BY JONATHAN SKUZA
Charles Hezel’s three point performance and Aiden Stauffer’s shutout propelled the Pittsford Panthers (19-3-2) to a 4-0 victory over Section IV’s Ithaca Little Red (18-3-1) in the NYSPHSAA Division I quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.
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The first period saw the teams feel each other and exchange power plays, but neither one could break through on the scoreboard.
Just under six minutes into the second period, Hezel broke through with his first of two goals in the contest. The junior forward shot a floating puck at the net and it beat the Ithaca goalie to open the scoring. Evan Weiner earned an assist on the tally.
Just as the middle frame was about to expire, David Pollard continued his strong senior campaign with his 30th goal of the season after a cross crease feed from Hezel.
The Panthers’ offensive attack continued into the third period as they tacked on two more goals onto their strong performance. Hezel scored his second of the contest about five and a half minutes into the final frame. Bear Wehrheim assisted on the goal. Wehrheim would score himself with just over four minutes remaining to cap a strong performance from the Pittsford offense.
Stauffer stayed rock solid and kept Ithaca off the board to help Pittsford defeat the Little Red for the second straight year in the NYSPHSAA Division I quarterfinals. Stauffer has a 1.5 goals against average in the four postseason starts for the Panthers.
Along with Stauffer’s shutout performance, Pittsford’s penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4 in the contest as they were able to Ithaca’s power plays off the board.
Pittsford will travel to LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, N.Y. to take on the winner between Section I’s Suffern and Section II’s Shenendehowa in the NYSPHSAA Division I semifinals on Saturday, March 14th at 9:00 a.m.
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