Saints Win Consecutive Boys Soccer Titles for Second Time in School History
Article and photo by Warren Kozireski
Top-seeded Churchville-Chili and No. 2 seed Spencerport met twice in the regular season, both times ending in 0-0 ties. But that changed dramatically in the Class AA boys soccer Section V championship game as each team scored in the first four-plus minutes before Saints junior Rylan Moran netted his first varsity goal—the game winner—in a 2-1 victory.
It marks the Saints’ ninth championship, their third in the last four years, and the second time they have won in back-to-back seasons.
“They outplayed us a lot of the first half,” Churchville-Chili head coach John Mahoney said. “They took us out of our shape; we weren’t comfortable a lot, and we made a couple of adjustments at halftime that made it a lot better for us.
“I was worried after their first goal, and then we had the great response that we needed to settle our group down.”
Spencerport opened the scoring as sophomore Adriano Sanfilippo found the net after a pass from senior Daniel Weiss in the third minute.
The Saints came right back at 4:12 as senior Lucas Cariola took a header pass from classmate Byrce Wolf and converted to tie the game 1-1.
In the 62nd minute, junior Joey Stimson fed Moran from the left wing for what would prove to be the game winner.
“I saw Joey get the ball, so I decided to get outside,” Moran said. “He crossed it over to me. I took a touch (and went) bottom left. That’s my first varsity goal—it was amazing, feels great.
“No clue until people started cheering.”
Both teams had additional chances to score, including Rangers senior Jackson Schneider, whose potential tying shot following a direct kick in the final minute clanked off the right post.
“Definitely nerve-wracking, but I had to keep my head,” said Churchville-Chili senior goalkeeper Austin Allen, who entered the game number one in Section V, allowing only .20 goals per game. “It’s a great feeling to be a part of.”
The 14-1-2 Saints entered the contest ranked fourth among Class AA schools in the New York State Sportswriters Association poll, while the Rangers were eighth with the same record.
“I didn’t think this; I didn’t think we’d have one loss,” Mahoney said. “I knew we had forwards/goal scorers, so I knew we’d have a chance, but I did not think that we’d be that good that early to only give up ten goals on the year. The back line was all guys who were reserves last year, and they all stepped up.
“Just wow.”
