2017 Massena boys fall short to Section 5 champion Pittsford in state Division I semifinals

NYSPHSAA Division I semifinal game at the HarborCenter Arena in Buffalo A good start wasn’t enough to sustain the Massena Central hockey team against Section 5 champion Pittsford at the NYSPHSAA Division I semifinals on Saturday at the HarborCenter Arena. “We came out strong. Our guys were executing the game plan that we talked about and we got the early lead,” said coach Mike Trimboli after the Raiders wound up dropping a 2-1 decision to the Panthers. “We started to run into penalties which slowed us down and they ended up getting a power play goal. A one-goal game was my prediction coming in so there were no surprises in that sense.” “Pittsford is a very solid hockey team. For us to make it to this point and to have it come down to a one-goal game really says a lot about the progress that we made this year as a team,” he added. Pittsford, which entered this season with the added motivation of having suffered a one-goal loss in last year’s semifinal, will now get set to take on Section 6 champion Williamsville-North in the Division I final today at 3 p.m. W-N advanced by claiming a 1-0 decision over top-ranked defending tournament champion Mamaroneck of Section 1 in the earlier semifinal on Saturday. “We have a lot of respect for Massena as a program. They have six state championships and we’re still looking for our first. Massena made us work all 45 minutes today. They had a very aggressive forecheck that gave us trouble but we made some adjustments and got the goal we needed on the power play,” said coach Steve Thering after his team earned a chance to play for its first state title. “We always look to get Massena on our schedule but we had to cancel out this year because of a snowstorm back in January. Last year, they came to our place and we won in overtime so we knew this was going to be a good challenge for us.” “We lost in the semis last year and that was motivation for us coming into this season,” he added. “We have a quite a few guys who played in that game and at the time, it was great to just be here. This year, it’s great to be back but it’s time to take the next step.” In Saturday’s semifinal, the Raiders opened the scoring just 4:05 into the game when a shot from between the top of the face-off circles by junior Ben Chilton was deflected into the back of the net from the top of the slot by classmate Sam Chilton. Pittsford pulled even just a minute and a-half later when senior Connor Haims controlled a rebound off the back boards near the right post and quickly tucked the puck home for the equalizer. The Panthers then produced the only other goal of the game at 4:57 of the second period when Andy Bronstein one-timed a centering pass from John Mozrall into the top left corner of the net for a power play tally. Junior Nate Moffitt, who kept the Raiders in striking distance with 22 saves through the first two periods, finished with 28 stops in the losing cause while William Hernes turned aside 19 shots for Pittsford (20-3-1). Massena, which captured the NAC regular season banner and a sixth straight Section 10 title this winter, closed out the season at 12-9-1. “Expectations were not high for this group coming into the season but they continued to work hard and continued to challenge themselves,” said Trimboli. “They really came around as a team and earned their way to this weekend.” “A big reason for our success was the leadership of our four seniors,” he added, noting the long-term contributions of Nate Bressard, Nick Kozsan, Zach Ward and Daniel Casey. “As coaches, we are very proud of what the seniors provided this season and for everything they’ve done during their Raider careers.”