Batavia Notre Dame United’s four-game winning streak came to an end tonight by a 6-2 score at the hands of the McQuaid Jesuit Knights at the Batavia Ice Arena.
The loss drops BND to 10-5-3 while McQuaid evened its record at 7-7-2 in Section V competition.
United is scheduled to take on Victor, weather permitting, at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Rochester Ice Center in Fairport. BND handed Victor only its second loss of the season, 4-2, last week.
Freshman forward Brady Johnson gave United a 1-0 lead with 9:15 on the clock in the first period, converting a pass from Ronin Hofmaster to beat McQuaid goaltender Rory Fitzpatrick. Gavin Schrader also picked up an assist on the power play goal.
BND held the lead until just 44 seconds remained in the period when freshman Jack Callery took a pass from Nicholas Bianchi and put a one-timer past United goalie Frank Falleti Jr. for his eighth goal of the season. McQuaid’s goal also came on the power play.
Two goals within four minutes of each other early in the second period gave the Knights what proved to be an insurmountable lead. Junior defenseman Drew Palmer beat Falleti to the glove side 1:28 into the period and junior forward Alex Saracene deflected a shot from the point by Dante Coelho past Falleti, who was screened on the play.
Junior forward Cooper Hamilton’s power play goal – coming after sharp passes from Ronin Hofmaster and Jameson Motyka – pulled United within a goal with 7:58 left in the period.
United had a couple of power play opportunities in the third period but was unable to put the puck past Fitzpatrick, who had 25 saves.
McQuaid scored again after BND pulled Falleti with 1:10 remaining for an extra attacker, with Palmer finding the back of the net on a shot that went the full length of the ice.
With Falleti back in, Palmer closed out the scoring -- and finished with a hat trick -- by poking the puck into left side of the net with just one second to play. Junior forward Evan Kopacz was credited with assists on both goals.
The teams combined to commit 16 penalties – nine against McQuaid and seven against United, which was 2-for-8 on the power play. Shots on goal were even at 27 apiece.
