By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
The Victor High School hockey players hear the question often from the coaching staff:
Why are you here?
The query is meant to prompt individual reflection, and also to create a focus on the here and now.
On Wednesday evening, after playing from behind for nearly two full periods and having their determination tested on every shift by underdog Batavia Notre Dame United, the Blue Devils found a way to prevail.
Scoring standout Simon Kowal tied the score in the waning seconds of the second period and defenseman Parker Erwin found the net 47 seconds into the third period as Victor fought off stubborn Notre Dame to win 3-1 in the Section V Class A semifinals.
In doing so, they answered that why-are-you-here question the best way they knew how.
“We’re here to win,” Erwin said. “We’re here to keep playing, to keep playing with our brothers.”
Wednesday’s victory gave them a chance to do just that again on Sunday. Second-seeded Victor (18-3-1) will play No. 4 Pittsford at 1 p.m. in the Section V title game at Wegmans Ice Arena on the campus of SUNY Brockport. Pittsford upended top-seeded McQuaid 3-1 in Wednesday’s second semifinal.
For the Blue Devils, it’s yet another chance to win a title. They’ve won a championship block in five of the previous eight years. They’re seemingly in the hunt every year.
And while they were seeded No. 2, they are very much the hunted. Habitual winning puts a target on your back. Especially when you’re playing a team that you’ve steamrolled in every recent meeting.
The Blue Devils and third-seeded Notre Dame (17-5) played in mid-February of last season. Victor won 9-0. They met again in the first round of the 2022 sectionals. Victor rolled 5-0. This season, the teams faced off in January. You guessed it, another shutout, this time 6-0.
But a funny thing happened on the way to another easy victory. Notre Dame wasn’t ready for its season to end. And on the game’s first shift, the shifty, talented Fighting Irish scored.
Sophomore Jameson Motyka fired home a shot from the slot just 27 seconds after the opening faceoff. Hey, this was the 43rd anniversary of the Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union. Why not a high school upset? Notre Dame was certainly primed to pull it off.
“You couldn’t have scripted a better start for them,” Victory coach Mike Ferreri said. “They played phenomenal.”
Indeed, in an instant, against a team they hadn’t scored against in three full games, the Fighting Irish suddenly were brimming with confidence before the game was even a minute old.
“I said we have to start the game like it’s overtime,” Notre Dame coach Marc Staley said. “You can’t play from behind against that team.”
That quick lead allowed Batavia to play from a position of strength. They used the neutral zone trap early, then shifted to a more aggressive hound-the-puck style. They switched lines every 25 to 30 seconds, ensuring they always had fresh legs on the ice.
“They took away our space, they didn’t give our defensemen space, which we’re used to getting,” Ferreri said.
The Blue Devils managed to produce just four shots on goal in the first period while Notre Dame had 10.
“I don’t think they’ve played a period all season where they only had four shots,” Staley said.
At the midway point of the game, Victor was being outshot 13-9. Other than a first-period power play, there was just one time in the first two periods that Notre Dame couldn’t escape from the defensive zone in a timely manner. It came on the final shift of the second period, and it cost them the lead.
After 50 seconds of sustained O-zone pressure, Kowal scored the tying goal with just 17.9 seconds remaining in the period. Asher Erwin’s point shot from the left point missed the net wide on the short side but it caromed back out on the other side of the net and Kowal buried it before goalie Rhys Tanner could react.
“That was huge, especially with 17 seconds left,” Kowal said.
As if the last-minute goal didn’t sting badly enough, the Blue Devils took their first lead in the first minute of the third period when Parker Erwin scored on a shot from the right point.
“I just shot it and we had nice traffic in front and it found its way in,” he said.
The lead provided a chance to exhale, but not necessarily comfort.
“We just needed to keep going with our foot on the gas,” Erwin said. “All gas, no brakes. We couldn’t focus on what was going to happen but what was happening.”
Notre Dame had solid pressure on a two occasions against Victor’s smothering defense but couldn’t work the puck past goalie Max Pitts.
Caleb Clark then scored the clinching goal with 2:40 remaining, creating a turnover and then converting on the rebound of Tanner Radogna’s shot.
While Victor celebrated advancement, Notre Dame pondered the what-ifs. When you lose 9-0, 5-0 or 6-0, you know you weren’t the better team. When you have the perennial sectional powerhouse on the ropes for two periods, losing stings a whole lot more.
“It’s tougher, but you’re more proud,” Staley said. “I’m incredibly proud of the effort and the fight.”
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