By Janet Schultz, NYHOL (SCS Class of 1969)

Three years ago Starpoint became part of the Section VI Ice Hockey Federation and this year they are the 2019-2020 Section VI Small School Champions.

The Spartans finished second to Williamsville South in regular season standings with a 13-1-1-1 overall record to the Billies 15-1-0-0 record. After a round of playoffs this week they met up with the Billies in the finals for the Small School Championship.

Sunday afternoon at KeyBank Center there was no score after the first period.

Williamsville opened the scoring in the second when Mitchell Kielbala scored with assists by Marcus Bratton and Liam Wicks. Starpoint’s Justin Bull dropped in the tying goal at 9:47, assists to Max Ciepiela ad Carmelo Martorana. Second period ends 1-1.

It was all Starpoint in the third with goals by Blake Dewey and Joe LoBrutto with assists by Spencer Slote and Ryan Kelly.

Williamsville Goalie Jayce Faso had 19 saves and Starpoint’s AJ White had 21 in the game.

AJ White received the MVP Game award.

Starpoint now heads to the State Regional finals at Buffalo State College on Saturday at 5:50 p.m.

Season notes: SCS LoBrutto and Ryan Kelly are #4 and #5 in League Scoring on the season with 32 and 29 points, respectively. Goalie White is #3 with a .921 save percentage.

Williamsville South’s Liam Wicks and Ben Carey are also in the top with 26 points each. Goalie Faso is #5 with a .876 save percentage.

By Warren Kozireski —

Cal Lambert scored five minutes into the first overtime period as Victor came two goals down twice and defeated Fairport 5-4 in the Class A Section V hockey final.
Fairport opened a 2-0 lead in the first period on even strength goals by Caleb Kaiser and Mitchell Zanon five minutes apart.
Victor got on the board with a power play marker by Alex Parton on a backhand off a rebound with assists to Sam Bresson and Jack McCandless at 4:54.
But Fairport regained their two-goal advantage at 10:08 of the second as Travis Knicley roofed his shot from the faceoff circle after a pass by Kaiser.
The Blue Devils pulled to within one again before the period was over as Nick Peluso found a loose puck in the slot from a Bresson shot and scored at 11:53.
In a wild third period, Victor tied the game 3-3 on a power play goal by McCandless after a perfect cross-crease pass from Parton at 5:59.
Fairport regained their one-goal lead with a power play goal of their own at 7:44 on defenseman Nick Krug’s wrister shot from the point that had eyes.
But the Blue Devils continued to pressure and Steven Armstrong retied the game 4-4 as he pounced on a rebound in the slot. Victor survived a Fairport power play over the final 90 seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Victor had an overtime power play and had one chance dribble just wide of the net before Fairport failed to convert a two-on-one shorthanded break before Cal Lambert found a loose puck at the side of the Fairport net after a goal-mouth scramble and knocked it in for the game-winner with assist from Armstrong and Colin McNamara.
“I saw it on the goal-line and I was able to put it in,” Lambert said. “Probably one of the craziest games that I’ve been a part of; just having faith in my teammates going into the locker room down 2-0, but knowing that we were going to win the game and not having any doubt in our mind.
“When you trust your teammates, you know the puck is going to end up in the back of the net.”
“It’s all a blur after that puck went in the net,” Armstrong said.
Victor advances to the State Regional round where they will play the Section III winner of Syracuse City versus West Genesee on Sat. March 7 at 5pm at RIT.

BY WARREN KOZIRESKI —

Webster-Thomas spotted Canandaigua a 2-0 first period lead before scoring once in the second and three more times in the third period to win their second consecutive and seventh overall Section V Class B hockey championship 4-2.
Canandaigua senior Carter McWilliams scored on a wrister from just inside the blueline that he put just under the crossbar 3:46 into the contest and Lucas Schwartz followed 78 seconds later with a goal on an assist from Dominick Spychalski to stake the Braves to a 2-0 lead on just three first period shots.
“It was a rough moment, but we knew it was coming and we were just ready to go back in the second and third stronger than ever,” sophomore Liam Forsyth said.
Thomas closed to within one with a power play goal by Forsyth, who put his wrist shot from the right faceoff circle over the left shoulder of the goaltender at 8:03 of the second period.
“Everyone was screaming to shoot and I saw that corner and it went in lucky enough,” Forsythe said. “We just needed to get one through him and then we were just going to pepper him left and right.”
The Titans converted another power play to tie the game at 5:30 of the third period as Cullen Hennessy chipped the puck over the keeper from the side of the net with an assist from Zack Wolfe.
Thomas then scored twice 46 seconds apart to take the lead for good.
Brandon Gierczak scored what would prove to be the game-winner on a slapshot from the faceoff circle at 7:28 before Jack Stappenbeck knocked in the rebound from his own shot at 8:14 with an assist from Forsyth.
“It’s incredible; there is no other feeling like it,” Most Valuable Player Gierczak said. “It was a little frustrating and it was kind of quiet for a little bit (in the first period locker room), but we just started talking and said we just had to keep it going and we knew that eventually we would pop a couple in and it happened.”
“Winning at any level…is fun and team spots are great because it’s bringing a bunch of people together for a common goal,” Webster-Thomas head coach David Evans said. “This is one of our accomplishments and we want to continue to move forward as we progress to Regionals. It’s hard to win one, but when you try to win it back-to-back everyone is gunning for you. We got some bounces and some timely plays, so we’re thankful that we’re moving on.”
Thomas will play the winner of the Section X final between Ogdensburg and Norwood/Norfolk in the state regional round Sat. March 7 at 3pm at RIT.

BUFFALO. N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres announced the schedule for the 2020 Super Sunday High School Federation Hockey Championship. The event will consist of three games that will be played tomorrow on Sunday, March 1 at KeyBank Center. The schedule is as follows:

Game 1 – Small School Championship

Matchup: Williamsville South vs. Starpoint

Puck drop: 12:15 p.m.

Game 2 – Large School Championship

Matchup: Orchard Park vs. Williamsville North

Puck drop: 2:30 p.m.

Game 3 – Catholic Championship

Matchup: St. Joe’s vs. St. Mary’s

Puck drop: 4:45 p.m.