Pittsford Wins Championship

May 27, 2015 -  SPORTSFIVE REPORT:  After their last minute loss last season in the Sectional Finals, The Panthers came back this season looking for the big win. After a back and forth first quarter where Penfield held the lead twice, the Panthers scored four unanswered goals to go up 5-2 and they never looked back. Pittsford defeated Penfield 11-6 to secure their fourth Sectional title and first since 2011.

Penfield played a strong first quarter and had the game close for the first 12 minutes. Peter Schwab had a stand out game for the Patriots and scored the opening goal with a feed from Max Spaan. Both Spaan and Schwab were named to the All-Tournament team. Twelve seconds later long stick midfielder Jared Connors scored on a face off fast break. Connors finished the game with 2g and a team leading six ground balls. He also finished with three takes and was named to the All-Tournament team. At the conclusion of the contest, it was announced that the Section Five Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to Jared Connors of Pittsford.

Penfield retook the lead with an impressive feed from Spaan to Carter Jordan on the crease. Spaan finished with 2g-3a. The Panthers scored back to back goals to take their first lead of the game. Brandon Barker scored the first of his 1g-1a on an unassisted shot from the outside. With 0:11 remaining in the quarter, James Felix scored, unassisted. Pittsford led 3-2 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter Pittsford continued their streak with two more goals. Matt Malone scored with an outside shot from the right flat (assisted by Felix). Two minutes later Jonathan Perotto scored the first of his 1g-2a with a shot from the right flat. Perotto, who came into the contest with 6g-3a in the tournament was named Class A MVP. Penfield scored their lone goal of the quarter with an extra man goal from Spaan (assisted from Schwab). Pittsford closed out the quarter with goals from Jack Kaufman and Felix. Pittsford led 7-3 at the half.

Penfield scored another man-up goal to start the third quarter. Schwab scored with Spaan assisting at 8:30 remaining in the third. The Panthers scored back to back goals to increase their lead to five. Colby Barker scored the first and assisted the second. Pittsford led 9-4 after three quarters. Both teams added two goals in the final quarter with Penfield scoring the first two and Pittsford scoring the final two to secure the win.

Pittsford dominated the ground ball battle winning 33-12. The Panthers had five players with over four ground balls. Connors led with six, face off midfielder Zac Cooley, attackman Perotto and defenseman Connor Haims added five each and defenseman Michael Gigantelli added four. Gigantelli had two takes for Pittsford. Penfield midfielder James Stoler led with four ground balls. LSM Adam Witscheber and defenseman Jack Taddeo added two each for the Patriots.

Both Pittsford's Kevin Maguire and Penfield's Willie Klan were named to the All-Tournament team and had strong performances. Klan finished with 10 saves (47%) with the statistics not doing justice to the caliber of his performance. Maguire recorded 7 saves (53%). Also named to the All-Tournament team were Jack Kaufman, Sam Schubach (from RH) and Allen Thibodeau (from Fairport).