By PAUL GOTHAM
FAIRPORT, N.Y. — Trevor Scoppa may have added an element to his repertoire on Tuesday night. Though, that may not have been his original intention.
As the junior attacker approached a corner kick midway through the second half, he lost his footing and fell to his hands and knees. Without any hesitation, he gathered himself and a split second later delivered a cross just outside the six-yard box.
The result? A back-post service that teammate Alex Grejda headed in to snap a scoreless tie, and unbeaten Fairport (No. 1 NYSSWA Class AAA) went on to hand Churchville-Chili (No. 7 NYSSWA Class AA) its first loss of the season.
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“Whatever that technique was, it worked,” said Fairport head coach Bill Teasdale. “I told him if you need to slip every time before you take a corner kick to play a ball like that, go for it.”
Six minutes later, Scoppa found the back of the net himself, and the Red Raiders were on the way to a 2-nil victory. With the win, Fairport improved to 13-0-0 on the season.
58’ Beauty of a goal: Alex Grejda wins a ball in the air and nods it into the back of the net to give @FCSDSports a 1-nil lead over @CCCSDbsoccer pic.twitter.com/3rKUrn2mPc
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 15, 2025
In a battle pitting two of the remaining six unbeaten teams in Section V Boys’ Soccer, Fairport outshot Churchville 5-1 in the first half, but came away empty-handed. The corner-kick opportunity was the fifth of the night for Teasdale’s squad.
“With this group, I don’t worry about them getting caught up in the moment,” the sixth-year head coach said. “Friday night against Penfield, we had a huge crowd here for homecoming. They were unfazed. They get out there, and it’s all business. They’re very confident, and they’re very composed.”
Churchville-Chili hadn’t allowed multiple goals in a game since October 1st of last season in a 3-2 win over Webster Thomas.
“They’re a very good team,” Teasdale said. “We created more opportunities than I expected.
“We talked before the game that it’s going to be tough to score on him when you’re 20 to 25 yards out. We talked about making combinations and getting the ball inside the box. Alex was fortunate to get on the end of that corner kick which he does so well. It’s an obvious strength of his.”
The Saints entered play averaging better than three goals scored per contest.
“They have speed on every level, all throughout the park,” Churchville-Chili head coach John Mahoney said of Fairport. “I thought they did a good job of closing. My guys would turn, and they would have two guys on them almost all night long.”
C-C’s best scoring opportunity came late in the second half when Chris Keller unleashed a blast from 30 yards out that Fairport keeper Evan Furciniti turned away. Furciniti then stopped a point-blank attempt off the rebound.
“Against a team like this, you’re not going to get many opportunities,” Mahoney said. “We needed to take advantage of those chances.”
Two big saves from Evan Furciniti. @FCSDSports pic.twitter.com/ttbaNXgVuX
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 15, 2025
Churchville, which saw its 2024 season end on PKs in the Class AA semifinal, took a 15-game unbeaten streak heading into Tuesday’s match and hadn’t lost since a 1-nil setback to Fairport last October.
“Hats off to them,” Mahoney said of the state champs who are unbeaten in 32 games. “They haven’t lost in two years for a reason. This doesn’t change who we are. We still defend really well. We’re still a really good team. This is a measuring stick and a little bit of a lesson tonight. We move on.”
Furciniti made three saves for Fairport’s ninth shutout of the season. The Red Raiders have allowed four goals through their first 13 games while scoring 43.
Churchville keeper Mason Simmons finished with eight saves on the night. The Saints have allowed five goals through 14 games.
Brilliant save, Mason Simmons. pic.twitter.com/ceJUghc1C2
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 15, 2025
“Credit to their goalkeeper,” Teasdale said. “He came up with some big saves and kept them in the game.”
Fairport hosts Brighton on Thursday to close the regular season.
Churchville travels to Penfield for its regular season finale. That game is also on Thursday.
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