Hard-fought game leads to tie between Victor and Penfield

BY JONATHAN SKUZA

PERINTON, N.Y.– A hard-fought back and fourth game highlighted by crucial goaltending by Max Pitts and Abby Seaman earned Victor and Penfield a 3-3 tie Tuesday evening.

“She’s been solid since day one,” Penfield’s coach Nathan Miller stated about Seaman’s performance. “She stepped into a tough position and she has earned every minute that she has been provided this year. I’m really proud of the student-athlete that she has become over the last four years she’s been with us.”

“He’s steady Eddie,” Victor’s coach Mike Ferreri stated about Pitts’ performance in goal. “He’s lights out. He is a competitor. Look at the goals they scored, two powerplay goals that were just scrambles in front, and then the kid made a nice goal on their third goal too. Max right at the end of the game made a couple of saves right in front of him.”

VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM DENNIS JOYCE HERE. 

Seaman made 44 saves for the Patriots while Pitts made 18 saves for the Blue Devils.

The first period saw no scoring but set the tone for the contest. Victor heavily outshot Penfield 17-5 in the first. Both teams did create scoring chances but came up short as both goaltenders stood tall.

The second period is when the game opened up more. After a five-minute boarding major was called on Victor, Thomas Obstarczyk broke the scoreless tie for Penfield when he buried a loose puck in front of the net for a powerplay goal. Angelo Latore assisted on the powerplay tally.

On the ensuing major powerplay, Reece Holenbeck scored a second Patriots powerplay goal to give them a 2-0 lead with under seven minutes to go in the period. Corey Weiss and Bobby Kane set up the powerplay goal.

The Penfield powerplay finished the evening 2-3.

“Tonight it came through,” Miller said about his powerplay. “It’s been something we’ve been working out for a while. If you look across the board, a lot of the games are won and lost on special teams.”

Victor responded late in the period with a powerplay goal of their own with 75 seconds to go. Michael Peluso connected for the Blue Devils on the man advantage with Drew McCandless’s assistance. Victor went 1-3 with the man advantage Tuesday.

Just as the second period expired, Jackson Guck set up Asher Erwin to tie the game for Victor and erase a two-goal deficit.

The third period brought the same excitement as the second.

Mason Maksymiu caused a turnover in the offensive zone and fired home a beautiful backhand to regain the lead for the Patriots just over two and a half minutes into the period.

Victor’s leading point scorer Simon Kowal tied the game right back up 18 seconds later with an assist from McCandless.

“Our team hasn’t been down too many times this year,” Ferreri stated about coming back twice. “So I think it’s good, especially going into sectionals next week and to kind of see where we are at. Being down two goals and still having to kill a little bit more of that major, our kids responded well.”

The third period remained a deadlock at three as both teams fought hard to earn the victory.

Overtime saw a couple of good scoring chances for both teams. Victor even received a powerplay with 53 seconds left in overtime but was not able to produce a game-winner.

“Our student-athletes worked incredibly hard to put themselves in a position to have success,” Miller stated about the tie. “We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity this year. Victor beat us pretty good in game one and we circled this one on the calendar for the second half of the year. I’m proud of the guys and girls for putting the effort in they did.”

“Going down 2-0 in the middle of the second period and the kids responded with two great goals right at the end of the period,” Ferreri stated about the tie. “Even when Penfield went up 3-2 and we potted it the next shift to tie the game 3-3 and then had some really good chances.”

Victor defeated Penfield 7-0 back on December 6.

Victor (15-2-1) will play its last home game of the regular season as they welcome Webster Thomas on February 9.

Penfield (9-8-2) will play its final game of the season as they return home and take on the Portside Royals on February 11.