By: Dylan O'Loughlin
SPENCERPORT NY --- The 3-1 Spencerport Rangers hosted undefeated Honeyoe Falls-Lima in a game of runs and resiliency. The Rangers came out on top in a thriller 10-9.
"These kids have been through a lot," Spencerport Rangers head coach Bill Buttaro said. "There's a ton of different factors that have went into their careers, and they just continue to fight and that's why I love being here."
It was an uphill battle for the Rangers from the beginning whistle. After a couple of stops on each side, HF-L got on the board first thanks to freshman Grady Goodberlet with eight minutes left in the first quarter. He shot a turnaround goal over the goalie's head. Shortly after, HF-L senior Drew Angelo scored on a fast break chance to put the Cougars up 2-0.
The Cougars' offense remained silent for the rest of the quarter as Spencerport got on offense more. The Rangers would continue to maintain possession due to HF-L fouls and they took advantage. Spencerport scored their first goal of the game on a fast break by freshman attacker Jordan Reid after an HF-L player got a stick knocked out of their hands with 16 seconds left to play.
In the second, both offenses exploded. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the quarter, Cougars senior Chase Perryman scored his first goal of the game. He sniped the ball into the top right corner. Spencerport didn't go away. With 8:45 remaining in the second, the Rangers cut the lead back to one after a turnaround shot into the top right corner by former goalie, turned midfielder, junior Jamison Brown. Spencerport wasn't done as they scored again with just over five minutes left in the quarter. This time it was junior attacker Jayden Mandarano.
HF-L went on a run of their own though to break the 3-3 tie and it was all Goodberlet. First he converted a shot down the middle with 4:28 remaining then under a minute later scored off of a feed from junior Matthew Brassie.
Spencerport found themselves down two again but they went on a run before halftime. With 1:28 remaining, Rangers junior midfielder Zachary Ajavananda got into the middle of the defense and scored a point-blank shot. A minute later Spencerport tied the game going into the half after Mandarano scored a low bouncer into the right corner.
"Some of our higher-scoring guys didn't have as many points as they usually do tonight," Buttaro said. "But they found ways to affect the game and allow some of our younger and inexperienced people to step up and make plays."
The Cougars came out swinging to start the third. Within 30 seconds of the start of the quarter, Perryman put his fingerprints on the game again with another top-right corner snipe past the goalie. After an early third-quarter timeout, the Cougars scored immediately with 8:27 remaining with another goal from Angelo. It was a nifty goal, as he bounced the ball right over the goalie's head into the net. 20 seconds later, Spencerport made sure HF-L could not pull away as sophomore midfielder Zachary Tortora scored on an open net for the Rangers to cut the lead to one.
It remained quiet for the rest of the third as the Cougars maintained possession until the final minute of the quarter. Spencerport created a turnover and capitalized on the opportunity. With 28 seconds remaining, Brown got hold of the ball again and sent a shot to the bottom right corner from the left side of the field off a cross-field pass from Tortora. HF-L did not let them celebrate though as Angelo scored a goal immediately off of the face-off with 21 seconds remaining. At the end of three, Spencerport found themselves down 8-7.
"I think we've got to communicate a little bit more and just work as a unit more," senior defenseman Sean Baird said. "I think we played a little bit of individual ball, and we need to work as a unit, especially against great teams like that."
In the fourth quarter, Spencerport's defense played the best it did all day. For the first few minutes, HF-L maintained possession, but the Rangers started to generate turnovers and they capitalized. After six minutes of no scoring, Spencerport tied the game thanks to a low bouncer in the bottom right corner from the hands of Mandarano and another assist from Tortora. From there on, it was all Tortora.
With under five minutes remaining in the game, Tortora scored the go-ahead goal. He ran from behind the net to right in front of the goal where he sent a missile that the goalie had no chance of grabbing. It was Spencerport's first lead of the game.
"I couldn't have done it without my teammates," Tortora said. "They opened things up for me to create and we're only getting better. It's a team game, I'm not worrying about my individual play, it's just about how the team does."
After the go-ahead goal, the Cougars took out their goalie and tried to get as many players as possible on the field to score. The Rangers had possession though and took a two-goal lead with 1:10 remaining after Tortora capitalized on the open net and scored, giving him a hat trick on the night. HF-L scored with 47 seconds remaining, but the Rangers defense locked down for the last minute including two crucial saves by senior goalie Taylor Kaye. The Rangers gave the Cougars their first loss of the season.
"It feels great," Tortora said. "Every win feels great no matter what team it is. It's a W no matter what."
On the Rangers side, Tortora led the way with five points (3+2), Mandarano had a hat trick (3+0), Brown had two points (2+0) and Ajavananda and Reid both finished with one (1+0). For the Cougars, Goodberlet and Angelo both finished with hat tricks (3+0), Perryman finished with two points (2+0), and Brassie finished with one (0+1).
The Spencerport Rangers now improve to 4-1-0 on the season while HF-L falls to 5-1-0. Spencerport looks to carry this momentum into Saturday as they host Brighton in a Class B matchup. First face-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Cosgrove Middle School.