BY JONATHAN SKUZA
WEBSTER, N.Y.— For the second time in three years, Webster Thomas is staring at the chance of claiming another sectional Class B title after a 5-2 victory over last year’s champions Webster Schroeder Wednesday evening.
The Titans are returning to championship game after missing last year’s following a quarterfinal exit.
“It’s awesome,” Webster Thomas head coach David Evans said. “When we started the season, our team had some guys with experience, but we had a lot of new guys in the lineup and we’ve just been trying to find something that will work for us and we’ve made a lot of changes throughout the year and guys had to figure out what type of player they needed to be to play on our team.
Webster Thomas was led by sophomore Cam Hall and Ryan Goel who each found the back of the net twice.
Hall’s first tally broke a 1-1 deadlock late in the first period when he ripped a shot top shelf unassisted to give his team momentum going into the first intermission. The sophomore’s second tally came late in the second period when he shot the puck far side on a 2-on-1 to put the Titans up 3-1. Peyton Hewitt was credited with an assist on Hall’s second goal.
”I came ready to play and capitalized on my opportunities,” Hall stated about his performance.
”As a sophomore, he has really grown,” Evans stated. “As a freshman last year, he had a tough year at adjusting to the high school level. He came in this year and he realized he had to play in both ends and be good defensively. He gets opportunities and he’s got skill on the offensive side of the puck and he’s learned to be a good all-around player.”
Ryan Goel sealed the victory for Webster Thomas with his two goals which were both empty-netters. Goel’s first tally came when he fired the puck all the way down the ice into the wide open net with just under two minutes to go in play. The senior’s second goal came after the puck was fired down to the Warriors zone and Goel used his instincts as he tucked in his second of the night after none of the Warrior defenders chased down the puck in the dying second of the contest. Trevor Veno got credit for an assist on Goel’s heads up second goal.
”It feels amazing,” Goeal stated about scoring the two goals to seal the victory. “ We already had the lead but it was nice seeing us get a couple more goals to seal the deal.”
”He’s consistent for us offensively,” Evans said. “I think he averaged a point-per-game for us and he’s been good defensively. He’s a team first guy and a senior leader. Like our other seniors, they commonly work hard each and every day and they accept their role and they are good team guys.”
Lucas Nuccitelli scored Webster Thomas’ opening goal early in the first period after he threw a puck on net and trickled through Webster Schroeder’s goaltender’s five-hole.
Senior goaltender Michael Nappi made 21 saves between the pipes for the Titans as he was able to make some key saves during crunch time.
”He’s been consistent for us back there all year,” Evans said. “When he sees the puck, he’s able to make stops and he worked at his game. Being on the team for a few years, he’s had to sit behind some really good goalies and he was patient and never complained.”
Despite the defeat, Webster Schroeder had a lot of positives to reflect on after a disappointing end to their season.
”The season was a success,” Webster Schroeder’s head coach Dave Broussard said. “Best record in program history in the regular season and we’re gonna definitely hang our hats on that. The seniors that were juniors last year when I came in, saw it through and changed the culture of the team.”
TJ Swinson led the way for the Warriors with a goal and an assist on Wednesday. Swinson’s goal tied the game not even two minutes after Webster Thomas got on the board. Cody Preston collected the helper on the goal.
”It was enormous,” Broussard said of Swinson’s tying goal. “In key games, you want your best players to step up and that was a moment for TJ to step up.”
Nolan Roughsedge scored the other goal for the Warriors when he brought the game to within one on a 5-on-3 power play when he rifled a shot through traffic from the top of the slot with some help from Swinson.
Webster Schroeder’s Mike Cerone made key saves for his team to keep them in the contest when things got tight down the stretch.
”Mikey stepped up,” Broussard said. “He made saves when he needed to for the most part, but it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t give him more run support at the other end.”
Webster Thomas will look to capture its fourth sectional title in six years as they will take on top-seeded Batavia Notre Dame on Monday, February 26 at the Gene Polisseni Center at 5:30 p.m.
“We have expectations in our program and we have since day one and our guys know it,” Evans stated about playing for a fourth sectional title in six years. “I think they feed off it and they want to be part of the tradition and want to keep building the tradition that had been started over 20 years ago.”
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