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Daily Messenger - February 26, 2009
FANTASTIC FINISH
ROCHESTER — High school hockey games don’t get much better than Wednesday night’s Section 5 Class B semifinal between the No. 2-seeded Webster Thomas Titans and No. 3 Victor at the ESL Sports Centre.
Especially the bang-bang finish.
Tyler Smedley gave the Titans a 4-3 overtime win after Victor had tied the score at 3-3 on a Chris Roeder goal with five seconds left in regulation. Roeder’s goal came 45 seconds after Thomas had taken a 3-2 lead on a goal by Matt Casilio.
It was that kind of a game.
“These guys don’t quit,” said Victor coach Mike Ferreri. “Down a goal with 50 seconds left, to come back, that just shows pretty good character.”
Smedley got to smile after his game-winner.
“One hundred percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in,” he said with a laugh outside the locker room.
He had snared a loose puck just outside the Blue Devils’ blue line and moved in left of goal. With two Victor defensemen in frontof him, Smedley, a sophomore, looked like he was going to skate around the back of the net. He did, but just as he passed the BlueDevil goal he flipped the puck back up at Victor goalie Zeb Clarke. The puck hit Clarke’s mask from the side and caromed down into the net.
It was a heartbreaker for Victor, to be sure.
“There is nothing fancy about getting the puck to the net and that one went off the goalie’s head,” said Thomas coach Dave Evans. “It’s not fancy, but we will take it. It looks good in the score book.”
Clarke probably will mull about that goal for quite a while, but it was his stellar play early that kept Victor in the game as most of the first-period play was in front of him. He made three brilliant stops on two clear breakaways and one pointblank shot to his right with 2:30 left in the period.
Meanwhile, his teammate Roeder scored the first of his two goals. Showing the kind of game Clarke was having, the Blue Devils went into the locker room at the end of the period up 1-0 despite being outshot 11-3.
Untimely penalties would cost the Blue Devils twice.
With two seconds left on their second penalty of the game, the Titans’ Mason Hill ripped a shot from 15 feet out to the left of Clarke. He made an initial save but was unable to coral the puck before Mark Goodman came streaking in and snuck it past him.
With just over two minutes left in the period Victor’s Vince Pettrone took a ripper that was knocked down in front of the net. Teammate Matt Portland then pounced on the loose puck and slid it by Titans goaltender Joe Dirose. Victor carried that 2- 1 advantage into the third period.
A Thomas power-play goal smacked the Blue Devils against. With eight seconds left after an interference call, Misha Dombovy-Johnson unleashed a powerful shot from 15 feet out on the right side that found the top shelf with 6:34 left and made it 2-2.
Casilio’s go-ahead goal with 50 seconds left was the result of the hard work of teammate Zack Lamb digging for the puck with two Victor defenders behind the net and then finding Casilio in front.
Roeder’s tying goal with five seconds left came from the hard work of John Crean and Pettrone, who both earned assists on the play.
That, of course, all led up to Smedley’s second goal and the hero’s role.
“I was kind of looking short side,” Smedley said. “He was cheating over for the pass so I was just looking short side and I got a lucky one. But it counts for everything. Once I ripped it top side it looked like it went right off the back side of his head. Works for me. They might have gotten a good one on us late in the third but we battled back from that and played like a team the whole way through.”
Evans explained the late game dynamics.
“We were a little tired at the end, but Victor was, too,” he said. “But we stayed tight despite being tired. Our guys are mentally tough and they showed that tonight. We have been in situations like that throughout the year. So we were able to stay composed and play our style of hockey and get that bounce at the end.”
Evans also got good play out of his goaltender.
“Joe played well for us. Made some nice saves,” he said. “Victor did a good job of getting traffic in front of him, but he was still able to see the puck and make good saves. That is all we ask of him.”
A down-trodden Ferreri stood outside of his locker room and tried to make sense of the game’s waning minutes.
“We did a good job,” he said. “I think our kids put a lot of pressure on them. To tie the game with five seconds was just tremendous, tremendous. It’s just a tough loss.
“It was an awesome season though. Fifteen wins is an excellent season. Those kids, our four seniors (Bryan Kavanaugh, Pettrone, Roeder and Portland) are the reason why we got to where we are. Great kids those seniors. We are going to miss them. We have a lot of kids coming back but I’m not sure you can replace them. They were great kids that led by example.”
Thomas will play No. 8-seeded Brockport in Sunday afternoon’s championship game
Here is a link to some photos taken by the Daily Messenger
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Victor skates past Schroeder
Daily Messenger - February 22, 2009
The Victor hockey team got off to a blazing start in the postseason, skating past Webster Schroeder 3-1 in quarterfinal action at Thomas Creek on Saturday.
Bryan Kavanaugh scored two goals while Chris Roeder contributed a goal and an assist. Although their attack out-shot the Warriors 10-2 in the final period, the Blue Devils’ defensive effort was the key against a team that reached the Class B finals last season.
“We actually killed seven penalties,” head coach Mike Ferreri said. “Special teams were awesome for us tonight.”
Victor took advantage of two Schroeder penalties as Roeder’s goal, scored at the 13:46 mark of the first period, came on a power play along with Kavanaugh’s insurance
goal at 13:04 in the final stanza. Vince Pettrone set the table for the Devils, assisting on all three goals and goaltender Zeb Clarke stopped 17 shots in the win.
The Warriors’ lone goal came in the second when Kevin Rhodes found brother Jack midway through the period.
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Daily Messenger - February 15, 2009
Victor 4
ND-Batavia 1
The Blue Devils ended their regular season with a three-goal win.
Dan Landry, Vince Pettrone, Matt Portland and Bryan Kavanaugh all scored and Kavanaugh added an assist.
Zeb Clarke stopped 17 shots and Victor forced Thomas Dehr to make 26 saves.
The Devils finish the regular season 14-7-3 and will receive a first-round bye in sectionals. They will play an opponent to be determined in their first game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Thomas Creek.
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Victor ties division-leading G/W
Daily Messenger - February 11, 2009
The crowning of the Monroe County Hockey League’s North/South Division champ will have to wait just a bit longer.
Geneva/Waterloo, which has resided in first place for the entire season, could have won the title outright Tuesday night with a win over second-place Victor at Thomas Creek Ice Arena.
Instead, the Blue Devils forged a 2-2 overtime tie that limited G/W to clinching a share of the title and kept their own hopes for a piece of it alive.
Both teams scored a goal each in the first two periods, and then the two defenses buckled down and kept the score 2-2 through the third period and OT.
For Victor (8-2-1 in the league, 13-7-3 overall), Steve Grabowski scored an unassisted goal, and Vince Pettrone netted a penalty shot after being tripped on a breakaway. Zeb Clarke made 28 saves.
Zach Koczent made 25 saves between the pipes for Geneva/Waterloo (9-1-1, 16-5-1). Marian Aschenbrier, off a Ross Dinan assist, and Jeff Wadhams, off an Aschenbrier assist, scored for the goals.
Geneva/Waterloo plays Brigh-ton/ER/Honeoye Falls-Lima Saturday and can clinch the outright title with a win. With a loss and a Victor win over Notre Dame, also on Saturday, the two teams will be co-champions. G/W’s game will be played at 2 p.m. at the ESL #1 rink with Victor’s game at Thomas Creek at 5 p.m.
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Daily Messenger – February 8, 2009
Victor 4
Brighton/ER/HF-L 2
At Thomas Creek in Victor the Blue Devils (13-7-2 overall) scored two goals in both the first and second periods to upend the visiting Barons. Brighton struck first on a goal from Jack Beers but Bryan Kavanaugh answered receiving an assist from James Draveck and knotting the game at one.
Then it became the Vince Pettrone show as he scored a go-ahead goal at the 12:45 mark on assists from Sean Cone and Chris Roeder. After Brighton equalized early in the third, Pettrone netted a John Crean pass, which acted as the eventual game-winner.
He also added an insurance assist when Kavanaugh found the net with a minute and a half left. Victor keeper Zeb Clarke finished with 25 saves on 27 shots on goal.
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Victor skaters win Blue Devil battle
Daily Messenger - February 4, 2009
At the Royal Rink, in a battle of Blue Devils, host Batavia and Victor each scored a goal in the first period of a Monroe County North-South Division game Tuesday night.
Victor then stepped up big-time in the last two periods, outscoring Batavia by three goals to claim a 5-2 win.
Chris Roeder scored two goals, and Anthony Mandrino, Vince Pettrone and Bryan Kavanaugh scored once each to lead Victor (7-2 league, 12-7-2 overall). Matt Portland and Dan Landry each had two assists, while Zeb Clarke made 15 saves for the winning Blue Devils.
Cory Kocent scored both Batavia (7-3, 12-7-1) goals, with teammate Adam Kurek making 17 saves between the pipes for the losing Blue Devils.
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Democrat and Chronicle - February 2, 2009
Victor 4
Northeastern Clinton-VII 2
Bryan Kavanaugh scored a goal with two assists to pace Victor (11-7-2).
Vince Pettrone scored twice with an assist for the Blue Devils. Chris Roeder also scored for Victor.
Chris Butusov and Zeb Clarke combined for 16 saves for the win.
Pettrone and John Crean were named to the all-tournament team and Kavanaugh was named MVP.
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Saranac Peru Tournament
Daily Messenger - February 1, 2009
The Victor Blue Devils claimed first place at the Saranac Peru Tournament this past weekend with a pair of wins over host Saranac and North Eastern.
In their first game, Victor (11-7-2) earned a 3-2 victory at the Lake City Stars Arena with goals from Bryan Kavanaugh and Dan Landry, and Vince Pettrone scored the game winner in the third period.
In their second game, the Blue Devils won 4-2, over North Eastern. Pettrone netted twice with one assist and Kavanaugh and Chris Roeder each had one.
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Daily Messenger - January 25, 2009
Fairport 6
Victor 2
Fairport jumped out to a fast 5-0 lead and defeated Victor at Thomas Creek on Saturday. Jon Kaminska had two goals and two assists for the winners.
Victor's goals were scored by Bryan Kavanaugh and Chris Roeder in the second and third periods, respectively. Kavanaugh also assisted on Roeder's goal.
Blue Devil goaltenders Chris Butusov and Zeb Clarke combined for 25 saves.
Victor is now 9-7-2 whle Fairport improves to 12-1-3.
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Victor icers snap out of funk with 3-0 win
Daily Messenger - January 21, 2009
The Victor hockey team played like ti was on a mission Tuesday night at Thomas Creek Arena.
With a solid season seemingly ground to a halt after three straight losses, the Blue Devils were facing Monroe County North-South League foe Geneseo-Livonia and came out on fire, scoring two quick goals and riding them to a 3-0 win.
Chris Roeder scored off an assist from John Crean, and Bryan Kavanaugh struck off feeds from Dan Landry and Trevor O'Shea to give Victor (6-2 league, 9-6-2 overall) the first-period lead.
Roeder's goal was actually all the Blue Devils would need as freshman goaltender Zeb Clarke recorded his first career shutout with 12 saves.
Landry added the third goal for Victor in the third period off a pass from Kavanaugh.
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Still enjoying his time on the ice for the Blue Devils
Daily Messenger - January 16, 2009
Victor, N.Y. — Consider Vince Pettrone III a firm believer in the “father knows best” philosophy.
The Victor junior began playing hockey when he was 7 at the urging of his dad, Vince. Ten years later, the younger Pettrone can still be found on the ice, enjoying the game just as much as he did when he was in elementary school.
Pettrone leads the Blue Devils in scoring with 11 goals and 18 points and has helped Victor to an 8-5-2 and second place in the Monroe County North/South division. Pettrone has emerged as one of the top scorers in Section 5 in his third varsity season.
“We come out to practice and we just have fun,” he said. “There’s no better feeling than coming out and scoring a goal or earning a win.”
Pettrone’s family isn’t the only one paying attention to him when he’s on the ice. He often draws multiple defenders who sometimes attempt to get him off his game by delivering a hit or two. Pettrone has shown he isn’t afraid to mix it up as he has drawn 21 penalty minutes.
And he doesn’t have to look very far for scoring help. In fact he can look right along his own line. Linemates Bryan Kavanaugh and Christopher Roeder have combined to score 17 goals.
“I think you can definitely see there is chemistry out there,” Kavanaugh said about the line. “We have been working together, and everything is coming together.”
Pettrone’s breakout game this season came against Ontario Bay on Dec. 12 when he erupted for four goals. It was the first time in high school he registered a hat trick.
His greatest impact can be seen on special teams where Pettrone has netted three power-play goals and two shorthanded scores.
“I feel like I have been having some success this year, and a lot of that has to do with the line that I have been on,” Pettrone said. “Our line has just learned how to work together.”
Pettrone’s knack for scoring shouldn’t be a surprise for opponents. He led the Blue Devils as a sophomore tallying eight goals and was a catalyst in the team’s run to the Class B finals.
Pettrone didn’t put up those kinds of numbers as a freshman, but what he learned as a rookie has served him well the last two seasons.
“Every year he gets better,” said Victor coach Mike Ferreri. “He pushes himself, which is good, and he works hard in the offseason. In the ninth-grade we knew he was going to be good and he has come through.”
From the moment he hit the ice, Pettrone has had a tremendous commitment to the game.
His career started with the Perinton Blades at the Mite level, and he still plays with some of his teammates from the Blades at the varsity level.
He currently competes on the Canandaigua Travel Midget team in the offseason. Pettrone faced off with several of his travel teammates during the Blue Devils’ game against Canandaigua Acacemy on Dec. 23.
“It was fun, but they beat us up pretty good,” Pettrone said. “It’s been fun playing (on the travel team). We have created a lot of memories.”
Pettrone’s expertise doesn’t end on the ice, as he is one of the biggest offensive threats on the Blue Devils’ lacrosse team. He was third on the team in scoring last year with 18 goals and 14 assists.
Pettrone is striving to end his hockey career with at least one sectional title. Last year’s loss to McQuaid in the finals left him and several of his teammates wanting more.
“It was truly an accomplishment for us (to get to the sectional final), but it was tough to lose to McQuaid,” Pettrone said. “I would like to progress through the sectional finals and eventually win.”
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Daily Messenger - January 18, 2009
Rush-Henrietta 3
Victor 0
At Thomas Creek, the Victor Blue Devils (8-6-2) faced a tough 3-0 defeat to Rush-Henrietta (6-7-2) Saturday afternoon.
Chris Butusov and Zeb Clarke combined for 27 saves.
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Daily Messenger - January 16, 2009
Brighton-ER-HFL 3,
Victor 2
At the ESL Center in Rochester, the Victor Blue Devils heavily outshot their opponent for the second
straight game yet once again found themselves on the short end of a North-South Division
game by one goal.
Victor had a 31-18 advantage in shots. The score was 1-1 heading onto the last period.
The Blue Devils scored first goal on a James Draveck goal off a Chris Roeder assist. The
next three goals were scored by B-ER-HFL — Cameron Johnson, Matt Bailey and Jason
Boike.
Matt Portland, off a Vince Pettrone assist, scored the final goal for Victor (8-5-2).
Bracket Bourne made 29 saves for B-ER-HFL while Chris Butusov made 15 stops for Victor.
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Geneva/Waterloo takes over first from Victor
Daily Messenger - January 14, 2009
At the Geneva Recreation Complex Tuesday evening, the top two hockey teams in the Monroe County North-South division hooked up.
When it was over, host Geneva/Waterloo had taken over the top spot from the Victor Blue Devils with a 4-2 win. The Panthers (6-1 in the league, 11-4 overall) won their 10th straight behind three goals from foreign exchange student Marian Aschenbrier.
The Blue Devils drop to 5-1, 8-4-2.
Geneva led 1-0 after the first period with both teams scoring a goal in the second. Geneva then took charge, scoring two goals in the final period.
"Zach (Koczent) our goalie has been a big part of our sucess lately", said Geneva coach Clark Mauchly. "We got outshot, almost doubled, yet Zach held his ground. That and the fact that we are playing real well as a team rtght now explaiins our current success".
Victor coach Mike Ferreri agreed witih Mauchly.
"We really didn't finish our opportunities tonight," Ferreri said. "We had a lot of shots on goal, but their goalie made some good saves."
Vince Pettrone and Matt Mincin scored the two Victor goals, with teammate Chris Butusov making 16 saves.
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Victor Splits Weekend Contest
Daily Messenger - January 11, 2009
Victor lost to Kenmore East 3-1 on Friday evening but bounced back to beat Amherst of Secton 6, 2-0 on Saturday as part of the Laker Classic.
Matt Portland scored the lone goal in the Kemore game off an assist from Matt Mincin. Goalie Chris Butusov stopped 16 shots.
Victor was able to rebound to get a shutout over the Section 6 team. Both of their goals came on the power play as Chris Roeder got the first off an assist from Vince Pettrone and Bryan Kavanaugh got the second off a feed from Roeder and Trevor O'Shea.
Victor is 8-3-2 overall and 5-0 in league play.
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Democrat and Chronicle - January 10, 2009
Kenmore East 3
Victor 1
Kenmore led 2-0 entering the third befoe matt Protland scored 1:26 into the period to cut the lead to 2-1.
Matt Mincin assisted, but Kenmore added an insurance goal.
Chris Butusov made 16 saves for the Blue Devils (5-0, 7-3-2)
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Victor Remains Unbeaten In Division
Daily Messenger - January 7, 2009
Victor 5
Batavia 0
The host Blue Devils continued their winning ways in the Monroe County North/South division, beating Batavia 5-0 on Tuesday at Thomas Creek Ice Arena.
Victor improved to 5-0 in the division and 7-2-2 overall, while Batavia fell to 1-2-1, 5-5-1.
Bryan Kavanaugh scored a pair of goals to lead Victor, with Colin O’Shea adding a goal and an assist and Matt Mincin and Vince Pettrone one goal each.
Between the pipes for he Blue Devils was Chris Butusov, who made six saves as Victor outshot Batavia 44-6. It was the third shutout of the season for Victor
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Victor Grinds Out Win Over Bishop Kearney/Eastridge
Daily Messenger - January 4, 2009
Victor 3
Bishop Kearney/Eastridge 2
At the Lakeshore ice arena in Rochester, the Victor Blue Devils (4-0, 6-2-2) claimed an exciting 3-2 victory over Bishop Kearney/Eastridge, 3-2 Saturday,
With 2:48 left Matt Mincin slapped in the game-winner for Victor. Between the pipes for the Blue Devils was freshman Zeb Clarke, who snagged 24 saves for his first carer win.
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Blue Devils Continue to Roll
Daily Messenger - December 21, 2008
Victor 5
Bishop Kearney/Eastridge 1
At Thomas Creek in Perinton, Junior Chris Roeder accounted for three points, notching a goal and 2 assists in a Blue Devils (5-1-2) romp. John Crean had a goal and an assist while Vince Pettrone, James Inuzuka, and Matt Mincin rounded out the scoring.
Chris Butusov stopped 12 of 13 shots in the big win for Victor
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Blue Devils Explode for Seven
Daily Messenger – December 19, 2008
Here’s a game where the early going was NOT an indication of how the rest of the contest would go.
Taking on Notre Dame at the Falletti Ice Arena, the Victor Blue Devils scored one goal in the first period of Thursday’s Monroe County North-South Division game for a 1-0 lead.
From that point on, however, the visiting Blue Devils kicked it into overdrive, hitting the net three times in both of those last two periods to claim a 7-1 win.
“We played our best game of the year so far”, said Victor coach Mike Ferreri, whose team improved to 2-0 in the league and 4-1-2 overall. “We finished on the opportunities presented us and I thought our power play looked very good tonight..”
Chris Roeder and Brian Kavanaugh led the Blue Devisl with two goals each. Kavanaugh also added two assists while Vince Pettrone, who has been battling bronchitis the past sever days, Matt Portland and Collin O’Shea supplied the other three Victor goals.Pettrone also had an assist.
Kavanaugh agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“We stepped up tonight,” he said. “It definitely was a break-out game for us. We passed the puck well and combined that with a good zone defense. When we play a good game with those two factors involved, the rest comes together for us.”
Pettrone said he and his teammates knew the Little Irish would be up for the game.
“We played really hard because we knew we had to,” he said. “They beat Canandaigua last year, and we knew they were looking to beat us because we had knocked them out of the sectionals last year. My line (he, Kavanaugh, and Roeder) scored a good amount of the goals tonight. I was looking for them and they were looking for me. This win will keep us rolling, but we have to keep playing like this as we have Bishop Kearney-Eastridge on Saturday and then our big rival Canandaigua on Tuesday.”
Chris Butusov had another stellar game in the nets for Victor, which has won four straight. He made 20 saves and allowed just the one goal in the final period.
For Notre Dame (1-2, 3-3), Tom Dehr made 20 saves while Eric Miller scored the lone goal.
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Blue Devils Roll to Win
Democrat and Chronicle - December 19, 2008
Victor 7
Batavia Notre Dame 1
Bryan Kavanaugh scored twice and added two assists for Victor (4-1-2).
Chris Roeder also scored twice and Vince Pettrone and Matt Portland each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Devils.
John Crean recorded two assists and Collin O'Shea aslo scored for Victor.
Batavia Nortre Dame is 3-3.
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Blue Devil Icers take first in Morrisville
Daily Messenger-December 14, 2008
The Victor Blue Devils (3-1-2) earned first-place at the Morisville tournament with a 5-0 win over Section 3's Ontario Bay Friday night, and defeated Cortland Homer, also of Section 3, 2-1 Saturday afternoon.
Vince Pettrone, who had four goals in the first game and two in the second, was named to the all-tournament team as was netminder Chris Butusov who had a totoal of 34 saves on the weekend.
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Hot Goalie Leads Victor to Hockey Win
Daily Messenger December 10, 2008
Victor 5
Geneseo-Livonia 0
Geneseo Tuesday night, Victor goalie Chris Butusov was on top of his game.
Butusov faced 22 shots and saved them all as the Blue Devils overcame a slow start to beat Geneseo-Livonia 5-0 in a Monroe County North- South Division hockey game.
“We kind of got outplayed in the first period,” said Victor coach Mike Ferreri, noting that his team was outshot 12-4 in the opening period. “But from there on, our kids did a good job. They certainly did pick their game up over the last two periods.”
Chris Roeder had a hand in 80 percent of the goals, leading the offense with two goals and two assists. Also scoring for the Blue Devils (1- 0 league, 1-1-2 overall) were Brian Kavanaugh, Vince Pettrone and sophomore James Inuzuka, who scored his first varsity goal. Adding assists were John Crean and James Draveck.
Austin Thiele made 23 saves for G-L (1-2, 1-3-1).
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Victor Loses to The Lightning
Daily Messenger December 7, 2008
Greece Arcadia/Olympia 4
Victor 2
At Lakeshore Ice Rink in Greece, the Lightning led 4-0 into the third period before forward Vince Pettrone finished a Bryan Kavanaugh goal with 13 minutes left in the game. Kenny Curtis broke the ice just two minutes into the first period when he finished on an assist from Sean Hanley and teammate Rob Cammilleri put the second Greece goal on the board a minute later.
The tough first period wasn’t over for the Blue Devils (0-1-2) as David Powlowski scored the third and eventual game-deciding goal with six minutes left in the first. The Lightning (2-3) added some insurance two minutes into the third period when Brad Reed finished an assist from teammate Justin Coachman. Bryan Kavanaugh also scored for Victor with a little under two minutes remaining in the game but it was too little too late for the winless Devils.
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Blue Devils Tie Kenmore West
Daily Messenger – December 3, 2008Victor 2
Kenmore West 2
At Thomas Creek Ice Arena in Perinton, the host Victor Blue Devils gave up a first-period goal and another in the third, but the defense otherwise was solid. The offense, meanwhile, scraped together two goals of its own by Chris Roeder in the second period and Dan Landry in the third period to set up the eventual scoreless OT.
Assisting for Victor on Roeder’s goal were Bryan Kavanaugh and Matt Portland, while assisting on Landry’s goal were John Crean and James Inuzuka. “We played a great second, third and overtime periods,” said Victor coach Mike Ferreri. "Our defensive unit as a whole was the big key to this win.” Chris Butusov made 16 saves in the nets for Victor.
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