By MIKE ROSE
All it took was one for Spencerport to walk away victorious for the 12th time this season and they got it off the head of Justice Hinman. Hinman’s seventh goal of the season proved to be the difference as the Rangers defeated the Churchville-Chili Saints 1-0. The victory made it six in a row for the Rangers and also snapped a five-game run from the Saints.
It was the second meeting of the season between the top two teams in Section V Class AA and the second win for Spencerport who moved to 12-2 on the season. The Saints meanwhile fell to 9-3-1. The victory also clinched the Monroe County Division 2 title for the Rangers.
“When we sat down in August, we set our team goals and one of those was to win the division,” Spencerport Head Coach Jody Wyant said. “We want to make sure we can try and accomplish those goals and that was goal number one. We just wanted to make sure we could come out here and compete and win a tough division, there’s no easy games in it.”
Hinman’s finish came in the 16th minute on a perfect cross from Jayden Mandarano who tallied his third assist of the season.
“I just saw the play develop in the corner and I noticed the Jayden was about to cross it so I started to make that run,” Hinman said. “It found my head and went in the back of the net.”
The Rangers dominated the first half as they controlled the pace and tempo of the game and took the early edge. The second half however was a different story.
The Saints came out of the break a different team, pinning the Rangers in their own end. That tallied numerous chances, the best of which came off the foot of Aidan Ozkaynak about midway through the half when he caught the crossbar. The Rangers held firm however until the final moments when chaos ensued.
“Those last five minutes it was up for grabs whether we were going to get a second one or they were going to tie the game and equalize,” Wyant said. “It was just survival mode at that point and we survived.”
There were a number of non-calls that drew the ire of both sides throughout the second half as the intensity increased with both teams battling for a critical win in the race for positioning ahead of sectionals. Despite all of that the Saints could not beat Jack Distaffen who recorded the eighth shutout of the season for Spencerport.
“We’ve played against these kids since we were eight years old so we know how they play,” Distaffen said. “It’s high intensity and high focus all the time. You can’t take plays off. Even if the ref makes a bad call, get back and defend. We kept them out and it felt pretty good today.”
The Rangers’ survival now positions them as the front-runner heading down the stretch of the regular season to claim the Class AA sectional title. They currently sit as the No. 1 seed with two games remaining in the regular season. The defending Class A sectional champions are aware of the challenges as they quest for another block.
“It’s going to take some luck,” Wyant said. “You need a couple of bounces to go your way, we had that last year. The other thing is there is going to be adversity so we just have to be able to persevere with the adversity that comes at us individually and as a team and hopefully we can overcome it. We don’t know what’s going to come but we hope whatever does come we can get over it.”
The sectional tournament is set to begin on October 17 and the Rangers will hope to have luck on their side once again.
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