By PAUL GOTHAM
HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. — Cash Rosado had “my usual” when he and his teammates gathered for breakfast on Saturday morning.
Scrambled eggs and sausage, “to get some protein.” Water “to be hydrated.”
“I try to eat well, so I can perform well.”
Prophetic words indeed.
Rosado delivered a first-half hat trick to give No. 2 Brockport a lead it did not surrender as the Blue Devils claimed the 2024 Section V Class A title with a 4-3 victory over top-seeded Pittsford Mendon, Saturday at James Dollard Field on the campus of Honeoye Falls-Lima Central Schools.
With the win, Brockport (18-1-0) secured its fifth sectional title in program history and first since 2017.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Rosado said. “Every game we just came out hard and we wanted it, from the very beginning. We finally had the opportunity to get it.”
Rosado, who came into the game with 27 goals on the season found the back of the net three times in the opening 20 minutes of the match including a head ball off a corner from Ryan Caman.
“He’s a true No. 9,” Brockport head coach Jeff Phillips said of the jersey figure traditionally donned by the frontline player responsible for facilitating a team’s offense. “He’s a true workhorse. He works so hard from minute one to minute 80. You can see it. The kid never stops working. I love having him on my team.”
Rosado along with senior forward Will Hawken form the most prolific scoring duo in Class A.
“When you got two goal scorers like we have, I know we’re going to score,” Phillips said. “We score every game. We got 82 goals coming in. We talked about it. It’s hard to keep Will and Cash off the board. They’re two stud guys, man.”
Hawken had 29 tallies on the season entering play on center. On cue, he added his 30th marker in the second half with an assist from Rosado.
“If Will’s not scoring, Cash is scoring. If Cash isn’t scoring, Will is. So blessed to have two gentlemen that can score like that.”
The two teams split the regular season series with Mendon handing Brockport its only loss thus far on October 18th.
“I told the guys that night that was our sixth game in two weeks,” Phillips said. “We’re at their field. It was almost a Godsend that we dropped that one that night. It gave us a little fire going into the sectionals. We got it off our back, that one loss. We talked after that about putting a three-game season together, and they did it.”
Phillips knew what the Blue Devils’ offense was capable of doing. He also understood that his defense needed to slow down Mendon which scored five times in that regular season finale for both teams.
“They’re very dangerous on the long throw-in,” Phillips said. “They’re very dangerous on set pieces. They’re big and strong. We really worked on that. We talked about if we didn’t give up those long throw-in goals, the set-pieces goals, we had a chance.
“We’re going to score in the run of play. We scored three on them last time in the run of play, and we’re dangerous on our set pieces as well. We knew we were going to have to take away their set pieces and where they were good. I think our guys did a phenomenal job tonight with that.”
Mendon (16-2-0) had won 12 straight to earn the top seed in Class A. The Vikings were looking to win their 22nd title in program history.
“Hats off to Brockport and Coach Phillips,” said Vikings head man Mark Hurley. “He has a talented bunch. They carry themselves well and play hard for each other.”
Ethan Westervelt converted a first-half PK, and Mendon also received the benefit of an own goal off a Jackson Forney corner kick. Max Tagliarino made it a 4-3 game with 9:23 left on the clock.
“What a special group of young men,” Hurley said of his squad. “We work hard and have fun every day. I LOVE ‘EM. I’m so proud of them. I’m going to miss our seniors so much, but know we will keep in touch.”
For Phillips, the championship took on special meaning. An assistant under former head coach Chris Zorn for three championships, Saturday’s title was the first under the seventh-year head coach.
“He’s been a great mentor to me,” Phillips said of Zorn, a 2024 Section V Boys’ Soccer Hall of Fame inductee. “He’s over there tonight. Just proud that we got the job done tonight.”
Hawken and Aiden Fitzpatrick accounted for an assist apiece. Ty Sherman made eight saves for the win.
Brockport will play the Section VI champion, either Grand Island or Lewiston-Porter in the state quarterfinals. A 5 p.m. kickoff is scheduled Saturday, November 9th at Geneseo High School.
Graduated from Brockport. Proud of their curriculum and sports programs. The community supports their teams. Go Brockport!! Also the football team! Good luck to both!