By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Adam McLaren converted a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box with 5:17 remaining in the second extra-time session, and McQuaid Jesuit (11-5-2) captured the Section V Class AAA Boys’ Soccer championship with a 4-3 win over three-time reigning champion Fairport (9-6-2), Friday night.
“I won the foul, and I knew from there I was going to shoot the ball,” the junior center mid said. “I scored one earlier in the first half, and I have a lot of confidence in myself that I’m able to hit those.”
The goal ended a match that saw Fairport erase a three-goal deficit in the eight minutes of regulation.
“We had to get back to what we were doing early in the game,” McQuaid head coach Jeff Oliver said. “We played a really good game, and there was a small amount of time where we let them back in it.”
McLaren started the scoring in the first half, and TJ Parr connected with 51 seconds remaining before halftime to give the Jesuit Knights a 2-nil lead heading into the break.
Dom Astuto made it a 3-0 game.
Brock Stephany started the scoring for Fairport with 7:41 left in regulation. Trevor Scoppa then converted on an indirect kick from just outside the 6-yard box to make it a one-goal game with 4:25 on the clock.
Logan Freemantle nodded in a free kick from Stephany for the equalizer with 2:25 left in the second half.
“Fairport, they’re always good,” Oliver said. “We knew they’d give us something at the end to make it challenging, and they did. It took every kid.
“We had a bunch of guys give us some legs tonight. We don’t always have to go that deep on the bench, but I thought they did great and gave us some legs. They gave guys some rest and when we had to put them back in, we were able to get through. Total team effort, which is great because there were a lot of minutes played tonight.”
Earlier in the week, McQuaid knocked off top-seeded Penfield in extra time.
“It gave us confidence,” Oliver said of the previous experience. “This is our third overtime game. We’ve been fortunate to come out winning all of them. So it gave us confidence. We were able to just refocus and I thought we were pretty good in overtime.”
Fairport keeper Jared Mulley denied three McQuaid scoring chances in the first extra session.
Then the Jesuit Knights’ keeper, Sawyer Damon, came up big with a stop of Trevor Scoppa in the second session to set up McLaren for the game winner.
“It was a little nerve wracking, being up 3-0 and then making it 3-3, but we just got it done in overtime,” McLaren said. “We fought hard, just fought to the end of the game and came out on top.
“I saw it (the shot) going in, and my first instinct was just to go celebrate with all my buddies that came here to support us. They all showed up.”
After surrendering a three-goal lead in the final eight minutes of regulation, Adam McLaren connects in the 105th minute, and @AthleticsMcQ takes the Class AAA title with a 4-3 victory over Fairport. https://t.co/OGCwEu6IsD
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 31, 2026
The championship was the sixth in McQuaid program history with other titles coming in 2005, ’09, ’17, ’19 and ’22.
McQuaid will face the Section VI champion (either Lancaster or Jamestown) in the state quarterfinals. That game is scheduled for next Friday at Geneseo High School.
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