After setting a new school record with a 14-win season – the last coming in overtime to defeat Pittsford in the Class AA semi-finals – Hilton became the first team from western Monroe County to advance to a boys lacrosse Section V final. There the third-seeded Cadets held an early 4-2 lead against top-seed Fairport before allowing seven unanswered goals in a 9-4 loss.
Fairport jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Cadets regrouped as senior Justin Mosher scored an unassisted goal at 11:04 of the first quarter.
Hilton senior Shawn Doran won the opening draw of the second quarter and scored just 11 seconds in to tie the contest 2-2 before the Cadets took a 3-2 lead at 1:47 of the second when junior Ben Mitrano found senior Brendan Howell cutting through the middle.
The Cadets extended that lead to 4-2 as Howell assisted on sophomore Matthew Mojsej’s tally at 3:25 of the second moments after a Hilton timeout.
But Fairport scored twice before halftime to tie the game 4-4 and netted the only goal by either team in the third quarter taking a 5-4 lead just 11 seconds in after winning the second half draw.
Hilton opened the fourth quarter with two full minutes of offensive zone time, but the Raiders made quick work of a turnover to extend their lead to 6-4.
Fairport forced Hilton to come out of their zone defense and converted a pair of goals just 20 seconds apart before a late multi-man up situation led to the Raiders ninth and final goal of the game.
“We made mistakes and needed to control the ball more,” Hilton head coach Craig Lepiane said. “But we have a strong youth program and it means a lot that a lot of these guys have been playing together since they were 12 years old and have reached this level. We will be back.”
Among those named to the All-Tournament Team were Howell at attack, Mojsej and Doran at midfield and senior William Czebatol on defense.
