Update, 4:30 p.m., Feb. 13:
Batavia Notre Dame United is the No. 7 seed for the Section V hockey tournament and will host No. 10 Hilton at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a pre-quarterfinal game at the Batavia Ice Arena. Hilton comes in with a 6-10-4 record.
Other first-round matchups are No. 8 Fairport vs. No. 9 Greece Storm, No. 5 Brighton/HFL/ER vs. No, 12 WFL Panthers, and No. 6 Portside Royals vs. No. 11 Gates/Wayne/EI/Wheatland.
The top four seeds receive a bye. They are No. 1 Penfield, No. 2 Victor, No. 3 McQuaid Jesuit and No. 4 Pittsford.
If United wins on Tuesday, it will take on Victor at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Rochester Ice Center. Victor and BND have split two contests this season.
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Batavia Notre Dame Coach Marc Staley said he’s already put Friday’s 9-0 loss against top-seeded Victor in the rearview mirror as he prepares his United club for next week’s Section V hockey tournament.
“I could see that we weren’t that sharp to start the game – giving up three goals in the first six minutes – so we kind of took the approach to play everyone, rotating all five lines,” Staley said this morning. “Things didn’t go our way, but I consider the final score an anomaly. We’re definitely right there in terms of our caliber of play.”
Victor avenged a 4-2 loss to BND (on Jan. 27 at the Batavia Ice Arena) as Colin McNamara scored three goals and added three assists, while Simon Kowal chipped in with two goals in the game at the Rochester Ice Center.
The Blue Devils outshot United, 27-21, scoring seven times against starting goaltender Frank Falleti Jr., who was relieved by Courtney Schum midway through the second period.
BND finishes the regular season at 11-6-3 while Victor improves to 15-2-2.
“Looking at everything, we had a fantastic first year – merging the two programs the way we did and playing the 14th hardest schedule among all teams in New York State,” Staley said. “An 11-6-3 record is quite an accomplishment.”
United will look to post win number 12 at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it opens the Class A sectionals at home.
“Our opponent is yet to be determined but it looks like it will be Gates-Chili or Hilton,” Staley said. “It depends on what happens today as there are still a number of games to be played.”
Staley said the status of senior Zack Eschberger is uncertain after the first-line center suffered a shoulder injury early in yesterday’s game.
The BND United junior varsity team takes a 9-7-2 record into sectional play on Monday night when it takes on host East Aurora.
