Class B/C Field Hockey Finals: (1) Mendon 2, (2) Sutherland 1 Final/2OT
The Vikings and Knights met for the third straight year in the sectional championship game and the game was as close as you would imagine. Previously, Mendon won 2-0 in 2021. Sutherland took the crown 2-1 in 2022.
The two rivals needed more than 60 minutes to decide a winner on Monday night as Ava Rice netted the winner in the waning moments of double overtime to give the Vikings the win.
Mendon struck first midway through the first quarter as Saara Fazili knocked in a loose ball for an early 1-0 lead.
Neither team found much offensive success the rest of the way until Sutherland broke through in the fourth quarter to tie up the game. With under five minutes to play, Melody Querri got her shot through traffic and into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the two teams played another ten minutes and it looked like we were headed for a penalty shootout. However, with 45 seconds remaining Mendon started an attack. Eleanor Martins sprinted past the defense but was confronted by Sutherland goalie Hazel Glazer. The rebound bounced right to Rice who was following the play and she fired it in for the game-winning goal.
Glazer and Mendon goalie Morgan Parrinello both had impressive games in net, with Glazer making a point-blank save earlier in the second overtime to keep the game alive.
The title is Mendon’s first since 2021, redeeming last year’s title game loss.
The Vikings will play the Section VI champions from Buffalo on Saturday, November 4th at Webster Thomas High School at 3:00 p.m. in the Far West Regionals.
Class A Field Hockey Finals: (1) Thomas 4, (2) Penfield 2
Olivia Bottoni netted a hat-trick for the Titans as Thomas won its first sectional title since 2020.
Bottoni wasted no time scoring her first, firing a shot in front with less than five minutes to play in the first quarter. With no time remaining in the frame, Kristina Fisher added another on a corner to put Thomas in front 2-0.
The score remained there until midway through the third quarter when Bottoni netted her second to make it a 3-0 game. However, the Patriots would not go away.
Mikayla Mrzywka scored a pair of goals, one late in the third quarter and the other early in the fourth, to make it just a 3-2 game.
However, Bottoni would not let her team be denied as she scored her third just a few minutes later to give her team a two-goal lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.
The win for Thomas comes after the Titans lost 5-2 to Brighton in the championship game last season.
The Titans will play the Section VI champs from Buffalo on Saturday, November 4th at noon on their home turf in the Far West Regionals.
