Fairport scores last three in win over Pittsford

May 5, 2021 - Fairport had a strong showing in three of the four quarters in their 10-7 win over Pittsford.  The Panthers kept the game close and led at two different points before Fairport scored the final three goals of the game to secure the win.  Attackman Jackson Monte had a strong game for the Red Raiders with 2g-2a as well as opening up a few other goals for the Fairport offense.

Pittsford opened up the scoring more than six minutes into the first quarter.  James Cook fed the ball from behind the cage to Shane Leonard.  Leonard took a hard outside bounce shot from 15 yards out to put the Panthers on the board.  Although, Pittsford drew first blood, the Red Raiders came back swinging.  Fairport scored the next four goals; the first of which only took then 28 seconds to score.  Senior attackman Kole Stuver scored for the Red Raiders after a misstep by the Panther defense.  Stuver, who went from being quadruple teamed, to basically unguarded, took a wide sweep across the top and then drove straight down the middle.

Fairport won the next draw as well as took their first lead of the game less than 30 seconds later.  Defenseman Josh Knapp grabbed the loose ball after a hard-fought time on the draw.  He cleared the ball up field and assisted Trey Terzo.  Fairport kept up their face off wins with Stuver winning once again.  The Red Raiders called a timeout and slowed down the pace.  After passing around a few times, the Red Raiders took a shot that went wide.  Jackson Monte started with the ball behind the cage.  He drove to the left side while Stuver came from the top.  After beating his defenseman Stuver was all alone on the crease and Monte fed the ball inside for a perfect quick-stick by Stuver.  The fourth straight goal by the Red Raiders was similarly scored.  Monte, working behind the cage, found a cutting Rob Crowley on the crease.    With the help of a timeout, Pittsford won the next faceoff and had 0:35 seconds before the end of the quarter.  The Panthers made use the opportunity and scored with a drive along GLE by Harrison Cross.   Cross came in from the right side and split two defensemen.  Fairport led  4-2 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter it was all Pittsford.  The Panthers added three goals to retake the lead, while simultaneously holding the Red Raider scoreless.  The first Pittsford goal began with Cross driving from a high crease on the right side.  After forcing the slide, he dumped the ball down to James Cook.  Cook was one-on-one with the goalie and finished into the back of the net.  The second Pittsford goal saw Cook scoring for the same position.  This time it was during a man-up opportunity and the feed came from Rex Kesselring.  The last goal of the half came off a feed from Cook (again from behind).  This time he fed Gustav Murphy from the left flat.  Going into half time, Pittsford led 5-4.

As much as the second quarte belonged to the Panthers, the third belonged to Fairport.  The Red Raiders came out of halftime and scored 2 goals in less than 90 seconds to retake their lead.  The first of which was scored after a feed by Kyle Gould to Jake Koonmen.  Gould fed the ball from the top to the inside by Koonmen turned and fired.  Just under a minute later and Josh Knapp scored the second half of the pair.  The long stick defenseman took the ball straight down the middle and through three defensemen to finish in the back of the net.  Monte was back with his first goal of the night with a loose ball pickup near the cage during an unsettled situation.  The final goal of the quarter was scored by Kesselring with a strong single player effort during a fast-break.  After bringing the ball up field, he dodged a number of defensemen to finish.  Fairport held the lead 7-6 going into the final quarter.

After finishing the third quarter man-up, Pittsford started with the ball going into the final quarter.  They  took advantage of the situation and tied the game up for the final time.  Kesselring scored on a drive from behind the cage and a feed from Harrison Cross up top.  Fairport responded with a fast-break goal of the draw.  Joey Giggie scored with an assist from Trey Terzo.  Giggie, after winning the face-off, passed the ball off to Terzo and scored on a textbook give-and-go.  After re-taking the lead, Fairport never looked back.  They scored the final two goals of the game (Monte – unassisted and Stuver – unassisted).  Pittsford did not find the back of the net again in the final 11 minutes.

Pittsford falls to 1-1 with the loss and will face-off against Webster Schroeder on Friday.  Fairport, in the season opener, moves to 1-0 with Webster Thomas on Saturday.