The #3 Hornell Red Raiders (13-3-1) will take on the #4 Bishop Kearney Kings on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Geneseo High School.
To get there, Hornell knocked off #2 Livonia, 3-2, coming back from a 2-0 deficit.
Bishop Kearney knocked off #1 Mynderse (16-2), 2-1.
Hornell’s Jack Emo leads all of Section V with 37 goals and 84 total points. He also has 10 assists.
Bishop Kearney’s Josh Baraka can fill up the net like Emo, as he has 24 goals, 14 assists for 62 points. He scored a hat trick in the sectionals and has paced BK. Tommy Triasi has 11 goals for BK. Oscar Sims nine goals.
Bishop Kearney, a private school in the city of Rochester, plays a difficult schedule against larger schools and is in a five game win streak. Their last loss was to the No. 1 seed in Class A, Aquinas (12-0-2).
Hornell’s Wyatt Evingham has 11 goals and 20 assists for 42 points and Eric Ross has six goals while PJ Picco has handed out 11 assists and Gennaro Picco has five goals.
In the goal for Hornell, Davin Oyer has had a great season giving up 10 goals and 52 saves.
Here is another look at the Hornell win over Livonia:
Sectional Semifinals. Win or go home. #2 seed and #3 seed dual. Two previous matchups in the regular season that couldn’t get much closer. Livonia secured a win on their home turf 1-0 against Hornell earlier in the season. In the Maple City, the Raiders and Bulldogs tied after double overtime in Hornell’s last game of the regular season.
It all came down to the sectional semifinal match against two rival teams at Geneseo High School Wednesday night. Both teams were ready. Both teams played their hearts out. Both teams came to win. Neither team gave up.
The Bulldogs, with their speed and skill, controlled the first half of the game and found themselves with an impressive 2-0 lead going into halftime after Nick Coyle and Keegan Dennis both scored.
Livonia came out strong to start the second half. The Red Raiders were down but not out. With 16 minutes left to play, Jack Emo hit a long bomb off an assist by PJ Picco to cut the lead to 2-1. Emo’s goal gave the Raiders the lift they needed to gain momentum over the State Power Bulldogs. The celebration was brief, and the Raiders got right back to business. A handball in the box set up a penalty kick resulting in Emo’s second goal of the night and a 2-2 tie.
The remaining minutes in regulation had fans from both sides of the bleachers on the edge of their seats. The minutes counted down, and the final buzzer sounded with the LCAA rivals tied at 2.
The Raiders and Bulldogs found themselves heading to overtime, just like their meeting two weeks ago. However, this overtime matchup ended after just 6 minutes when Jack Emo sent a forward pass to PJ Picco. Picco, on the run, saw his brother Gennaro in a perfect position for the cross. Gennaro was ready, and he netted Hornell’s winning goal. The Raiders celebrated the bench-clearing goal with all the excitement you would expect in front of their roaring fans.
“This was one of the best wins we’ve had in years,” exclaimed Hornell coach Jim Tobin. “The boys wouldn’t quit. They kept their focus and played together as a team. Davin Oyer was amazing and had several incredible saves in goal, and every single player stepped up and played their hearts out.”
Coach Tobin and his team know they have another tough matchup Saturday. The Red Raiders were back on the turf Thursday to prepare for their Sectional Final matchup against the #4 seed Bishop-Kearney at Geneseo High School with 1pm start time. Digital tickets can be purchased here: https://gofan.co/event/1117742?schoolId=NYSPHSAAV.
