BY JONATHAN SKUZA
GREECE, N.Y.– As the away team, it’s your goal to spoil your opponent’s senior night.
Pittsford did exactly that behind a four-goal solid third period to sweep the season series against the Greece Storm on their senior night 5-2 Friday evening.
“Took too long,” Pittsford’s head coach Steve Thering stated. “Honestly we had a lot of chances early in the game. I don’t want to wait until the third period to do that. A wins a win, but we need to bury chances earlier in the game, so it doesn’t come down to having a good third period to get the win.”
Pittsford previously defeated Greece 5-1 on December 17.
After trailing 2-1 through two periods, Will Masaschi scored the game-tying goal eight seconds into the final period. Lucas Procious and Brady McMahon helped on the early period tally.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN HERE.
McMahon gave the Panthers their first lead of the contest with their first of two powerplay goals in the period. Masaschi assisted on the man-advantage marker. The senior finished with three points on the evening.
“He’s a huge asset to our team,” Thering said about Masaschi’s performance. “This is his fifth year. He played in eighth grade for us and he continues to impress us and do great things. Along with his linemates too. That whole crew, they move the puck really well. They create a lot of chances.”
Procious fed a beautiful pass to Colin Norton who finished it off for the Panther’s second powerplay goal with just over eight minutes to go in the third period. Masaschi tallied his second powerplay assist on the Norton goal.
The Pittsford powerplay finished the night 2-4.
“They’ve done well,” Thering stated about his powerplay. “They move the puck well. They got a lot of finishers on there and some guys that really move the puck well. We get a lot of chances off of it and it was nice to see them finish a couple.”
Keegan Garver gave Pittsford a three-goal lead after he found a loose puck in front of the net and buried it with just under five and a half minutes to go. Cole Mann and Bradley Pollard were credited with assists on the goal.
Keegan Ahern found a loose puck and buried his first varsity goal in the first period to tie the game up at one. Garver tallied an assist on the monumental goal.
“I’m happy for him to get that sort of monkey off his back,” Thering said about Ahern’s milestone goal. “He plays a good amount of minutes on a nightly basis. For him to get that and then, build off that especially a week to go to sectionals. I’m happy for him and glad he got taken care of.”
Wilson Szydlo made 21 saves for the Panthers.
Carter Griffin scored a powerplay goal for the Greece Storm at the 9:26 mark of the first period. Brother Spencer Griffin and Aidan Candalari assisted on the man-advantage tally.
The Storm’s powerplay finished the evening 1-3.
Jayden Gargana ripped home a shot 15 seconds into the second period to give Greece the 2-1 lead. Gargana’s goal came unassisted.
Pittsford (14-4-1) will return home for their final home game of the season and welcome Hilton on February 7.
Greece Storm (8-10-0) will start a three-game road trip to end the season as they will travel to take on Fairport on February 8.
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