By PAUL GOTHAM
SPENCERPORT, N.Y. — Dylan Duffy snapped a one-all tie in the 76th minute as the McQuaid Jesuit Knights went on to defeat the Hilton Cadets and claim the Section V Class championship with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night at Spencerport Central Schools.
Duffy’s marker capped a frenetic sequence to give the Knights’s soccer program its first sectional title since 2009.
“To score the winning goal is a dream come true for me,” Duffy said. “We did it as a family. We did it for each other. We did it for our school.”
After a pair of failed clearing attempts by the Cadets, Nico Pierleoni found Duffy with a diagonal pass from outside the 18-yard box.
“I just undercut the ball and drove it back post,” Pierleoni said. “Duffy got a good foot on it.”
With the win McQuaid, ranked No. 1 NYS Class AA and No. 4 USA Today Super 25, advanced to Saturday’s Far West Regional where the Knights will face Section VI champion the Clarence Red Devils (16-1-1).
“Last year the goal was to bring home the trophy,” second-year coach Nino Pilato said. “We made a quick exit. This year the goal was obviously to get back here, and the boys finished it off.”
It looked like McQuaid would make quick work of the Cadets needing just 45 seconds to score the game’s first goal. Dan Malloy volleyed a Justin LaFountain cross from the right wing for an early 1-nil Knights advantage.
But Hilton (14-4-1) responded. The Cadets pressured McQuaid resulting in a series restart opportunities in the Knights’ end before being rewarded with a penalty shot.
Senior Adam Wuest converted to level the match at one with 18:30 remaining in the first half.
22’ Adam Wuest levels the match at 1. pic.twitter.com/J912zPJwjb
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 1, 2017
“We started off playing the game hard,” Duffy said. “To give up a PK like that is unfortunate. We’re a good team. We worked through the adversity.”
McQuaid closed the first stanza with a pair of chances. The Knights came out of halftime and quickly applied pressure.
Hilton goalkeeper, Joey Gombatto, made a pair of stops early in the second half, and the game looked destined for overtime when the Knights had a goal disallowed with just under 10 minutes remaining and another chance moments later sailed high.
Duffy’s fifth goal of the season came just in time.
“We’re pretty confident in our team, in our play,” Duffy said. “We knew that if we just kept working, grinding it out that eventually that goal would come and it did.”
“To be honest with you, I didn’t even know who scored until the end,” Pilato noted. “Just a nice ball across the box and good thing Duffy was there to finish it.”
The trip to the sectional finals was Hilton’s first since winning the AA title in 2015.
14 to go. Still Hilton 1 McQuaid 1 pic.twitter.com/fPGpaq3mIH
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 1, 2017
McQuaid will play Clarence, ranked No. 2 in the state, Saturday night. A 7:30 p.m. kickoff is scheduled. The winner will move on to the state semi-final the following weekend in Middletown, New York.
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