hockey

Hockey Coach Kevin Hamilton, who refers to himself as "the proudest coach in Batavia," submitted this information.

The underage Mite A team has been playing against much higher level of play all season long. The majority being second-year teams, and three or four of them giving travel teams a run for their money.

We won two games in league play against MCYH and won a scrimmage against a tough Webster B team. The rest of the games we did not do much scoring, if any, but we did play our hearts out.

Well last night in Scottsville (Feb. 17), round one of playdowns, up against Geneseo (womped us 7-0 in regular season), it went 0-0 first period, 0-0 second period.

After the second period, they come to the bench, kneeled down on the ice in front of me (I already couldn't be any more happy, they are playing their best hockey ever), I look down at them and ask "Who thinks they can play better hockey in the third period?" They all respond with a hand raise. I said " Looks like whoever could score the next goal, could be the winner. We can do it!"

The boys stand up yelling and cheering, big smiles on their faces. The third period starts, we get the puck in Geneseo's end, puck comes back to the point, Connor Peterson (age 7) picks his head up and makes a pass to the weak side winger Cole Young (age 6) and a one-timer for the game's first goal.

We then carried the momentum even further, with more shots on net and eventually scoring another goal from Vince Dirisio (age 6) off a rebound. With hard work from the entire team, and especially our six-man defense and Alex Bialek (age 7) first-year goaltender picking up a huge playoff shutout!

We win 2-0. Priceless!!!!!! We now go on to play the Russians, I meen the stacked #1 team Monroe County (their second team)...These kids are the future of the Ramparts and are on their way to being an amazing group of hockey players.

Photo: The defensive play of Blake Polito was the bright spot for Batavia as he helped out goaltender Brandon Corcoran by diving into the net and swatting away a goal with his hand in the first period.

The Ice Devils played well on Saturday but were outmuscled by the aggressive, physical style of play by the Spencerport Rangers (3-1) at the Faletti Ice Arena.

Spencerport lit the lamp first and then Josh Marr netted what would be Batavia’s only score of the day at 6:51 in the first period. Spencerport would get two more goals in the first period and their 4th and final goal in the second period. Both teams were scoreless in the 3rd period which showcased some nice defensive play from both teams and from the goaltenders, Brandon Corcoran (13 saves) and Tyler Fess (20 saves). Spencerport got two goals from Matt Corey and two assists from Scott Doud. Aiden Connolly and Anthony DePetres also scored for the Rangers.

Batavia falls to 1-3-1 and gets ready to host their Annual holiday tournament, The David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament, this weekend at the Faletti Ice Arena. The opening game at 5:00 on Friday features Churchville Chili and Sweet Home with Batavia taking on Frontier at 7:00 pm.The tourney concludes on Saturday with the consolation game at 1:00 and the championship at 3:00.

Notre Dame: 4  / Brighton:4 Notre Dame rallied from a two goal deficit on the road to tie Brighton/ER/HFL 4-4. This appears to have been a showcase between two of the best goaltenders in the area. Notre Dame’s Thomas Dehr made 29 saves while his counterpart, Bracket Bourne also made 29 saves for Brighton/ER/HFL. Notre Dame (2-0-2) travels to Geneva (1-5) Tuesday night and then to Wilson Ice Arena to face-off with winless Geneseo/Livonia on Saturday at 6:30 pm.

"Everyone picked up their intensity knowing the game was on the line" said Ice Devils senior captain Tim Finnell as Batavia who found themselves down 2-0 at the start of the third period and rallied to tie the game 2-2.

"We really came together in the third period and we were able to build a lot of momentum" he added.

Nate Palmer and Junior Josh Marr set up Blake Polito for a shot that put Bataiva on the board and within one goal early in the third period.

Sophomore Tommy Grammatico scored his first high school goal with under three minutes left in the game to even the score for the Ice Devils. Trevor Powers was credited with the assist.

"After tying it up we did everything we could to win it, but unfortunately we couldn't pull this one out" said Finnell. "It was a great team effort".

Nick Papas scored five seconds into the seconds into the second period and Kevin Moses added the other goal for Irondequoit (1-0-1).

Adam Kurek made 26 saves for Batavia (0-1-1).

Notre Dame goaltender Tom Dehr makes a save as defensment  Luke Calla battles with a Kenmore forward. Below: ND's Josh Halle lays a hit on Kenmore's Tommy Ryan.- Photos by Bare Antalos for TheBatavian

"We're going to be good this year" said Notre Dame head coach Marc Staley.

The player's supported his statement in the first game as Notre Dame lead 5-0 at one point and easily defeated the visiting Kenmore Devils from Section 6 by a final score of 5-2.

Senior Dylan Versage recorded Notre Dame's first goal of the season off a pass from Zac Blew and Josh Johnston. Just a few minutes later Jack Nenni added their second goal off a nicely set up play by Tyler Kessler and Beau Richter.

Kenmore's top offensive line of Billy Moore, Rob Seiler and Mike Coyen responded with scoring chances but Notre Dame's goaltender Tom Dehr denied them the chance to capitalize.

Blew and Versage then helped put the team up by three as they set up Johnston for his first goal of the season.

The scoring didn't stop their as Luke Calla recorded the fourth score for the Irish off a deflection from Brennan Brown. Nenni then recorded his second goal of the night to cap off the scoring for the Irish. Defensemen Brett Perfitt and Richter were credited with the assists on the play.

Kenmore's top line finally was able to beat Dehr in the third period but it was too little too late. Coyne and Moore each had a goal and assist while Seiler added two assists.

The Irish (1-0) are scheduled to host Geneseo/ Livonia next Tuesday at the Falleti Ice Arena.

Batavia opened their 2010-2011 season by facing off against the Churchville Saints at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the Section V Hockey Showcase. After two defensive lapses and two breakaway goals, Batavia found themselves down 3-0 early in the game, but wouldn't back off. Tim Finnell scored the Devils first goal of the season, as he deflected a shot by Josh Marr to put Batavia within two. Marr then rallied to close the lead to 3-2 as he snuck a puck under the pads of Churchville goaltender Dylan Niewiemski.

After the 2nd period intermission, the Devils came out down just one goal, but collapsed as Churchville added four more goals. Josh Marr scored his second goal in the third to end the score at 7-3.

Shawn Easton scored three goals for Churchville, while Tyler MacMillian added a pair and an assist. Anthony Bertolani also added a goal and assist for the Saints.

 Adam Kurek made the start for Batavia and recorded 15 saves. Niewiemski had 20 saves for Churchville (1-0). Batavia falls to 0-1 and will travel to face Aquinas on Wednesday.

The tournament started off just like every tournament does; with a face off, but the first face off came with a different type of emotion than usual. It was emotions as a result of honoring two former hockey players of the Genesee Amatuer Hockey Association that had their lives ended at young ages. GAHA hosted the Tim Reis/ Matt Kota (TRMK) Memorial Hockey Tournament to remember these players and they started things off with a ceremonial puck drop in their honor.

The center of the ice was filled with people that were close to the two former players. Lining up for Matt Kota were his parents, Jason and Nancy and his siblings, Sean, Tyler and Sara. Matthew passed during September 2008 at the age of 17 from complications brain surgery related to a large AVM (arterio-venous Brain malformation, which is a condition that happens to only 0.01% of the population. Long time friend and former coach, Tom Cervone led the line for Tim Reis that included former teamates that he had played with in the past. Tim had his life taken in a house fire in Byron, along with his mother and two sisters in May 2008. Reis was killed while trying to help his family escape.

While they lined up, in his honor, GAHA president Gerry Wolcott read a passage to remember the two young men.

For Tim he read "Through the dedication of individuals in the organization, Tim was able to play a game he truly enjoyed. Tim was a giver when you got to know him and nowhere was that more evident than on the ice. He always tried his best for his team and when losses came he just accepted them and tried harder. Even in Tim’s last moments, he was giving he was trying to help his Mom and sisters escape the fire that ultimately claimed them all. Every time a player puts on a Ramparts jersey we remember how Tim showed us what being a team player was all about , his spirit is still with us and his teammates every time they take the ice."

He continued for Matthew and stated "Matt was always helping his team anyway he could and even with all his other interest like cross country and advanced courses in school he even took the time to help with his sister and brother’s teams any way he could. On the night before he was to leave for surgery he spent it working with his youth group in their outreach ministries to the needy. After God decided he needed Matt in heaven matt even donated what he no longer would need from his physical body so that at least 7 other families could have a better life or life at all. Matt’s spirit shine brightly with us still and he taught us what a difference one person can make if they cared about others first."

After a moment of silence from the arena, he closed in asking that we all "enjoy life like they did".

This weekend is a weekend full of state championships in New York and the Batavia High School Blue Devils are not the only team that will have the chance to compete for a state title. Genesee Amatuer Hockey Associaton (GAHA) will be host to the 16-U New York State Championships for USA hockey will be held at the Falleti Ice Arena in an eight team tournament to decide who is the best of the best this season. Teams have traveled from all over including Alex Bay, Louisville, Saranac Lake, Bear Mountain and Center State. These teams all finished within the top 2 seeds of the divisions that they played in throughout the season, with Louisville being a favorite to take the title. "There are a lot of good teams coming here this weekend and it's gonna be some good hockey" said tournament director Tom Aldinger. "Anything can happen in a tournament like this".

Since Batavia was awarded the bid to host the tournament, the 16-U Ramparts team, who did not qualify for states this season based on their record, will receive a free entry into the tournament and a chance to prove that they are the best in the state. Two other Western New York  teams, Jamestown and Niagara will also be competing in the tournament.

Batavia is set to play thier first game today (Friday) at 1:00pm against Saranac Lake. The rest of their schedule includes playing Jamestown tomorrow morning at 8:00am and Bear Mountain tomorrow at 4:00pm.

The tournament has games from 9am-9pm today and 8am-8pm tomorrow. Sunday is set for the semi final games at 11am and 1pm with the NYS championship game set for 5pm Sunday night. Admission to the games is only $5 per game or you can get a weekend pass to all the games for only $10. TF Brown's is a partial sponsor of the tournament.

It was a battle of the Devils on Wednesday night at the Tuttle Ice Arena at SUNY Brockport, where Victor came up victorious 3-0 and earned a trip to the Section V Class B high school hockey finals.

Victor's Zeb Clarke recorded 20 saves to earn the shutout. Adam Kurek made 22 saves for Batavia.

6th seeded Batavia, who finished the season at 10-10-1, had lost twice to 2nd seeded Victor (14-4-2-1) in league play this season.

Batavia ended the season and will lose three seniors to graduation, Will Mulcahy, Corey Kocent and Rob Henning.

Victor will play the 1st seeded Webster Thomas in the finals on Sunday at the Tuttle Ice Arena. Thomas who is currently ranked #1 in the state, has not allowed a goal in the first two games of sectionals as they defeteaded Geneva/Waterloo 9-0 and Spencerport 5-0.

The Fighting Irish (11-3) came out with a plan to do what they have been doing best all season; win, and that's just what they did as they defeated Geneva 4-2.

Coming off a loss last game against Victor, the Irish wanted to get right back on track and Jason Harasimowicz lead the offense  early by putting them on the scoreboard just 1:38 into the game on a one timer off a pass from Ivan Madafferi and Phil Vigneri. Madaferri followed up on his own rebound to score the second goal. Harasimowicz was credited with the assist.

The Irish kept the pressure coming throughout the period and were able to force Geneva's Alex Fitzgerald to take a hooking penalty. Tyler Kessler and Kyle Gannon took advantage of the powerplay and set up Jack Nenni for their third goal with 4:13 remaining in the period.

The third period scoring didn't stop there as Sean Kota and Josh Halle set up Phil Vigneri to cap of the scoring for the Irish, all in the first period.

Geneva came out strong in the second period but only managed to get one goal on the board. Eirik Velta scored off an assist from Emil Siedberg for the Panthers' first goal.

The Panthers had a plan to engineer a comeback as they came out hard in the third and Emil Siedberg posted an early goal to close the gap to 4-2. Notre Dame goaltender Tom Dehr had planned to keep the win secure and he did just that as he finished the game by stopping 17 shots on the day. Zach Koczent made 28 saves for the Panthers (3-8-1).

It was a day of hard fought efforts for two Ramparts teams that got a shot at the championship game of the Batavia New Year's Eve Classic Tournament that was hosted at the Falleti Ice Arena.

ROCHESTER: 5  / BATAVIA: 4-----The Bantam travel team started out the day of championships facing off against the Rochester Youth Americans. Looking for revenge as the Amerks had defeated them just a day earlier, the Ramparts took the early lead online to find themselves in a in a scoring battle, being answered back right after they scored all their goals.

 Parker Brinkworth was one of the Ramparts that had a big day. He started off the scoring with an early goal off of a set up from Mason Versage. He then followed up and assisted on goals by Zack Laird and Evan Eckerson. Brandon Holley scored Batavia's last goal off of an assist by Nate Palmer and Sean Olin. Joe Ryan ended the game with an assist as well.

ROCHESTER: 1  / BATAVIA: 0----- The PeeWee travel team came out with a long fought effort against the Rochester Grizzlies. Ramparts goalie Matthew Anauo stopped 16 shots and looked like he was going to put the game into overtime as he stopped all the shots he faced up until 1:00 left in the game. The Grizzlies beat a defender on the blue line and fired a shot by Anauo to give the Grizzlies the last minute goal and the 1-0 victory. The Ramparts had 6 shots on goal.