Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Tonkery backstops Livonia to B1 title

by Leave a Comment

By PAUL GOTHAM

HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. — Luke Fasso converted on a second-half corner kick, and Peter Tonkery turned in a 10-save shutout to lead the second-seeded Livonia boys’ soccer team to the 2022 Section V Class B1 title with a 1-0 victory over league rival and top-seeded Hornell, Saturday at Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District.

Fasso scored with 24:24 remaining in the contest. The senior attacker stayed far post on Connor Feehan’s strike from the left flag and headed in the game winner.

“We came out gang busters in the second half,” Livonia head coach Ray Maxwell said. “We played them physical a little bit more. We got a lucky goal, and then you might say we held on.”

Holding on was due in large part to the play of Tonkery. More saves have been made in contests but few efforts could rival the number of critical stops made by the Livonia keeper.

“Peter Tonkery was our MVP today,” Maxwell stated. “He was fantastic.”

Tonkery started from almost the opening whistle and never stopped. k

“He saw some early action because we gave up some corner kicks and things,” Maxwell said. “He had a couple of good saves early and that just builds. It’s momentum. You start thinking I’m having the day of my life. He stopped just about everything.”

Tonkery silenced a Hornell offense which came into the contest averaging 4.6 goals in their previous 16 games including a total of 30 combined tallies in its previous five matches.

No save was bigger than the one Tonkery made on a Hornell corner kick in the final minute of the game.

“They probably had more opportunities in front of goal than we did. To shut them out is amazing. A lot of credit goes to Pete for that.”

The two teams split the regular season series with Livonia taking a 2-0 decision on September 6th (the only time this season Hornell was shut out). The Red Raiders avenged that loss with a 2-1 victory on October 3rd.

Saturday’s contest played out like expected from two opponents who are more than familiar with each other.

“We never really caught our stride today,” Maxwell said. “They came after us. They won every ball in the first half. We were just happy to still be in the game at halftime. We said ‘this is not going to be a day for beautiful soccer. It’s going to be a day for winning the ball and see what happens.’”

Trying to take anything tactical from those previous meetings proved difficult.

“We didn’t plan anything special,” Maxwell said. “We know that they’re loaded. Obviously, Jack Emo is really tough. You got to watch him. That Wyatt Evingham kid is fantastic. They’ve got so many other guys.

“They’re kinda like us. They’re pretty solid all around. You can’t really just key on one guy. I don’t know if we really had any game plan. We just went out there and said let’s play the best we can play and hope things fall into place. Fortunately, they did.”

Hornell defeated Livonia, 2-1 in last year’s Class B1 semifinal.

The Red Raiders finished 15-2-0 for the 2022 season and was ranked No. 7 NYSSWA Class B.

Saturday’s title was the 14th in program history for Livonia (17-1-1). Only four schools (Red Creek, Pittsford Mendon, Penfield and Haverling) have won more. Marion and Belfast can also claim 14 Section V Boys’ Soccer titles.

Livonia (17-1-1/No. 17 NYSSWA Class B) will face B2 champ Bishop Kearney/Chesterton (16-1-1/No. 12 NYSSWA Class B) on Wednesday in the state qualifier. A 5:45 p.m. start time is scheduled at Canandaigua Academy.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *