BY JONATHAN SKUZA
SCOTTSVILLE, N.Y.– Big-time players show up in big-time games.
Max McKay and Parker Farnham tallied three points apiece to guide top-seeded Churchville-Chili to the Section V Ice Hockey Class B title game for the second time in three years with a 5-2 victory over No. 5 seed Canandaigua Tuesday evening.
“It feels really good,” McKay stated about playing for a sectional title. “In program history, we’ve been there a couple of times and never won it so hoping we can get the win this time around.”
“It feels great,” Farnham stated about helping his team reach the sectional finals. “It’s obviously a great feeling to go to the title game. We just got to keep that momentum going and gotta keep producing so we can get it done.”
Both players finished Tuesday’s contest with two goals and an assist.
After the two teams felt each other for the first nine and a half minutes of the contest, McKay found the back of the net when the senior tucked in a rebound from a Farnham shot that hit the inside post and kicked out right into the crease.
Twenty-nine seconds later Gavin Carr ripped a shot from the point that beat Canandaigua’s goaltender to double the Saint’s lead. Carter Dovidio assisted on the defensemen’s goal.
McKay scored for the second time with just over a minute to go. The senior scooped up a faceoff win Tyler Eberhart and snapped a shot just under the crossbar to give Churhcville-Chili a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
“Just top-notch,” Churchville-Chili’s head coach Brian Young stated. “He’s one of those guys, one of those elite athletes. He’s done it for us last two years. He’s playing well with his linemates too. That’s the key to if you have a guy that’s playing really well, you need to have two guys to support them.”
“He means so much to this team,” Farnham talking about his linemate. “He’s an older guy. He’s a leader for us. He’s always working and always wants to win. He’s always helping me out. It’s great chemistry.”
After the Braves got on the board early in the second period, Farnham answered quickly with a shot from the left wing to regain the goal lead for the Saints.
Farnham added an empty net goal for his second marker with 19 seconds left in the contest to seal the victory for the Saints.
“They’re just committed,” Young stated about Farnham. “They’re committed to making sure that we get it done this year. They’re laying their bodies on the line.”
“His performance’s are always really good,” McKay stated about his linemate. “At this point, we expect it of him and our chemistry as a whole is also really good.”
Tuesday’s contest was the Saints’ first game in 10 days.
“We told the boys, practice has to be like a game,” Young stated about getting his team ready after a long layoff. “You can’t just go out there and expect you’re just gonna run through your skills stuff. Intensity was up. We told the guys to start playing the body in practice and start to play physical because that’s what you’re gonna see in these games.”
Alex Chen led the Braves with two points in the contest.
“I’m super pumped for him because he’s maybe the unsung hero of the team,” Canandaigua’s head coach David Taft stated about Chen. “He’s got an incredible motor. He flies all around the ice and gets into a lot of dirty areas and doesn’t always get rewarded with accolades like goals and assists. It was awesome to see him find the scoresheet twice tonight in a huge stage.”
Henry Van Laeken put a puck into an empty net after a Chen shot squeaked by Churchville-Chili’s goalie to get Canandaigua on the board 43 seconds into the second period.
With just over two minutes to go into the second, Chen found the back of the net when he tapped in a goal behind the goalie to pull the Braves within two. Van Laeken and Tyler Shuler assisted on the tap-in goal.
“I’m just really proud of the way they approached the last month of the season,” Taft stated about his team’s effort this season. “It would have been pretty easy to quit and just kind of throw in the towel and decide we were just going to have fun the rest of the way. These guys really wanted it. They were committed to proving they were the team that we kind of thought we were going into the year.”
Churchville-Chili hockey will look to claim its first-ever sectional title as it will take on the No. 3 seed Webster Schroeder on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Wegmans Ice Arena at SUNY Brockport.
“We’re just going to redo some film,” Young stated about getting ready for the finals. “Look at the little things that we didn’t do well against them the last game, make sure that we’re ready. Again, high intensity in the practices. Find the things that they do well and make sure that we’re doing it against our guys in practice to make sure that they’re comfortable with seeing it.”
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