was joined on offense by Ryan Bremer (3g-1a) and Drew Williamee (1g-1a). Williamee was also announced as the Section V Sportsman of the Year during the awards portions of tonight’s game. Defensively, long stick Will Rheude and goalie Quentin Shedrick were both named to the team. Shedrick finished with 8 saves in the game. The Blue Devils were led by Kyle Seager (4g) and Brody Secker (2g-2a). Face-off man Eli Ricci also was a major player in the contest for the Blue Devils. All three were named to the All Tournament Team. Defenseman Simon Kowal rounded out the team for Victor. From the Semi-Finals, Pittsford’s Grant Lewis and Irondequoit’s Cooper Moore were named to the All Tournament team.

The Braves started off the scoring just over a minute into play with Williamee forcing the slide and passing the ball into the crease with AJ Sterman scoring. Victor responded with two of their own to take over the lead. Seager scored the first, followed quickly by a fast-break goal by Matt Langan. The Blue Devils held the lead for the majority of the game. The Braves kept the game close with defenseman Rheude scoring with a feed from Bremer. The quarter finished up tied 2-2. In the second quarter, Victor outscored Canandaigua 4-2 and took the only three goal lead of the contest. Jackson Mead and Seager each added two goals with assists from Secker (x2) and Mead. Breaking up the four goal stretch was Belles’ first goal. With 5:34 left in the half, Victor led 6-3. Belles added another goal before halftime with a drive along the left goal line to finish out the half.

In the third quarter the teams traded goals with each scoring three. Belles kept up his offensive scoring with another goal line drive, followed by Secker scoring after picking up a loose ball on the crease. Bremer scored his first goal from a fast-break, followed by another Secker goal. This time, Secker scored with an outside shot off a feed from Colin Wheeler. The final pair of goal was Sterman scoring his second for the Braves (off a fast-break) and Saeger scoring his fourth with an unassisted goal at 1:38. Victor held the 9-7 lead going into the final 12 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Canandaigua came out strong. They added four unanswered goals spanning four minutes to go from trailing by two to leading by two. Bremer scored two of the four with an outside shot and a fast-break goal. Belles scored his last goal with a dodge straight at the goal and Williamee scored his lone goal with a ground ball right on the crease. The Blue Devils kept trying to get into the back of the net, but only scored once before time expired. Joe Ciroula scored with 1:06 left on the clock; however, Canandaigua was able to hold the ball for the rest of the time to keep the Blue Devils from tying up the game.

Canandaigua moves on to the State Tournament and will face Lake Shore (Section VI) in their first matchup. The Shorians faced two Section V opponents during the year with losses to Hilton (7-13) and Penn Yan (14-5). The Braves have never faced off against Lake Shore since the beginnings of our records in 2003.    [ Story and BOX SCORE]