By Warren Kozireski —
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, Pittsford tied it in the second and then scored in double-overtime to defeat Victor and claim their third Section V Division I high school hockey championship in the past five years.
It also marked the fifth consecutive season the Class A final went into overtime.
Victor took a 1-0 lead in the first period as the Blue Devils won an offensive zone draw back to the left point where Michael Peluso’s shot found the top right corner for a 1-0 lead. Caleb Clark and Tanner Radogna were credited with assists. Victor outshot the Panthers 20-8 in the stanza.
Pittsford recovered to play a better second period and tied the game with two seconds remaining on a power play as defenseman Bradley Pollard came down the right wing and cut to the center before finding the back of the net at 14:07 with assists from Keegan Garver and Cole Mann.
After a scoreless third period and first overtime, the second line created the game-winner 4:31 in as Henok Kankinson fed a perfect pass to Colin Norton in the slot.
“Just moving to open space; my linemates working their tails off to get me the puck and I was just in the right place at the right time and out it right in,” Norton said. “It wasn’t the most challenging goal I’ve ever scored, but it might be the best.”
“We did a good job shutting them down and getting some offensive pressure after the first,” goaltender Aden Brown, who made 44 saves, said.
“They were killing us on faceoffs (in the first period), and most of their shots were coming from the point, so we had to do a better job in the faceoff dot both on wingers and centers,” 15-year Pittsford head coach Steve Thering said.
“Nobody believed in us, but we did,” Norton said. “We stuck together as a team, coach believed in us and we rallied through.”
Pittsford will meet the Section VI winner at Buffalo’s Harbor Center Sat. March 4 at noon in the state regional round.
(Photo by Warren Kozireski)
