By STEVE BRICKLER
FAIRPORT, N.Y. — Freshman Chase Brock tipped in a shot from the point on a power play 6 minutes and 12 seconds into overtime to propel No. 2-seed McQuaid past No. 3 Penfield by a score of 3-2 in the Section V Class A hockey semifinals at Rochester Ice Center, Thursday. The Jesuit Knights move on to play No. 4 Portside. The final is set for a puck drop at 8 PM on Monday night at the Gene Polisseni Center on the campus of RIT.
McQuaid forced overtime with 2:25 left in regulation when sophomore Eoghan Maier’s shot from the point found its way through traffic and into the back of the net. It was Maier’s second goal in regulation.
McQuaid Coach Joe Dugan talked about his team’s resilience in the face of elimination.
“We have a lot of respect for Penfield and what they do and what they bring. But from our side, we have had a mentality as a program, when things are against us, we’re stacked against it but we’ve got to keep going, so the situation being the score what it was, not exactly storybook but not something we’re opposed to. We’re constantly working on mentality and fighting through adversity.”
It was Penfield who got off to a quick start, controlling tempo for a good part of the first period. The Patriots found themselves a man down after being called for a hold at 10:47 of the first but were able to get on the board first on a shorthanded goal. Rory Gately cleared the puck down the ice on the penalty kill which took a couple of weird bounces towards Knights freshman goalie Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez steered the puck aside but Penfield’s Mason Maksymiu hustled down ice and gathered the loose puck, skated behind the net and wrapped the puck around the inside of the post for a 1-0 Patriot lead at the 9:12 mark.
After the Penfield goal, McQuaid took a pair of penalties in succession at the 8:54 mark and again at 6:35 in the first period, effectively giving Penfield 4 minutes with a man up. Penfield peppered the McQuaid goal and held a 10-1 shot advantage at that time but Gonzalez kept the Patriots from extending their lead.
The Knights nearly converted a shorthanded goal of their own as a McQuaid clear was deflected by Penfield around center ice directly into the path of a streaking Maier who went in on a breakaway. Penfield senior goalie Thomas Herman stood his ground and blocked the shot attempt on his stick side to turn away McQuaid’s only shot attempt in the first 10 minutes of play. The period ended with the Patriots maintaining their 1-0 edge and a 12-5 shot advantage.
The second period started with neither team able to grab the momentum. Penfield had a solid look at goal at the 9-minute mark when Maksymiu was able to skate through the Knight’s defense. Gonzalez was able to glove the wrister heading towards the top right corner to deny the chance.
About 30 seconds later McQuaid broke through as Maier took an open shot from the left circle and buried the wrister far post to tie the game with 8:26 left in the period. The play started with a Connor Emens shot that was rebounded out to Eli Weigand who sent the puck cross ice to Maier for the finish.
A minute later, McQuaid found itself on the power play and was able to create four shots on goals, including a mad scramble just outside the crease, that were all denied by Herman. Penfield closed the period with a couple of close looks of their own but McQuaid owned the shot advantage for the period by a 12-4 margin.
Penfield was able to catch the first break in the third period as McQuaid was called for a tripping penalty at the 11:33 mark. It took the Patriots 13 seconds to cash in. The Patriots worked the puck around the perimeter of the Knight’s defense with Angelo Latore passing to Sean Walsh who threw the puck towards the net where Travis Bush was able to finish from the slot to help Penfield regain the lead at 2-1.
From that point on McQuaid put heavy pressure on the Patriots, getting a couple of shots on goal from the point that Herman was able to handle. Later, McQuaid’s Lou Zaari cut across the goalmouth from his left to right but his sliding shot as he fell to the ice went just wide. McQuaid created another pair of mad scrambles in front of the goal that were unable to find the back of the net with around 5 minutes to play. Finally, with 2:25 left, Weigand found Maier at the blue line who fired a wrist shot that got home for the equalizer, sending the game to an extra session.
Dugan talked about Maier’s progression since last season.
“He’s been huge for us all year. Last year as a freshman, we had him play JV and he came in as a defenseman and we worked with him as a forward and a lot of guys, depending on what they are used to are kind of rigid to that but Eoghan embraced that full heartedly and he did a phenomenal job just jumping in last year, learning the position, learning the game through that lens and this year he’s been a beast for us.
“He’s done everything from center to wing, throw him back on D. In this game in particular, he started as a forward, we moved him back to defense and he was contributing from both sides.”
In overtime, the Patriots started out by creating a couple of dangerous opportunities, whizzing a couple of passes across the goalmouth. McQuaid responded with a couple of good looks of their own, the best being a narrow Maier miss from about the same spot as his first goal.
At the 11:39 mark, Penfield was called for a hook and McQuaid’s special teams responded. When the Knights were able to settle into the offensive zone, they moved the puck right to left from Weigand to Ryan Kozara at the point. Kozara, also a freshman, saw an open lane and fired towards the goal where Brock was stationed at the near post for the game winning redirect and the chance for McQuaid to play in their first title game since 2015.
“Special teams situation, each guy has a couple of different looks and any of those guys we trust to make plays, that’s why they’re in that position,” Dugan said. “Not exactly you have to do this XY or Z type of play but have the mentality of where their looks are, and if the lane is there, then you’re the guy.”
McQuaid and Portside did not play in the regular season, but did scrimmage back in November.
“They’re a good team, they’re well-coached. I’m sure they’ll be ready,” said Dugan. “We’re excited, obviously tonight’s a big night for us but tomorrow’s a new day, turn the page and get ready to go. We’ll have a couple of good days to prepare and then be ready to compete on Monday night.”
McQuaid outshot Penfield in the game 37-23. Gonzalez turned away 21 shots while Herman stopped 34. McQuaid improves to 17-5 while Penfield finishes at 15-7.
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