McQuaid Tops Pittsford 3-1

In their second meeting of the season, the McQuaid Jesuit Knights bested the Pittsford Panthers, by a score of 3-1 on January 17, at the Genesee Valley Rink. A large contingent of the student body was on hand to cheer on the Knights. The student supporters held a tailgate party in the rink parking lot prior to the game. Once the game was underway, they enthusiastically cheered every play by the Knights.

The first period was dominated by play in the Pittsford end. The Knights repeatedly threatened to score, but were put off by strong goaltending from Pittsford's Jake Rudman. At 6:32, the teal line, comprised of sophomore Sam Arazoza, and seniors Dan Burns and Jared Corso were bottling up the Panthers in their end, when in an attempt to relieve the pressure, Pittsford chipped the puck into the Knights' end. Senior goaltender Brian Johnson played the dump in and passed the puck to Burns, on the right wing, who picked up the puck just inside the Knights' blue line. Carrying the puck to the red line, Burns made a rink wide pass to Arazoza, who went in for the score.

The Knights continued to pressure, but to no avail. The shots at the end of the first period favored the Knights 18-4.

The second period continued in much the same fashion as the first, with the Knights dominating play, although the Panthers appeared to be responding better. At 1:55, Pittsford's Alex Garfield was called for high sticking. During the Panther penalty kill, the puck was dumped into the Knights' end. Brian Johnson passed the puck to junior defenseman Andy Lane, who was standing just outside the Knights' blue line. As a Pittsford attacker, Scott Edwards approached, Lane wheeled around but was then checked. The puck went to Alex Garfield who streaked to the goal to beat Johnson.

The tying goal rejuvenated the Panther attack, causing the play to be more balanced. Knights' sophomore defenseman Ethan Matteson left the game when he hyper extended his wrist. At 11:13, his defensive partner, sophomore Ryan Sheridan was called for a hit from behind. This resulted in a 7 1/2 minute misconduct penalty, which left the Knights defense severely depleted. The remaining defensive unit of Andy Lane, seniors Mike Felice and Nick Lissena and junior Ben Napoli answered the call with strong play. With help from the penalty killing forwards, the Knights killed off the Sheridan penalty, as well as a 5 on 3 power play in the third period, before Sheridan returned to the ice.

With the score at the start of the third period knotted at 1, the arena was buzzing in anticipation. While coach Al Vyverberg was going over the game plan with the team in the locker room, the aforementioned McQ students massed outside the locker room and began cheering. When the locker room doors opened, the Knights were greeted by the student supporters, who tapped each player on the gloves or helmet, as the Knights returned to the ice rink.

The Knights responded to the support with a goal at 4:47, when Mike Filice passed to Andy Lane, who fired a low shot on net. Rudman stopped the shot, but permitted a rebound, which junior forward James Sturnick drove into the net.

Not to be outdone, the Panthers rallied back and were on a power play as a result of a tripping call on Nick Arazoza when the Knights struck again. With just seconds left in the penalty, Ben Napoli was lugging the puck up the right boards. Two Pittsford players met Napoli on the boards near center ice and delivered a crushing check. As he was being checked, Ben deftly passed the puck ahead to senior forward Adam Reask, who went in and scored the third goal. McQuaid outshot the Panthers 36 to 18.