ONONDAGA COUNTY – Going into the Section III Class B playoffs, the consensus was that any of the top seeds had a reasonable chance of earning a championship.
And that only seemed to grow when, in Wednesday’s sectional quarterfinal at Alibrandi Stadium, East Syracuse Minoa rose up and knocked off no. 4 seed Christian Brothers Academy 8-7.
A berth in the semifinals against top seed West Genesee was at stake, and the Spartans, despite its 9-7 record, was not in any way scared of a CBA side entering the playoffs with a five-game win streak.
Even a first-quarter shutout by the Brothers didn’t worry ESM too much, for it only fell behind 2-0 and, by halftime, had already established the game’s tempo and only trailed 3-2.
They traded goals throughout the second half, CBA not quite able to restore the faster pace it wanted, and by the time the game reached the final minutes, it was very much in doubt.
Breaking a 7-7 tie, Mike Santillo’s goal late in regulation put ESM in front, and with goalie Luke James working his total to 10 saves and Evan deBerjeois getting a crucial face-off, the Spartans were able to run out the remaining clock.
Santillo finished with three goals and one assist, with deBerjeois and Caden Claflin each netting two goals and Dan Abreu also finding the net.
ESM’s defense held CBA’s star tandem of Andrew Kohlbrenner and Joe Papa to just one goal and one assist apiece. Jack Ludington and Mac Johnson scored twice for the Brothers, the other goal going to Ben Anderson.
As ESM advanced, so did Fayetteville-Manlius, the no. 2 seed, only the Hornets had far less stress romping past no. 7 seed Central Square 15-2 and advancing to face no. 3 seed Watertown in the semifinals.
An 8-0 tear through the first quarter quickly decided matters, F-M getting five goals and three assists from Robbie Madden as John Angelicola got a three-goal hat trick.
Michael Hance scored twice and got three assists, with Kyle Freyer adding a pair of goals. Charles Addonizio, Tyler Burns and Mac Moses had one goal apiece.
Planted as the top seed in Class C, Jamesville-DeWitt netted 13 unanswered goals in the first quarter of its quarterfinal against Whitesboro, ultimately prevailing 20-1.
Graham Kesserling, with four goals and three assists, led the push, Sam Brazell scoring three times and adding a pair of assists. Lucas Patchen, Tom Tracy, Mario Streiff and Ryan Babikan had two goals apiece, the Red Rams advancing to last Friday’s semifinal against Homer.
