Albion girls upend top seed E.A. in B1 semis

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Brylie Hapeman, who netted both goals, winds up to take a shot as Kate Rachwal defends for East Aurora. The action took place during the Purple Eagles sectional semifinal victory over the top seeded Lady Blue Devils this evening at Williamsville East.

A goal in each half provided enough offense and the defense did the rest registering a shutout as No. 4 seed Albion upended top seeded East Aurora 2-0 in the Section VI Class B1 girls soccer semifinals this evening at Williamsville East High School.

The victory propels undefeated (17-0-1) Albion into the B1 championship game for the second year in a row. The Purple Eagles, who dropped a narrow 1-0 decision to Newfane in their first ever title appearance last fall, will face No. 7 Olean in the title game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Williamsville East. Olean downed No. 6 Alden 2-1 in the other semifinal.

Brylie Hapeman scored what proved to be the game winning goal for Albion at 15:56 of the first half off an assist from Abbie Pappalardo.

“That was a real big one. It changed the game,” said Albion Coach Maggie Orbaker. “It was a real game changer.”

It remained a tight 1-0 game until late in the second half when Hapeman netted a huge insurance goal, her 15th tally of the season, as Leah Pritchard earned the assist.

Albion goalie Sydney Mulka, who made 6 saves including a couple of key stops in the second half, and her defensive mates did the rest blanking East Aurora which brought a 14-2 record into the semis.  The Purple Eagles defensive unit includes Paige Derisley, Pritchard, Aly Knaak, Alexis Bentley, Myra Reyes-Rosario. Alexis Creasey and Sarah Gregori.

“Our defense was just awesome,” said Orbaker. “They marked up very well. It was just an all around great team effort. And the nicest thing is they have fun.”

The Purple Eagles 17 wins ties a school single season record matching the victory totals earned during both the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

In a Class B2 semifinal, No. 2 Allegany-Limestone downed No. 3 Akron 4-0.

Albion’s Mariah Plain tries to send the ball up field as Ellie George defends for East Aurora.

Albion’s Abby Scanlan looks to keep the ball away from East Aurora’s Page Hazen.

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