Portside, Batavia United among Section V hockey success stories

In many respects, Monday's Section V hockey championships present a splash of new flavor.

In Class A, the fifth-seeded Portside Royals will take on No. 2 McQuaid while Class B features No. 1 Batavia Notre Dame United against No. 3 Webster Thomas.

While Webster Thomas reaches title games with regularity, the same cannot be said for the other three programs. McQuaid, for example, has not played in a championship game since 2015.

For Portside and Batavia Notre Dame United, it's two versions of a similar success story: The merging of multiple school districts' teams to maintain healthy programs and keep hockey players on the ice.

How the Portside Royals came to be

Based on results alone, a merger didn't seem necessary for Brockport or Spencerport through the mid-2010s. Brockport won Section V's Class B1 crown in 2015 and then claimed the Class B title in 2017, while Spencerport reached the Class B title game in 2019.

During the shortened 2020-21 season, Brockport went 8-3-1 while Spencerport finished 6-6-0.

Photos McQuaid tops Penfield in OT in Section V hockey playoffs

Wins and losses aren't everything, though. While Brockport had enough players to support a JV program, organizers anticipated dwindling participation numbers in the coming years.

Spencerport, meanwhile, wasn't sure it'd have enough players for 2021-22. That's when then-Brockport coach Greg Stahl offered a lifeline.

"We didn't want them to go without playing," Portside coach Bill McGrath said. "It helped both programs."

The decision paid immediate dividends, as the newly-minted Portside Royals went 13-5-2 in their inaugural 2021-22 season.

While the team took a small step backward in 2022-23 (8-10-2), Portside rebounded this winter with 10 wins during the regular season.

That preceded arguably the team's most impressive win to date: A 4-1 victory over Pittsford, the No. 1-ranked team in Division I in New York state, in the Class A semifinal last week.

Merging teams an increasing trend

Combining multiple high schools to form a single hockey team is not a new concept in Section V.

Pittsford, for example, has joined students from Mendon and Sutherland throughout its long history. Greece combined all its high schools and competed as the Lightning through 2000, when the school district split its hockey teams into the Arcadia/Olympia Lightning and Athena/Odyssey Thunder.

The school district reverted to a single team in 2017, now dubbed the "Storm."

Photos: Thomas holds off Schroeder in Section V hockey

Combining different school districts, though, is an idea growing in popularity.

Fifteen years ago, only four of Section V's 23 teams combined multiple Rochester-area school districts.

Section V dropped to 19 total teams for 2023-24 and six — Batavia Notre Dame United, Brighton/Honeoye Falls-Lima, Geneseo/Avon/Livonia, Portside Royals, Spartan Hockey, WFL Panthers — involve multiple school districts.

What's in a name?

When Brockport and Spencerport combined, part of the initial process was conjuring a new name and colors.

The program wanted to stray away from a concept like Spartan Hockey, which includes players from several school districts but maintained Gates Chili's identity. While Brockport is Portside's parent school, McGrath said the program didn't want Spencerport players to adopt another school district's colors or vice-versa.

Several ideas were presented, from "Roc City Royals" to "Port City Royals," but Portside Royals was the ultimate choice.

"We wanted it to be its own thing," McGrath said. "We both have a 'port' so we kind of dwindled it down."

View: Hilton's Hill, Penfield's Walsh lead Monroe County 2023-24 all-star selections

While providing an opportunity to play is the endgame, McGrath said one of the downsides of combining Brockport and Spencerport has been — until this season — the lack of student presence in the crowd.

That changed in 2023-24, especially with Portside stacking wins during the regular season.

"The biggest detraction I've noticed with merged teams, you don't see that student section. You'd go to games and it was sparse, maybe five or six kids," McGrath said. "This year it's completely taken off, to where (in the semifinal against Pittsford) the student section had probably 75 to 100 kids."

The matchups

Class A championship

No. 2 McQuaid (17-5-0) vs. No. 5 Portside Royals (12-8-2); 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 at RIT

McQuaid returns to the championship game for the first time since 2015, when the top-seeded Knights beat Fairport for the Class A title en route to the program's second Division I state title.

This is Portside's first final appearance.

The teams did not play during the regular season, but did come together for a preseason scrimmage that, according to McGrath, ended in a 1-1 tie.

"They're a good team. They're well-coached," McQuaid coach Joe Dugan said of Portside. "I'm sure they'll be ready. We're excited obviously ... and we'll be ready to compete Monday night."

McQuaid reached the final following a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory against Penfield. In that game, the Knights' Eoghan Maier scored with 2:25 left in regulation to force OT before Chase Brock completed the comeback in sudden death.

Portside's path to the final has been decisive. The Royals opened sectionals with a 5-1 win over Hilton, followed by a 4-1 upset over Pittsford.

Goalie Danny Kucmerowski has been the star thus far, stopping 65 shots on 67 attempts through two playoff games.

"He's been lights out," McGrath said. "I've been coaching Danny for four or five years, and I've never seen him more dialed in or focused. He's just a steady force back there and gives the kids confidence."

The winner will play Section IV's representative in the Division I quarterfinals on March 2.

Class B championship

No. 1 Batavia Notre Dame United (20-2-0) vs. No. 3 Webster Thomas (13-8-1); 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 at RIT

This is United's first championship appearance since combining Batavia Notre Dame and the Genesee Ice Devils (previously Batavia High School) three years ago. Prior to the merger, Batavia Notre Dame won the Class B1 title in 2016.

Webster Thomas has been one of Section V's regular championship game participants. David Evans' group has now reached the Class B title game seven times in the last 10 years, after the Titans defeated intra town rival Schroeder in the semifinals.

The Titans will face arguably their stiffest test of the season against a United team that went undefeated against Section V foes. That includes the teams' Jan. 2 meeting that United won 5-2.

Because Section V owns the state tournament's at-large bid this season, both teams will continue on to the NYSPHSAA Division II quarterfinal regardless of outcome.

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Championship preview: Portside, Batavia United among Section V hockey success stories