In 2024-25, the Hilton Cadets won a division title in dominating fashion with a 19-1 record, only to be upset in the Section V playoff semifinals by rival Portside.
Despite losing 11 players from last year’s team, including Second Team All-State goaltender Barrett Paolini, the 13th state-ranked Cadets again sit near the top of the Class A standings behind only eighth-ranked Pittsford with a 7-4-1 record. But two of those losses came to state top-ranked Orchard Park and Class B third-ranked Webster-Schroeder.
“The guys who have stayed have done an unbelievable job picking up where we left off last year,” Hilton head coach Chris Monfiletto said. “There has been a mindset…that we still have it. We still have the belief that we are one of the teams that can do it.
“We purposely this year made our schedule the hardest it has ever been…because for all the success we had last year in the regular season, when Portside punched, we didn’t respond well enough. So now we respond and make sure we’re battle tested.”
Hilton is built around four upperclassmen on defense in senior Jack Palmer and juniors Luke Zelesnikar, Liam Porter, and Braden Burr, along with senior goaltender Lennon Suplicki.
Suplicki had played the most minutes of any goaltender in Section V and stood second among those playing at least five games in goals against average (1.80) and save percentage (.943).
“From goaltending all the way out to forwards, I feel like we’re all super-connected, we’re all super-tight, and everyone is looking out for each other. Our goaltender is having a great season so far, and it’s really easy to win games when your goaltender has a 95% save percentage,” co-captain Palmer said.
“That’s where it starts with us; our d-corps is absolutely fantastic,” Monfiletto added. “We play a style that not a lot of high schools play, where we like our ‘D’ to jump up in the play. The guys that we have run it perfectly.”
The Cadets were also getting offense from two lines with senior Hunter Huttemann centering senior Mason Knight and Cameron Gebo on the top line, and the newly formed second line of sophomore Parker Smith in the middle of classmate Lucas Grizzanti and freshman Jayden Teetsel.
In a recent 7-2 victory over Churchville-Chili, the new second line accounted for six of the seven goals. Huttemann stood in the top five in all of Section V in scoring with 21 points in the first ten games, while Grizzanti and Knight were also averaging more than a point per game.
Even with many different players in upgraded roles from last season’s juggernaut team, the Cadets are staying primed to finish the job of bringing the first hockey brick signifying a championship to put in the display case.
“The mantra, even starting from the summer, is that we still have something to prove and we believe that we can,” Monfiletto said.
“We haven’t forgotten about that loss (in last year’s semifinals), and we use it as fuel. We’re looking to do something that’s never been done before here, and that’s get a Section championship,” co-captain Huttemann said.
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