By MIKE ROSE
Pittsford, NY — Behind two first-half goals from Max Tagliarino the Pittsford Mendon Vikings held off their cross-town rivals the Pittsford Sutherland Knights, 3-1. The victory secured a regular season sweep for Mendon over the Knights after winning the first matchup back on Sept. 11, 2-1.
“Coming up on a team where we usually lost to Sutherland, it feels really nice to beat them twice in a row,” Tagliarino said. “Last year we got the first game and then they came back and got us. Obviously, we’re not going to take this lightly, we’re going to keep working and try to have the best season we can.”
Tagliarino has scored in both matchups against Sutherland, with all three of his goals this season coming against the Knights.
“This is probably the biggest matchup of the year when you’re coming into the season so I try to prepare for this game the best I can and when I come in I try to play my hardest and that’s what I did.”
Early on, Mendon was firmly in control. Mendon owned the possession and made Sutherland goalie Paulino Hernandez step up time and time again until they finally broke through. That came when Steven Chatwin sent a ball into the box that Tagliarino ended up on the receiving end of to make it 1-0. Just a couple of minutes later Colden Forney launched a throw-in towards the box and after a scramble in front, it was Tagliarino who connected again. Mendon would take the 2-0 edge into the break poised to sweep their rivals in the season series but Sutherland wasn’t going away quietly.
The second half saw a role reversal as Sutherland came out with a shuffled formation that paid dividends. The Knights moved Charlie Ryan from center back up to forward and along with other shifts to the lineup things began to open up. Eventually, Ryan charged in with a chance and was taken out in the box by goalie Max Foltz resulting in a penalty kick. Jack Woods would step up and score his fourth goal of the season to cut the deficit in half.
“Two to nothing is always a tough score in sports, you’d think you’re up two goals and you have security but you really don’t, the momentum shifts when they get one,” Mendon head coach Mark Hurley said. “When they got that PK it shufted momentum for sure and we were kind of sitting on our heels and playing somehwat panicked for a little bit and we just needed to get more settled and relaxed and just own the ball. I feel towards the second part of the second half we started to do that and collect the game a little bit more.”
The Knights would continue to get opportunities in the second half but could not push one past Foltz. Mendon did settle back in in the final 10 minutes pinning Sutherland in its defensive end for large stretches. Finally, with around a minute and a half to play Griffin Sertl took a feed from Ethan Westerveldt, chipped it past one defender and then past Hernandez for the dagger and a 3-1 lead.
The result drops last year’s Class A finalist Sutherland (5-3-2) to the sixth spot in the current standings. The victory maintains Mendon (7-1) as the second seed in a bracket that projects to be one of the most tightly contested in Section V this season.
“This wasn’t one of our best games, surprisingly, so I don’t think this team has a ceiling, ” Tagliarino said about how far this team can go. “As long as we continue to work hard in practice and out of practice, I think there really isn’t a ceiling for this team.”
Both teams will face fellow Class A contenders again next time out on Monday. Mendon will be tested when they host Newark (9-1) while Sutherland will hope to bounce back in a road tilt against Wayne (7-2).
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