BY JONATHAN SKUZA
HENRIETTA, N.Y. — In the biggest games of the season, you need your top players to step up.
Simon Kowal stepped up in a big way for Victor as he collected a four-point night including a second period hat trick to secure the Section V Class B title for the Blue Devils with a 6-3 victory Monday evening at the Gene Polisseni Center on the RIT campus.
”Definitely preparation,” Kowal said. “I knew I didn’t want this to be my last game. We have 12 seniors on this team and we gave everything we had.”
Kowal helped start the scoring for Victor with an assist after a Batavia Notre Dame turnover led to a Nathan Romeis rebound goal with 9:50 remaining in the first period. Caleb Clark contributed on the first goal as well for a complete senior connection on the tally.
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Clark then extended the lead for Victor with 4:51 remaining in the period after an Ian Kloiber point shot kicked out for a rebound and the senior forward was there to bang home the rebound.
The second period saw rapid fire scoring in the early going. Jameson Motyka and Brady Johnson connected on the power play after Motyka’s shot from high in the zone bounced off the boards behind the Victor net and rolled off of Blue Devils net minder Nathan MacBride’s back and found the back of the net.
Kowal’s scoring frenzy started when he answered 35 seconds later with a pass from Clark that went across the slot and was put home to regain the two goal cushion for Victor.
”They’re high profile players and that was pretty evident tonight,” Victor’s head coach Michael Ferreri said. “They kind of fed off each other from start to finish.”
Cade Cummings would bring Batavia Notre Dame back within one 34 second after Kowal’s tally as he broke free for a breakaway after Luke Staley flipped the puck over a crowd of people at center ice.
AJ Finocchario would join in on the scoring after the Blue Devils were able to turnover the puck and find the back of the net about midway through the middle stanza.
Kowal’s hat trick would be capped off by two unassisted goals to give the Blue Devils a 6-2 lead going into the second intermission. The senior forward put home a short handed tally after another turnover by Batavia Notre Dame left Kowal all alone in their zone for his second of the contest. The senior then was able to squeak his third goal through the legs of Batavia Notre Dame defense and goalie to send four hats flying late in the second.
”It’s not just an individual effort,” Kowal said. “It’s all six guys including the goalies.”
Motyka pulled Batavia Notre Dame within three late in the third after Brady Johnson connected a drop back pass for the senior forward who ripped it for a bar-down goal. However, Batavia Notre Dame’s time ran out and Victor capture the Class B crown.
Victor claims its first sectional since 2022 and first Class B title since 2016 when the Blue Devils defeated Webster Thomas to repeat as champions (Victor participated in Class A from 2017-23).
“It’s awesome,” Ferreri Said. “I’m so proud of these kids. These 12 seniors have been on an absolute journey and have trusted the process the entire season. These way these guys are playing right now, they played a complete game tonight.”
A big key to Victor’s success in Monday’s contest outside of Kowal’s four point performance was the ability to turn turnovers into goals. The Blue Devils converted three turnovers into goals and became the difference maker in the contest.
”Our kids pressure the puck very well,” Ferreri said. “I thought our guys were good. They were hard to the puck and skated fast. They created a lot of turnovers. When we started to pressure in the second period their defensemen didn’t have enough time to get rid of the puck.”
Batavia Notre Dame will say goodbye to nine seniors after its defeat. Those nine seniors were apart of a special United team last year that won the programs first sectional title. They will leave a lasting legacy for the program for years to come
”They leave an amazing legacy behind of winning the last two years,” Batavia Notre Dame head coach Marc Staley said. “We had some great seniors, some great contributions on defense, on forward and goal. It’s a rite of passage. Those kids move on and new kids move up.”
Motyka is one of the nine seniors that departs from the United. He will depart as the programs all time career leading scorer after his three point effort Monday evening. The senior forward finishes his career with 227 points in 101 career games.
With the Blue Devils claiming the Class B championship, they will move on to the 2025 NYSPHSAA quarterfinal on March 8.
”We are gonna do the same thing,” Kowal said. “We’ve been preparing all season and we’re gonna give it all we got and just see what happens.”
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