hockey

Senior forward Gavin Schrader's third goal of the game -- coming just 21 seconds into the third period -- enabled Batavia Notre Dame United to gain a 6-6 tie against Hamburg in non-league varsity hockey tonight at the LECOM HarborCenter in Buffalo.

Trailing 6-5 after two periods, Schrader beat Hamburg goaltender Gavin Waite, with assists going to senior linemates Zack Eschberger and Vin DiRisio.

United, now 5-3-1, was unable to find the back of the net the rest of the way, however, despite outshooting the Bulldogs, a Section VI club, 15-1 in the third period. Both teams had four shots on goal in the five-minute overtime period.

Hamburg took a 3-2 lead after one period with senior forward Luke Stotz scoring twice around a power play goal by junior forward Josh Gregoire. BND's goals were by Schrader (from DiRisio and Eschberger) -- see photo above -- and DiRisio (from junior defenseman Noah Hudson and freshman forward Jameson Motyka).

The wide open play continued in the second period as both teams scored three goals. 

Schrader and Eschberger opened the scoring in the period, giving BND a 4-3 edge, before the Bulldogs countered with a goal by junior forward Braeden McGuire.

United took a 5-4 advantage on a goal by junior forward Ronin Hofmaster 10 minutes into the period before Hamburg rallied to take the lead on goals by senior forward Luke Nassoly and sophomore defenseman Matt Holst.

BND outshot Hamburg, 40-29. Senior Courtney Schum was in goal for United.

Schrader now has 18 goals and 16 assists, while DiRisio upped his goal and assist totals to 11 and 10, respectively. Hofmaster's goal was his seventh of the season to go along with his 14 assists.

United is back at the HarborCenter for a 4:15 p.m. game on Thursday against Frontier.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Vin DiRisio connects for a power play goal in the first period.

Brady Johnson looks to maneuver past Hamburg's Alex Wood (55).

Zack Eschberger (middle) gets some high-fives from DiRisio and Jameson Motyka after his power play goal in the second period.

Motyka seeks an opening in the Hamburg defense.

United's Ronin Hofmaster pokes the puck past Waite to tie the game at 5-5.

In what Head Coach Marc Staley called “our poorest effort of the year,” Batavia Notre Dame United – plagued by mistakes in its own zone and outshot by a more than two-to-one margin – dropped a 7-4 decision to Pittsford tonight in Section V hockey at the Batavia Ice Arena.

Sophomore Ben Norten scored three goals and assisted on another as the visiting Panthers broke away from a 2-2 tie with four goals in the second period to take a 6-4 advantage heading into the third period.

Pittsford, 4-3-1, fired 46 shots at BND goaltender Courtney Schum, while United could manage to put just 19 on Panthers’ goalie Aden Brown.

“This was our poorest effort of the year and we have to address that,” Staley said. “We have to come to play every night. And we didn’t execute tonight and they’re a fast team and a skilled team.”

Staley pointed to his team’s miscues in its own end that provided Pittsford numerous extra opportunities.

“We gave up too many pucks in our own zone -- sloppy play,” he said. “Pucks in the back of our net (given away). You can’t make mistakes against Class A teams that are good like this. And we made too many tonight, so we’ve got to tighten that up. And we will. It’s still early in the year.”

Pittsford had several chances to draw first blood but was unable to capitalize on a power play midway through the opening period.

When BND drew a pair of penalties at the 8:00 and 7:21, it came through with the two-man advantage -- with senior Gavin Schrader putting away a rebound at 6:59. Jameson Motyka and Zack Eschberger assisted.

The Panthers tied the score at 3:44 on a goal by sophomore Henok Hankinson (assisted by junior Will Masaschi) and took the lead less than two minutes later when junior Lucas Procious scored from close range, with Norten and Colin Norton assisting.

United rallied with a minute left in the period when Eschberger converted a pass from the speedy Schrader, who had raced down the left side of the rink past the defense.

Pittsford controlled most of the action in the second period, outshooting the home team 26-10. And it didn't help the United cause when defenseman Noah Hudson's skate blade broke, forcing him to miss most of the 17-minute session while correcting the situation.

Norten scored off a rebound of a shot by Norton at 13:22 and Masaschi buried the puck after an initial save by Schum at 12:09 to put Pittsford up 4-2.

Following a BND timeout, United cut the deficit in half as Schrader deflected a shot by Parker Corbelli past Brown at the 11:00 mark (Eschberger also assisted), but Pittsford came back 55 seconds later as sophomore Brady McMahon beat Schum to her glove side from a tough angle.

After Schrader hit the crossbar on a shot at 6:25, United pulled to within a goal again as senior Vin DiRisio found the back of the net after a nifty pass from Motyka.

Schum made a couple tough saves inside of three minutes, but was unable to thwart Norten at the 1:14 mark when he scored his second goal, assisted by Norton. The duo combined again to close out the scoring at 10:57 of the third period after United gave up the puck behind its own net.

Pittsford clamped down in the third period, holding BND without a shot on goal until 2:57 remained in the game.

Asked if he thought Pittsford had a deeper team and better skaters, Staley instead talked about United’s unforced errors.

“We scored one on ourselves. Those are the things we have to address; too many giveaways in our own zone,” he said. “And we need more balance. We’re relying on two few guys right now.”

Still, Staley said he saw it as a learning experience.

“It’s good for us to play against these teams to learn the level that we have to get to,” he said.

Schrader upped his goal total to 15 (to go with his 15 assists) while DiRisio’s goal was his 10^th of the season.

United, 5-3, travels to the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo for games against Section VI opponents next week – at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday against Hamburg and at 1:15 p.m. Thursday against Frontier.

Photo at top: Batavia Notre Dame's Jameson Motyka avoids a Pittsford defender as goaltender Courtney Schum looks on. Photos at bottom: United's Parker Corbelli controls the puck as Pittsford's Lucas Procious converges; teammate Brady Johnson looks to maneuver past Pittsford's Keegan Ahern. Photos by Howard Owens.

A victory over Pittsford tonight would give Batavia Notre Dame a psychological lift through Christmas and snap a long Section V hockey drought against the suburban Rochester school.

“This is a very important game for us, psychologically, as it can get us to 6-2 heading into next week's tournament at the (LECOM) Harborcenter in Buffalo, and knowing that a Batavia team hasn’t beaten Pittsford since, I think, 1994,” Head Coach Marc Staley said this afternoon.

The game is set for 6 o’clock at the Batavia Ice Arena on Evans Street.

The Batavia Blue Devils were unable to defeat a Pittsford club when they met regularly in Monroe County League competition over the past three decades and, last year, Notre Dame dropped a 5-3 decision to the Panthers in the first round of the sectionals.

Batavia and Notre Dame combined forces prior to this season as "BND United" and has won five of its first seven contests. Pittsford is 3-3-1 but the record doesn’t indicate the overall strength of this year’s Panthers’ team, Staley said.

“This looks to be a dead-even game,” he said. “They have played against some very strong teams – Fairport, Massena and Penfield – and play a similar style to ours.”

On paper, United has more offensive firepower than Pittsford with five players in the top 10 in scoring among the six Independent teams. BND has scored 47 goals and given up 25 while Pittsford has scored 22 and allowed 22.

Senior Gavin Schrader is No. 1 in points with 13 goals and 14 assists, freshman Jameson Motyka and junior Ronin Hofmaster each have six goals and 11 assists, senior Vin DiRisio has nine goals and seven assists, and freshman Brady Johnson has seven goals and eight assists.

BND goaltender Courtney Schum has a 3.53 goals against average in her seven games.

The Panthers have three players with five goals apiece – senior Aidan McGrain, junior Lucas Procious and sophomore Henok Hankinson, while junior Will Masaschi has four goals and nine assists. Goalie Aden Brown has a 2.96 GAA.

Staley said both teams have solid power play units and it could come down to which team stays out of the penalty box.

“The team showing the most discipline likely will come out on top,” he said. “It shapes up to be a close game.”

Sophomore Addison Warriner’s power play goal with six minutes and 11 seconds to play lifted Batavia Notre Dame to a 4-3 victory over Webster Schroeder this afternoon in the championship game of the Dave McCarthy Memorial Christmas Tournament at the Batavia Ice Arena.

Host United, now 5-2, prevailed in a fast-paced, well-played contest between evenly-matched Section V hockey clubs

The game featured only seven penalties, but one of those infractions proved to be the difference, however, when Warriors’ defensemen Matt Grattan was hit with a five-minute major for checking from behind at the 10:21 mark of the final period.

BND fired off several shots at Webster Schroeder goaltender Peyton Sanfilippo over the next four minutes before finally cashing in on a Warriner slap shot, with assists going to Jameson Motyka and Gavin Schrader, to break a 3-3 tie.

From there, United employed its neutral zone trap scheme and managed to keep the Warriors off the scoreboard.

United Coach Marc Staley mentioned his team’s all-for-one, one-for all approach when talking about the game-winner.

“The attitude in the locker room is just next man up. And that's what happened, we popped in Addison Warner there in the middle on the power play, and he scores the game winning goal,” Staley said. “And so, what I love about this team is that we have this deep bench. And if someone's not getting it done, we can just bring somebody in to take care of business.”

Freshman Brady Johnson stepped up in a big way as he registered a “natural hat trick” with three consecutive goals for United – two as BDN took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission and a third that erased a 3-2 deficit in the second period.

Webster Schroeder opened the scoring on a goal by Aiden Baldwin (assisted by Gunnar Bolton) at 14:45 of the first period. Johnson evened things up at 4:38 when he took the puck the length of the ice, broke through two defenders and found the back of the net, and put the home team on top at 1:15 after taking a pass from Ronin Hofmaster.

The Warriors responded in the second period on a power play goal by Evan SanSoucie at 16:27 and an even-strength goal by Bolton (assisted by Ryan Reeves) two minutes later to regain the lead at 3-2.

United bounced back once again as Schrader and Hofmaster worked the puck to Johnson at the point and his shot beat Sanfilippo at 10:33 to knot things up.

“Brady is just an incredible talent – a player who mixes great skill level with just a huge compete factor,” Staley said. “He just willed that first goal and that really gave our bench some life.”

Johnson, Schrader, defenseman Andrew Kasmarek and goaltender Courtney Schum were named to the all-tournament team for United, joining Warriors Alex Bollis, Baldwin and Sanfilippo.

They each received medals that were presented by Mike McCarthy and Brian McCarthy, father and brother, respectively, of Dave McCarthy, a standout athlete who was killed in a car accident in 2006.

United outshot the visitors 31-18, but Schum made several spectacular stops among her 15 saves, including a shot at point blank range by Bollis with 1:02 remaining to preserve the lead.

Staley recognized the performance by Schum, who has been filling in admirably for injured starter Frank Falleti Jr.

“She's been steady the whole year for us,” he said. “She makes the saves she's supposed to make and we know when we stay out of the penalty box and we don't give up odd man rushes, she’s going to do the rest for us. I'm very happy for her making the all-tournament team as she deserved it.”

BND, already without forward Cooper Hamilton (broken collarbone) until sometime in January, lost its co-captain, Zack Eschberger, midway through the second period when he was hit from behind into the boards. He reportedly was being evaluated for a concussion.

“I’m really proud of this team for gutting it out,” Staley said. “I mean we were down some of our key players tonight, for different reasons. And then we lost Eschberger, so we’ve got to figure out what his status is going forward as we have a big game against Pittsford (6 p.m. Thursday at Batavia Ice Arena) coming up this week.”

Photo at top: Batavia Notre Dame players gather round goaltender Courtney Schum after the buzzer sounds, marking their 4-3 win over Webster Schroeder. Photo at bottom: Players, coaches and tournament officials celebrate with a group photo. Photos by Mike Pettinella.

Updated 10 a.m.:

Senior winger Vin DiRisio registered a hat trick Tuesday night – with all three goals coming in his team’s six-goal second period – to lead Batavia Notre Dame United to a 10-1 victory over the WFL Panthers in Section V hockey at the Geneva Recreation Complex.

DiRisio upped his season total to nine goals, one behind senior line mate Gavin Schrader, as United raised its record to 3-2.

Last night, United unleashed 49 shots at a pair of WFL goaltenders – scoring twice in the first period, breaking the contest open with six in the middle period and twice in the third period. United goalie Courtney Schum stopped 21 of 22 shots, yielding WFL’s only goal early in the second period that cut BND’s lead to 2-1.

Senior Zack Eschberger, center on the first line with DiRisio and Schrader, returned to action and promptly put the visitors on the board at 3:54 of the first period, with assists from Schrader and junior Ronin Hofmaster.

"It was great having our co-captain Zack Eschberger back in the lineup for the first time this season," Coach Marc Staley said. "He gave us a really nice boost offensively with his energy and speed."

Schrader made it 2-0 eight minutes later on a power play goal with Hofmaster and DiRisio assisting.

Following a goal by the Panthers’ Lucas Springer early in the second period, BND took control with six goals over the next 11 minutes – the three by DiRisio and one each from Hofmaster, freshman Brady Johnson and Eschberger. Jameson Motyka had three assists and Noah Hudson two.

Schrader and Motyka rounded out the scoring with goals nine seconds apart in the first minute of the third period, with Eschberger and Johnson assisting, respectively.

"We controlled the puck very well as a team last night and our offense clearly can be lethal," Staley said. "There are still a number of things we need to tighten up on, however, in transition and in our own end." 

For the season, Schrader has 10 goals and 10 assists, DiRisio nine goals and seven assists, Hofmaster five goals and seven assists, and Motyka four goals and seven assists.

Staley said his team will have to be sharp against strong competition at this weekend's Dave McCarthy Memorial Christmas Tournament at the Batavia Ice Arena.

"The Dave McCarthy Memorial Christmas Tournament has a great tradition of bringing in some of the best teams in the state. With Fulton, Webster Schroeder, and Bishop Timon coming in, I expect some great hockey to be played."

On Friday, Bishop Timon takes on Webster Schroeder at 6 p.m. and Batavia Notre Dame will face off against Fulton at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the consolation game is at noon and the championship game is at 3 p.m. Admission for all the games is $5 (the charge for seniors is $3). There is no charge for those 18 and under.

Batavia Notre Dame United dropped a 5-3 decision tonight to the Portside Royals in Section V hockey action at the Batavia Ice Arena.

BND falls to 2-2 while Portside, a merger of the Brockport and Spencerport programs, improves to 3-1.

The winners scored three goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead and managed to hold off a spirited comeback by the home team.

Forward Vin DiRisio deflected a shot from the point by defenseman Orion Lama with 12 minutes left in the game, and forward Gavin Schrader buried a backhand shot after he stole the puck deep in the Portside zone three minutes later to pull BND within one at 4-3.

The Royals responded a minute later when United turned the puck over in its own end, leading to a goal by Evan Bovee.

“We just dug too deep of a hole in the second period,” BND Coach Marc Staley said. “We had some great scoring chances that we just did not capitalize on.”

With 2 ½ minutes left, Bovee received a major penalty after a blindside hit on DiRisio, giving United a two-man advantage – following a penalty at the 3:38 mark on Joey Mandel.

BND was unable to generate any offense, however, and Portside was able to clear the puck several times.

The home team opened the scoring at 10:47 of the first period on a slapshot from the right point by Andrew Kasmarek. Portside tied it with 4:55 remaining in the period on a goal by Henry Schulz.

Schultz scored a shorthanded goal a minute into the second period to put Portside up 2-1. He added a power play goal with 5:34 remaining and Sal Balbi scored after taking a pass from Ryan Plouffe with 1:44 to play to make it 4-1.

Courtney Schum stopped 27 of 32 shots while Portside goalie Danny Kucmerowski turned away 35 of 38 shots. Schum has replaced sophomore starter Frank Falleti Jr., who is out indefinitely with a leg injury. .

Schrader now has eight goals and DiRisio has six.

Staley said he saw “a lot of good things” from his team, noting that United outshot the Royals, took only two penalties and gave up just three odd man rushes. He also mentioned that he was surprised by the amount of hard checking.

“The game was much more physical than we’ve seen so far this year. It’s certainly not what we are used to seeing in Section V. I thought the kids did a great job adjusting to that and really coming after them in the third period,” he said.

Senior captain Zack Eschberger returns to the team on Monday after being in quarantine, Staley said.

BND travels to Geneva on Tuesday to take on the WFL Panthers. Game time is 7 p.m.

Senior winger Gavin Schrader scored four times in an eight-goal third period Saturday afternoon to lead Batavia Notre Dame to a wild 13-8 victory over Potsdam in the finale of the Potsdam ice hockey tournament.

BND United, which split its two games in the tournament, trailed 5-3 late in the second period before Schrader (assisted by Ronin Hofmaster) and winger Vin DiRisio (assisted by Andrew Kasmarek and Schrader) knotted things up entering the final period.

From there, Schrader took over -- scoring to put United up 6-5 just 18 seconds into the third period (assisted by DiRisio and Noah Hudson) and following that up with three more goals as the visitors won going away.

All told, Schrader had five goals and three assists, raising his team-leading totals to seven goals and eight assists after three games.

Freshman Jameson Motyka tallied three goals and two assists, DiRisio had a pair of goals and four assists (to up his season totals to five each) and Hofmaster recorded two goals and three assists. Freshman Brady Johnson chipped in with a goal and an assist, and Gino Falleti registered three assists.

Batavia outshot Potsdam, 48-29, and with three power play goals in six chances.

Goaltender Courtney Schum, playing in place of injured staqrted Frank Falleti Jr., was 21-for-29 in the save department.

Sophomore John Duffy scored four goals and sophomore Tyler Berkman had two goals for Potsdam.

BND, 2-1 overall, resumes Section V competition at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Irondequoit at Lakeshore East rink and hosts Portside Royals at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Batavia Ice Arena.

Batavia Notre Dame United lost, 3-2, in overtime to Canton on Friday night in the first round of the Potsdam boys ice hockey tournament.

Jacob Rosales scored the game winner two minutes and 22 seconds into the extra period for the Golden Bears in their season opener.

BND, 1-1, outshot Canton by a 43-19 margin, but went 0-for-9 on the power play as Canton’s standout senior goaltender Hayden Todd stood tall.

"Their goalie played great," BND Coach Marc Staley said. "These (type of) games, although frustrating, are good for us. There's no losing; only learning."

United opened the scoring at 11:36 of the first period on a goal by senior Vin DiRisio, assisted by senior Gavin Schrader and junior Gino Falleti.

Canton tied it 17 seconds later when Kaden Baxter beat United goalie Courtney Schum, who stopped 16 of 19 shots.

After a scoreless second period, Josh Aldous put Canton on top, 2-1, at 6:22 of the third period, before United responded three seconds later on a goal by Schrader, with an assist from junior Noah Hudson.

The Golden Bears racked up 33 penalty minutes while United was flagged for just 10 penalty minutes.

BND played without its top two centermen (Zack Eschberger, quarantine, and Cooper Hamilton, broken collarbone).

United takes on host Potsdam at 1 this afternoon to conclude its trip to the North Country. Potsdam lost, 10-1, to Saranac last night.

If it’s possible to have a “defining moment” in the first game of the season, Marc Staley, head coach of the Batavia Notre Dame United varsity ice hockey club, said he may have witnessed one during the third period of Tuesday night’s Section V season opener.

In front of a large and energized crowd at the Batavia Ice Arena, United posted a 6-3 victory over visiting Aquinas Institute in its debut following the merger of the Batavia High and Notre Dame programs.

Staley said his team’s ability to control its emotions with the score tied at 3-3 midway through the third period was the difference in the game.

“The kids really gutted it out down the stretch,” he said. “We called a timeout with seven minutes and 40 seconds to go. And all we said was to breathe – everybody reset. This is a big moment."

“It's a 3-3 game. It's an emotional night. Just breathe. Let’s go put the stamp on this thing right now. We have the power play. Let’s go execute the power play.”

Batavia ND did just that, with seniors Andrew Kasmarek, Gavin Schrader and Vin DiRisio working together to produce what proved to be the game winning goal.

Defenseman Kasmarek, who shined in the penalty killing department, was at the top of the power play and “executed it perfectly,” Staley said.

“(Kasmarek and Schrader) got the puck across ice to Vincent, which is what we wanted, and he fired the puck in the net,” Staley said.

DiRisio’s goal at the 9:59 mark put Batavia ND in front, 4-3, and United was able to hold off Aquinas, which pulled its goalie in the final minutes – leading to empty net goals by DiRisio and Schrader.

Staley thinks the team’s response to the timeout could be a rallying point as the players, including some from other Genesee County schools, seek to bond as a unit.

“I hope that was a moment that we're going to be able to call back on already – that we were able to calm down,” he said. “Hockey is played with an active body and a calm mind.  We were able to calm our minds, go back to the task at hand and execute down the stretch.”

The win was a costly one, however, as junior Cooper Hamilton, the team’s second line center, suffered a broken collarbone on the game’s first shift when he fell into the boards. He is expected to be out of action for at least six weeks, Staley said.

Batavia ND also played without its first line center, senior Zack Eschberger, who is quarantined due to an exposure to COVID-19.

“He’s not positive but he’s out for the first two games. We found that out less than 24 hours before the game,” Staley said.

That forced the coaching staff to improvise, putting together different combinations on the front line.

“I mean, our whole game plan and our whole line sequencing was just immediately thrown off. And it was not the easiest situation to coach, when you're thrown curveballs like that to manage the bench and to find combinations, and you really have to just coach on the fly, which is not ideal,” Staley said.

Furthermore, starting goaltender sophomore Frank Falleti injured his leg early in the third period and had to come out of the game. His status for this weekend’s two contests in Potsdam is uncertain, Staley said.

His replacement, senior Courtney Schum, came through with flying colors – giving up only one goal, which was tallied by CJ Mangone, his second of the game.

“Courtney came in and did a tremendous job for us in a really pressure packed moment,” Staley said. “She was coming in cold and did a great job and made some big saves for us down the stretch to help us secure the lead.”

Junior center Ronin Hofmaster and Kasmarek had first-period goals for United, and Hofmaster scored again in the third period to give the home team a 3-2 lead. Schrader had four assists and DiRisio had two.

Going forward, Hofmaster, who Staley credited as having a “phenomenal” game, will anchor the second line with freshman wingers Brady Johnson and Jameson Motyka. Key defensemen include juniors Noah Hudson, Alex Johnson and Bryce Feldman and seniors Kasmarek and Parker Corbelli.

United travels to Potsdam for games against Canton (Friday) and Potsdam (Saturday). Its next home game is at 6 p.m. Dec. 9 against Portside Royals.

The merged program's JV team has won two of its first three games.

A Batavia City School District trustee who held up approval of a merger between the Batavia and Notre Dame hockey teams at the district's school board meeting on Thursday afternoon met with the schools' athletic directors and coaches and said he had his questions answered and looks forward to the agreement being on the board's next agenda.

The Batavian has attempted to clarify with John Marucci that his statement means he intends to vote in favor of the merger but he has not responded to two emails.

Three Four other members of the board have responded to emails and said they intend to support the measure. One hasn't responded.

Previously, The Batavian emailed five questions to Marucci about his apparent objections to the merger, trying to clarify his position and didn't get a response until yesterday. He didn't provide answers to the question but did make this statement:

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Just so you know that today at 3:15, I was able to meet with BCSD BOE President Alice Ann Benedict, BCSD AD Mike Bromley and hockey coaches Marc Staley and John Kirkwood. We had a very lengthy and thorough discussion about the proposed merger between Notre Dame and Batavia as it pertains to hockey. I feel very satisfied that I had my questions and concerns answered and look forward to having this item on our agenda for our August 5th BCSD BOE Meeting. 

At last week's meeting, Marucci expressed concern about other schools in the county being eased out of a combined hockey program with Batavia and that once current players from those districts have graduated, students at those schools would have to attend Notre Dame if they wanted to play hockey. He suggested Notre Dame recruits athletic students and that he was concerned the merger wouldn't be fair to Batavia students.

Our questions to Marucci included trying to find out how the merger wouldn't be fair to Batavia students. He didn't answer that question.

At the meeting, he said, "I just want clarification," and, "I'm not trying to be that guy but I guess I'm being that guy."

With two seats vacant on the board due to resignations and one person absent, Marucci's unwillingness to vote to approve the agreement meant there wasn't a quorum, so the board had to table the matter until its Aug. 5 meeting.

The merger would mean Notre Dame, which has won two sectional championships in recent years under Head Coach Marc Staley, and Batavia players would form a single unit.

Last week the schools announced the new team would be known as Batavia United.

Advocates of the merger argue that the merger would allow both schools to have a JV program, which will help produce a more successful program and end the dangerous practice of including JV-aged and -sized kids on varsity rosters.

And yes, students at schools such as Le Roy, Alexander, Oakfield-Alabama, and Pembroke, who want to play hockey in the future, will need to attend a private school such as Notre Dame. Which is how it was for those schools before Batavia, in a bid to increase its hockey numbers seven years ago, accepted those schools into its hockey program.

Since that realignment, Batavia has won 13 games with only two of those wins coming against Section V opponents and no wins against teams with winning records.

The merger is going to get the support of at least three trustees.

Statement from Alice Benedict:

I wholeheartedly support the Batavia Notre Dame Hockey merger. It will help both schools be able to offer hockey opportunities for grades 7 through 12.

Statement from John Reigle:

Thank you for reaching out to me regarding the hockey merger. 

As you are aware we tabled the agenda item at our last school board meeting for some final clarification and questions. It is a big decision for our district and I’m glad our board of education is putting in so much collaborative thought and consideration into the topic. Unfortunately, our athletic director and/or the coaches were unable to attend the last meeting to have more discussion on the topic. However, it is my understanding they were able to meet with our board president and Vice President yesterday to discuss. 

After speaking with some hockey families from both schools, along with learning more of Coach Staley’s & Coach Kirkwood’s goals and intentions for the United program, I am in favor of the merger. I look forward to bringing back a competitive hockey program to our city that the student-athletes, our schools, and our community are proud of. 

Statement from Barbara Bowman:

I am in complete support of the hockey merger because it will be advantageous to BHS and ND students and the community in general.

Newly elected Trustee Jennifer Lendvay did not respond.

UPDATE: Lendvay's statement: 

I am in favor of the merger of the BHS/ND hockey teams and look forward to seeing them play.

At Falleti Ice Arena last night we were able to talk with seven members of the Genesee Ice Devils and Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey teams about the proposal to merge the two teams. We also spoke with Mike Rapone, ND's athletic director since we hadn't spoken with him yet about the proposal.

One of the most storied rivalries in Section V hockey could come to an end as soon as next season if the Batavia Ice Devils and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish become a single team.

Team coaches presented the proposal to the Batavia City School District Board of Trustees tonight and the board gave both programs permission to continue exploring the idea of a merger and drafting a five-year agreement for Batavia-Notre Dame hockey teams at the junior varsity and varsity levels.

The concept has already been approved by the Notre Dame Board of Trustees.

Tonight, by consent, the Batavia board authorized the talks to continue between coaches and athletic directors. If a final agreement is reached, a final resolution will be presented to approval for both boards. Section V must also approve the merger.

If approved, it is likely that Marc Staley, who has coached Notre Dame for 21 years, would be the varsity coach of the merged teams. John Kirkwood, 14 years with Batavia, would be the assistant coach. And Brennan Briggs, varsity football coach and a coach with Batavia hockey, would be the JV coach.

"We think we can build a community," Batavia Athletic Director Mike Bromley told the board. "It’s more than Batavia and Notre Dame. It’s a community."

Batavia has been merged with other schools in the county for four years. Those mergers would end if this proposal is approved.

One of the big concerns both for coaches and board members was what happens to the six hockey players who do not attend Batavia High and have been members of the Ice Devils. Those players go to school in Alexander, Elba, Le Roy, Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke.

Staley and Kirkwood both made assurances that all six players will be "grandfathered" into the Batavia-Notre Dame team and Staley said all six, given their experience and ability, will be integral parts of the merged team for the next season or two. 

"All six players are going to be impactful players at the varsity level," Staley said.

Both Staley and Kirkwood said that their teams have been playing at a disadvantage against larger Monroe County schools, including merged programs, because filling out a complete varsity roster means putting seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders on their teams.

That is also a safety issue, Staley said. 

"We just come to the conclusion that relying on seventh- and eighth-graders, and ninth-graders who are ill-prepared, and putting them on the ice, how do we answer this as a board, as adults, as administrators, if a seventh- or eighth-grader gets seriously injured in a hockey game because he’s hit by a kid who six-foot-four, 220?" Staley said. "We’ve got some real questions. Why are we putting these kids here and for what reason?"

Bromley said there are 24 hockey teams in Section V and 12 of them are merged programs. Few if any of those programs are putting players who should be playing JV in varsity uniforms.

The merger would create a JV program that would allow players to develop and become better varsity players.

It might even mean -- if enough kids sign up -- that the schools could have a modified program, creating the same sort of pipeline that Briggs has created with Blue Devils football leading to repeated sectional championships.

For the most part, parents and players have been receptive to the idea, both Staley and Kirkwood said.

There have been parents who have objected to the idea that their kid as a ninth-grader was on varsity and now will likely play JV as a sophomore but Staley said his counterargument is that at least they will get to play.

“To be an eighth-grader or ninth-grader and get to wear your jersey to school on game day and know darn well you’re probably not going to see a shift is a little different than going to school in your jersey knowing ‘I have a JV game. I’m playing tonight,' " Staley said.

Briggs said his JV-playing nephew can't wait for the merger. He's excited, Briggs said. His nephew knows if it happens he is going to get a chance to play every game and that he will play at a level throughout his prep-hockey career that he will compete every season for a championship.

There is an issue a team name. Ice Devils, or perhaps, Irish Devils, won't wash with a Catholic school. Blue Shamrocks or Ice Angels seem like nonstarters, too, but in response to a question from Trustee Shawna Murphy, there probably won't be time to poll the community. That's because the time frame is short for getting Section V approval and ordering new uniforms for both varsity and JV. The team name is a pending question.

Whatever the name, Staley is convinced the community will embrace the new team -- a club that is ready to compete at the varsity level with McQuaid or Victor or Pittsford. 

"We haven’t had that building filled with 500 people all cheering for the same team for 25 years," Staley told the board.

From Kate Edwards, Advancement coordinator, DECA co-adviser, Notre Dame High School:

Notre Dame High School is pleased to announce a generous donation of $2,500 from Gerry and Carm Reinhart. This donation is given in the name of Scott D. "Fletch" Hale and will benefit Notre Dame's hockey and football programs.

Hale was a 1991 graduate of Batavia High School who excelled at hockey and football. He went on to Brockport State College graduating with a degree in Criminal Justice. He will be remembered for his larger than life personality and his kind heart.

For Hale's full obituary, click here.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are out of the Section V Class A Hockey Tournament as a result of a 5-3 defeat Tuesday night against Pittsford at the Batavia Ice Arena, but for Coach Marc Staley, the team’s successful shortened season is just a harbinger of better things to come.

“That was as good as any team we’ve played all season. We battled right to the end, we didn’t quit and I’m proud of them,” said Staley, who is in his 14^th year as the ND hockey coach.

Unlike its previous two games where they trailed 2-0, the Irish – although outshot by a 13-8 margin – led after the first period when freshman Joe DiRisio cashed in the rebound after a shot from the point by his cousin, junior Vin DiRisio, at the 12:43 mark. Sophomore Cooper Hamilton also picked up an assist.

“I thought we played a very solid and smart first period,” Staley said. “We did exactly what we wanted to. We had the line changes that we wanted, we had the matchups that we wanted and had a lot of whistles because we wanted to slow the pace of the game down.”

Notre Dame took a 2-0 lead at 1:34 of the second period as sophomore Ronin Hofmaster poked the puck past senior goaltender Ryan Graney with an assist from senior Alonso Storey and junior Gavin Schrader.

Just when it seemed like the Irish were in control, Pittsford struck back just 18 seconds later when Aiden McGrain redirected a shot by Brandon Penrose past freshman goaltender Frank Falleti Jr. to cut the lead in half.

The goal energized the visiting Panthers, who displayed speed and precision en route to scoring twice more in the period – a wrister by Brian Judge, unassisted, at 6:53 and a goal by eighth-grader Mathew Judge at 11:49, assisted by Colin Norton and Henok Hankinson.

Pittsford outshot the Irish 19-5 in the second period.

Staley said Pittsford capitalized on long stretches without stoppage of play.

“The second period was more wide open, and we had stretches of two and a half, three minutes without a whistle and that hurts us with our depth,” he said.

With Graney coming up big on a couple Notre Dame rushes midway in the third period, Pittsford upped its lead to 4-2 at the 11:21 mark when Brian Judge scooped up an errant pass in the ND zone and flipped it past Falleti on his glove side.

The Irish bounced back, however, pulling within a goal with 1:58 to play when Storey tallied after a couple of nifty passes by Hofmaster and Cooper Hamilton.

Notre Dame, with Falleti on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, had a golden opportunity to knot the score but Graney made a spectacular save on Joe DiRisio’s shot at point-blank range with 25 seconds remaining.

Seconds later, Will Masaschi fired the puck the length of the ice into the empty net to make it 5-3.

“After the goal that made it 4-2, we came right back and scored,” Staley said. “We pulled the goalie and had two really good chances to tie that game. We could still be playing right now; still be in overtime.”

Falleti ended up with 36 saves (the last goal was into an empty net) as Pittsford outshot the home team, 41-23.

Still, Staley said he’s not discouraged but excited about what lies ahead.

“We have a lot to look forward to. We’re returning all 10 of our top scorers and our goalie situation is only going to get better. It’s going to be a fun ride,” he said.

He did bring up whether the Little Irish belong in Class A, competing against much larger schools. The Pittsford squad, for example, is comprised of the best players from Pittsford Mendon and Pittsford Sutherland – schools with combined enrollment of about 2,000 students, Staley said.

“The question can be thrown at this point; did we belong in A? Was this a fair thing to do to our program? I don’t think it was but, again, as a coach I can’t control that. All I can do is prepare my team and get them ready and I think we earned a lot of respect tonight from these teams,” he said.

Staley said the alignment in this unusual season, shortened by COVID-19, was a bit “crazy.”

“I’ve been screaming about this for a long time. We regularly – (changing his thought) -- and we’ve won championships at that level. I think we created a culture (he has coached ND to two sectional titles and three league championships) and that has attracted some kids to Notre Dame. We’ve shown that we’re not afraid to play anybody and we’re going to find a way.”

This season, the team was bolstered by the transfer of a trio of key players from the Batavia City School District to the parochial school.

Staley said that he thinks Pittsford will beat Gates-Chili on Thursday to reach the finals against Victor (his prediction).

He said Pittsford’s 5-7-1 record is deceiving because they compete in the top division of the Class A clubs and have to face strong teams such as Victor, Penfield and Churchville-Chili twice.

Even though Notre Dame was the No. 1 seed, Staley felt his team was the underdog against the more experienced Panthers.

“I’m happy with the progress that we made this year, and the progress with some of the young kids, specifically Frankie in net, Noah Hudson the way he has developed his game on defense, the way that Ronin Hofmaster has continued to develop his game, the way that Cooper Hamilton has improved throughout the season,” Staley said.

“Seeing how freshman like Noah Whitcombe had come in and improved, and Vincent DiRisio (17 goals, 13 assists), very proud of him, yes he’s a fiery kid – his penalties this year were more hockey specific, so he’s growing up. And Gavin Schrader, look how this kid has developed this year. He barely took any penalties and he led the league is scoring (17 goals, 17 assists).

Staley said he believes Notre Dame will be moved back to Class B next season and “I think we will be a really hard team for everyone to handle next year.”

While the Section V Tournament is over, Staley said he is working on lining up a couple more home games – tentatively at 6 p.m. Thursday against McQuaid and 7 p.m. Saturday against Brighton.

Photos by Jim Burns.

The Genesee Ice Devils completed their Section V hockey season over the weekend with a pair of tough losses -- 2-1 on Saturday against Geneseo and 3-2 on Sunday against Aquinas.

Jameson Motyka scored the team’s goal against Geneseo while Andrew Kasmarek and Brady Johnson scored against Aquinas. Goaltender Ian Kemp made 30 saves in the finale.

The team finished with one win in 10 outings, but Coach John Kirkwood said the record doesn't reflect the progress made this season.

"This has been the one of the hardest working and most disciplined hockey teams I have coached as a head coach," Kirkwood said. "We went from the most penalized team in our division last year to the least penalized team in all of Section V. That is a big deal!

"Our team was composed much of the season and that allowed us to stay in games to the very end. That was a priority this season and the athletes honored it. We had no major penalties and we had no misconducts either. We are a very young team and graduated five seniors of who will be missed.

"The majority of our goal scoring came from our eighth-graders. These kids are skilled and as they grow and gain experience, they will be very, very good hockey players. Our senior goalie Ian Kemp will have a very good shot of being First Team All-county this year. He and Vaughn Letta are very good. Ian kept us in games. He was outstanding.

"We all were very thankful to have had a season. We had a minor COVID setback, but we took our quarantine seriously after returning we pushed Spencerport and Irondequoit right to the brink. From that point on we played really well and we’re in every game.

"I am very excited about GID’s future. We have a really talented group of kids. They love the games and they all got a lot of experience this season. I would like to give a shout out to seniors and our captains -- these guys did a fantastic job stabilizing this program and helping us move in the right direction. Our guys have character and perserverance, that’s what matters most to me!"

To view Saturday’s game photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish staged a furious comeback on Saturday night, rallying from a two-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime, before dropping a 4-3 decision to Irondequoit in Section 5 hockey action at Lakeshore Hockey Arena and Sports Center in Rochester.

Junior Vin DiRisio’s goal with 35 seconds left in regulation – after Coach Marc Staley had pulled freshman goaltender Frank Falleti Jr. for an extra attacker – tied the game for the Irish, who fought back after trailing 2-0 after the first period (for the second straight game) and 3-1 early in the third period.

With the loss, the Irish end the regular season at 7-3-1 and finish second to Irondequoit, 9-2-1, in their division.

Notre Dame, however, held on to the No. 1 seed for the Section V Class A Tournament due to its strength of schedule and posting six victories over teams with winning records.

“You get more power-ranking points by beating teams with winning records,” Staley said, who added that ND earned points for taking the game to overtime.

The Irish will face either Pittsford or Webster Schroeder on Tuesday night at the Batavia Ice Rink in the first round of the eight-team tournament.

Hilton and Victor, both at 10-2, are seeded second and third, respectively, while Gates/Wayne/EI/Wheatland, 9-3, is the fourth seed.

In last night’s game, Irondequoit took control early as sophomore defenseman Leo Letta redirected a shot by senior forward Bryce Billitier past Falleti at the 2:44 mark.

With senior goaltender Vaughn Letta thwarting several excellent chances by junior Gavin Schrader, Vin DiRisio and freshman Joe DiRisio, Irondequoit was able to take a 2-0 lead at 12:40 when Eli Velepec beat Falleti after passes by Billitier and Bruin Giudice set it up.

The Irish began to assert themselves in the second period as Schrader’s relentless work in the corners and rushes up the ice put Irondequoit on its heels. Falleti made a couple of sparkling saves as well to prevent the Eagles increasing their lead.

Goaltender Letta continued to come up big for Irondequoit until a Vin DiRisio slapshot beat him at the 10:23 mark with ND in a two-man advantage situation. Cooper Hamilton and Joe DiRisio assisted.

ND outshot Irondequoit 14-5 in a period marked by some hard checking and, at times, “chippy” play.

In the third period, only 32 seconds had elapsed when Irondequoit's Jordan Flynn, who was closing in to Falleti’s right, fired a cross-ice pass to Billitier, who tucked it into the open side of net to make it 3-1.

The Irish wasted little time pulling within a goal again as Joe DiRisio got one past Vaughn Letta with help from Schrader and Wyatt Krolczyk at 1:55.

ND continued to put pressure on Irondequoit but goalie Letta stood tall. When he stymied Schrader in front of the net with 47 seconds left, it looked bleak for the visitors.

After an Irondequoit timeout, Falleti headed to the bench as ND had a faceoff in Irondequoit’s zone. The move paid off when Vin DiRisio slapped the loose puck past Letta. Schrader and Joe DiRisio assisted.

In the five-minute overtime, Joe DiRisio had a golden opportunity in front of the net but, again, Letta was equal to the task. Moments later, Leo Letta skated free and drilled it past Falleti to the glove side.

With the win, Irondequoit earned the No. 1 seed in the highly competitive Section V Class B Tournament, which features four other teams with just two or three losses – Canandaigua Academy, Penfield, Brockport and Webster Thomas.

The Irish fired 39 shots to Irondequoit’s 28 after being outshot 12-9 in the first period.

“We did not play a solid first period for the second game in a row, but it’s also the second game in a row that we battled back,” Staley said. “Going down 3-1 in the first shift of the third period, a lot of teams would have folded. But this team didn’t. They showed something to each other tonight that they’re in this thing to battle right to the end.”

For the season, Schrader has 17 goals and 17 assists, Vin DiRisio has 17 goals and 13 assists and Joe DiRisio has 12 goals and seven assists. Hamilton and Krolczyk have 14 and 13 assists, respectively. Falleti has a 3.41 goals against average.

Following a frustrating 3-2 loss to Brockport this afternoon at the Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex in Rochester, Notre Dame Coach Marc Staley reflected upon what otherwise has been a successful ice hockey season thus far for the Fighting Irish, who will play a final regular season game on Saturday before hosting a Section 5 Class A Tournament next Tuesday.

“If you would have said to me five weeks ago that we were going to have a season, I would have been thrilled,” Staley said. “If you said to me five weeks ago that we were going to be 7-2-1 and be the No. 1 seed in Class A, I would have said you’re crazy.”

Both the No. 1 overall seed in Class A and the Section V Division 3 championship are in reach for Notre Dame.

A victory over division rival Irondequoit, 8-2-1, on Saturday (7 p.m. at Lakeshore Hockey Arena and Sports Center in Rochester) will give the Fighting Irish the league title while a win or a tie will enable them to retain their current place as the top seed in Class A.

“We’re playing in the highest class in New York State hockey against teams (from large schools) like Webster Schroeder and Hilton,” Staley said. “I think they (Section V officials) looked at our scores early in the season when we won big (and placed us there). But I don’t care where they put us. There’s not a lot of difference between Class A and Class B.”

Today’s game showed that as Brockport, a Class B entry, burst out of the gate, peppering ND’s freshman goaltender Frank Falleti with 13 shots in the first 10 minutes and cashing in on two of them – a goal by Jeremiah Rausch at 6:54 and a power play goal by Henry Schultz at 9:58 (assisted by Rausch).

Notre Dame had a couple of great chances late in the period but the team’s leading scorers, Gavin Schrader and Vin DiRisio, were stymied by Brockport goalie Joseph Volpe. Brockport outshot Batavia 18-8 in the period.

It didn’t take long for the Irish to cut the lead in half as Schrader flipped a backhand shot past Volpe just 33 seconds into the second period for his 17^th goal of the season. Vin DiRisio assisted on the goal. ND tied the score about six minutes later when freshman Joe DiRisio made a nifty move to get past the defenseman and found the back of the net.

Brockport, now 7-3-1, responded, however, tallying what proved to be the game’s final goal with 48 seconds left in the period as Tyler Henshaw put away the loose puck in a 4-on-3 power play after Falleti had turned away shots by Rausch and Jonathan LoMonaco.

In the third period, ND drew a couple of early penalties, including a four-minute major, but was unable to capitalize. For the game, they were 1 for 9 on the power play.

Notre Dame kept the pressure on in the final seven minutes, turning a 32-27 deficit in shots on goal to a 37-32 advantage, but Volpe was equal to the task. In the end, Volpe stopped 37 shots while Falleti had 31 saves.

“It was two different games, right,” Staley said. “We were very flat to start the game and, to their credit, they’re up after the first and we had to reassess the situation. What kids are struggling with is that we can’t sneak up on anybody anymore. When you start the season 6-0, 7-1, everyone is looking for you; they’re going to give you their best games and kids are getting up to play us.”

Staley gave the team credit for clawing back from the 2-0 deficit.

“We bounced back and found some energy down the stretch, but we didn’t execute on the power play as well as we needed to,” he said. “We had chances, but their goalie played great and their defense did a nice job of clearing pucks and winning face-offs.

“We got beat on face-offs most of the night and that is a huge stat. Every face-off is eight seconds of possession in hockey. You win 20 draws a game, you’re talking about an extra three minutes of puck possession.”

He singled out the two freshman, goalie Falleti – “in a year or two he’s going to be something,” he said -- and Joe DiRisio, who has 11 goals this season.

“We have so many good players – and they're young,” Staley said. “We only lose five players (after this season).”

Via Batavia Athletics

LIVE: Ice Devils vs. Spencerport. Livestream via Batavia High School Athletics.