Fifth-seed Churchville-Chili overcame a 3-1 second-period deficit with four consecutive goals to defeat fourth-seed Irondequoit 5-4 in the Class A hockey quarterfinals.
Trailing 3-1 despite junior Julius Horvath’s breakaway five-hole goal just 1:50 into the contest, the Saints stormed back netting two goals late in the second period to tie the contest 3-3.
Junior Dylan Clark redirected a shot from the left point by Trey Eberhart just under the crossbar at 9:14 to cut the deficit to one. Junior Mitchell Marsh was also credited with an assist on the play.
The Saints tied the game 3-3 on the power play at 13:25 as junior Max Williams pounded home a rebound from the slot with Cade Costanzo and Marsh assisting.
Horvath gave the Saints a 4-3 lead at 9:58 of the third period with his second goal of the game on a shot from the right point. Marsh picked up his third assist of the game, giving him 29 on the season to set a new program record previously held by Justin Alves.
Junior Keegan Metcalfe stopped a puck that got past the Saints goaltender and was dribbling toward the goal line with 3:20 remaining before, on the next shift, junior Adam Polito stole the puck and broke in alone on the Irondequoit net. His shot went just inside the post to put the Saints ahead 5-3.
Irondequoit was awarded a late power play and did convert with 1:54 remaining in regulation and the Eagles pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker for the final 90 seconds, but the Saints held on to advance to the Class A semi-finals, where they fell to number two in the state Webster-Thomas 3-2 to end their season.
“It was a goal of mine all season,” Marsh said about setting the new record for assists in one season. “It feels good actually.”
“Part of the game plan we put together this year is for them not to get down no matter what the situation is,” Churchville-Chili head coach Brian Young said. “Earlier on in the season we faced a couple of really tough teams who got on us hard and we found our character flaws. We were able to fix those early. We’re not really a first period team, but the character is different now than it used to be, so these guys are responding much better.”
