2nd period slog costs Batavia United in semifinal
BUFFALO — Even as the post-game Zamboni began to clean the ice, several Batavia Notre Dame United players lingered for one last gaze. The realization of a completed season had seemingly crept in.
United’s 2023-24 campaign was a historic one for two Section V hockey programs that joined only three years prior. Yet it’s the same season that came to a crashing halt on Saturday, in a deafening 7-2 loss to defending NYSPHSAA Division II champion Skaneateles in the state semifinals.
In a vacuum, the loss itself isn’t necessarily what stings for coach Marc Staley’s group. It’s that what had been routine for the last three months — the team yoga sessions, fresh week of practice to look forward to, the locker room comradery — had reached its culmination.
“Just getting here was an experience in and of itself,” Staley said. “The finality of it is what’s hard. Losing hockey games is not hard. We’ve lost a lot of hockey games. It’s when the season ends that makes it real difficult, and ours ended one day sooner than we wanted it to.”
Twenty-two wins, a section title and a rare trip to the state semifinals is a winter worth remembering. But the result against Skaneateles, winners of two of the last three Division II state titles, was a sobering notion that another gear must be reached if Batavia wants to be the best.
While the Lakers didn’t drastically out-shoot or out-chance United, their been-there, done-that attitude was evident. Next year, Batavia can only hope it’s the team harnessing past experience.
“We’ll move on from this, and for the kids coming back hopefully it keeps the fire burning,” Staley said.
How it happened
If nothing else, Batavia accomplished something only one other team had this year: Force Skaneateles to play from behind. The one-loss Lakers were in that position only once entering the semifinal, but were greeted by Ivan Milovidov’s toe-drag goal six minutes into Saturday’s game.
That marked the first time this season Skaneateles had allowed the game’s first goal. All that followed for United, though, was frustration.
Skaneateles answered with its first goal with 53 seconds left in the opening period, then struck for four in a sevenminute span during the second.
Even for a club as prolific as Batavia, a 5-1 deficit against one of the state’s top-notch programs would’ve required a Herculean feat to overcome. That simply wasn’t in the cards.
“The plan was to get up on them and we were able to do that, but we had a giveaway at our own blue line that led to their first goal. I think we lost some momentum coming into the locker room after that,” Staley said. “It’s a 51-minute game, not 17. I believe in my kids and I’m not surprised we came out the way that we did, but you’ve gotta put the full 51 minutes together. Credit to Skaneateles for putting a great second period together.”
The cupboard isn’t bare
Like most teams, United will feel the loss of several departing seniors. Joe DiRisio was one of the team’s captains and finished with 37 points on the season, while Orian Lama and Noah Whitcombe made their presences felt from the blue line while playing heavy minutes.
Still, Batavia could return all three of its leading scorers (Milovidov, Jameson Motyka, Brady Johnson) as well as starting goalie Rhys Tanner.
Section V’s Class B division presents plenty of competition, but expect United to be back in the mix in 2024-25.