Monroe County Division II rivals clash when Section V Soccer Boys’ hands out one last championship, Tuesday night. Spencerport and Churchville-Chili will meet with the Class AA title up for grabs. Here is what you need to know:
No. 1 seed SPENCERPORT RANGERS (16-3-0/Monroe County Division II)
vs.
No. 2 seed CHURCHVILLE-CHILI SAINTS (13-3-2/Monroe County Division II)
How they arrived here: Top-seeded Spencerport (No. 6 NYSSWA Class AA) opened sectionals with a win over No. 16 Rochester Prep/Vertus/RACS before beating No. 8 Greece Arcadia (2-0) and No. 4 Penfield (3-1) to reach the Class AA final. Churchville-Chili (No. 13 NYSSWA AA) started the postseason with a 2-1 win over No. 15 Victor beating No. 7 Canandaigua (4-0). The Saints then faced No. 3 Hilton and advanced to the finals on PKs (7-6).
Total goals scored: Spencerport (51), Churchville-Chili (32)
Total goals allowed: Spencerport (13), Churchville-Chili (10)
Trends: Spencerport has won four straight and 10 of 11 games heading into Tuesday’s match. The Rangers have outscored opponents, 39-5 during that stretch. Churchville-Chili is unbeaten in its past five games and 10 of 11. The Saints have seven shutouts during that time and have not allowed more than one goal in a game since a 2-1 overtime loss to Hilton on September 20th. Spencerport took both of the regular season meetings between the divisional foes by identical scores of 1-0.
Players to watch for Spencerport: Jack Distaffen Sr. GK 1,310 minutes played, 30 saves, 10 goals allowed; Juan Green
Jordan Jr. F five goals, one assist; Justice Hinman Sr. F 11 goals, two assists; Jayden Mandarano Jr. F two goals, four assists; Kyle Milburn Sr. F 14 goals, 12 assists; Zach Tortora So. D one assist; Josiah Warrington Sr. D/M/F one goal.
Churchville-Chili: Elijah Bailey Sr. M six goals, one assist; Cam Bean Sr. D four goals, one assist; Andrew Berardicurti Sr. F eight goals, four assists; Noah Berg Jr. M four goals, three assists; Andrew Burke Sr. D two goals, one assist; Colin Guilfoyle Jr. M five assists; Chris
Keller So. M two goals, five assists; Aidan Ozkaynak Sr. F three goals, four assists; Josh Smith Sr. GK 931 minutes played, 41 saves, nine goal allowed.
Coaches: Jody Wyant (Spencerport), John Mahoney (Churchville-Chili)
History 101: Spencerport is looking to win its second straight sectional title having taken the Class A championship a year ago to end a decade-long drought.. The Rangers rank eighth all-time in Section V Boys’ Soccer history with 13 championships behind Red Creek (24), Pittsford Mendon (21), Penfield (20), Haverling (18), Belfast (14), Livonia (14) and Marion (14). Churchville is making its fourth appearance in the finals in the past six years having last played Pittsford Sutherland in the 2021 Class A championship. The Saints are looking for their first title since 1990.
What they’re saying
Wyant: “We are going to focus on what we can do and what we can control. Churchville-Chili is a very good team with a lot of exceptional players that are very well-coached. The team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win. Trying to keep things simple and not get too far away from what we do.
Mahoney: “Our focus is to go play, be who we are and do our job. We are a very good team. We have talented players who work hard and play well together as a collective group. We just need to defend like we always do and then also take our chances.”
What’s next: The winner advances to the New York State Class AA Far West Regional to play Section VI champion, Clarence.
A 7 p.m. kickoff is scheduled Tuesday at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School.
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