by TYLER HATHAWAY
Aayan Sheikh scored in the first half and picked up an assist in the second half as No. 1 seed Geneseo (17-1-1) defeated second-seeded Naples (14-5-0) 2-1 in the 2026 Section V Class C2 championship at Honeoye Falls-Lima high school on Saturday afternoon.
Sheikh popped a ball into the middle of the field over the head of a group of Naples defenders to his teammate Evan Sorge, who headed the ball into the net to break a 1-1 tie in the 73rd minute.
“Right before that my coach told me that I have to release the ball quicker and try and find someone,” said Sheikh. “I took his word, and just chipped it right over the keeper and found Evan for a perfect header.”
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“Part of what we work on all the time is just getting to the end line, finding guys in the box,” said Geneseo head coach Chris Masters. “Aayan just served a beautiful ball, got it over the keeper’s hands, and Evan, the big guy he is, was there to pound it in with his head.”
The win avenged a loss in the sectional semifinals to Naples a year ago.
“It’s unreal, it feels amazing,” Sheikh said of being a sectional champion. “We set a goal, Naples beat us 4-0 in the semifinals last year, and our goal was to come back this year stronger and beat them. We knew this was our year, we had a chance, and we did that.”
“These guys have put in the work,” said Masters. “Some of them play year round, we play all summer long and in the spring. They’ve been playing together since they were young. We’ve got five seniors who have worked their butts off to get to this moment. A lot of younger players and juniors that contributed to this team wanted these seniors to go out as champions.”
Naples controlled much of the game early but Geneseo was able to capitalize on its first free kick opportunity and score. Goalie Markus Schiener booted the ball down the field, and Sheikh ran it down and headed it into the net to make it 1-0 Blue Devils in the 19th minute.
“Taking the lead first gave us lots of energy,” Sheikh explained. “We were just hyped for that.”
“He’s just a hustler,” Masters said of the junior. “He’s a hard worker. He’s scored a lot of our goals this year. He’s been up and down the field all season doing great things, and we knew coming into a big game he would step up for us.”
Naples came out of the second half forcing two corner kicks in the first five minutes, and then would knot the game in the 46th minute off a strike from Connor Bertrus. But the Blue Devil defense buckled down, keeping a persistent Naples offense from finding the net once more.
It was only the 12th goal the Blue Devils have allowed all season.
“The defense has been amazing for us,” said Masters. “We’ve been strong throughout the season, and against some really strong opponents too. We haven’t had a lot of teams that we were able to blow them out. Our league is tough, we had a lot of tough league games, and I think that prepared us for this moment.”
The win was the first sectional title for Geneseo since 2018, and the tenth in program history.
“It means a ton,” Masters explained of what it means to the program. “We’ve lost twice since we last won in the finals, and those hurt. We’re used to winning a lot here, so when you get there and lose it hurts a lot. I’m just so happy for these kids to experience something like this.”
The Blue Devils will face Class C1 champion East Rochester in the Far West Regional Qualifier on Tuesday.
“We just got to keep going,” said Sheikh. “It’s anyone’s game at this point. We have to practice 100 percent. We just have to play our best every time and get wins.”
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