Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Enjoying a history making season Kendall players and coaches, shown here celebrating after the recent Class C2 sectional championship win, include, in front from left, Taylor ReQua, Julia Smith, Jenna Jacob, Taylor Rutland and Maya Rutland. In the second row are Michela Hanlon, Kacey Menge, Amelia Patrick, Hailee Mitchell, Jenna LoSapio, Lizzie Rath, Coralee Freitag, Nathalia Quiles Rivera and Coach Jason ReQua. In the back row are Coach Jenn Legault, Coach Pam Beres, Andrea Villalobos, Eliya Cooper, Dallas Johncox, Keri Furness, Annaliese Bosko, Emily Boyle, Lyndsay Wright, Megan Hardenbrook, and Coach Paul Zeppetella.

Staying on top of the championship mountain, it is often said, is harder than getting there in the first place.

Rising to that challenge, the Kendall girls soccer team successfully stayed atop two title peaks this season by repeating as both Genesee Region League Division 1 and Section V Class C2 champions.

Kendall, in fact, captured the G-R Division 1 crown for the third straight year going 13-0. The Lady Eagles have gone 38-2-3 during that three year stretch including 13-1-1 in 2014 and 12-1-2 in 2013.

The Lady Eagles also made school history by going 16-0 during the regular season, the first time in Kendall history that the team has recorded a perfect regular season.

Keeping the momentum, Kendall went on to claim a second straight sectional class title by defeating South Seneca 4-1 in the C2 championship game and improving to 19-0 on the season. It was the 10th time the Lady Eagles have captured a sectional championship.

Interestingly, the Lady Eagles advanced to the finals by defeating the same foe for the second year in a row in the previous two rounds besting Campebell-Savona 6-0 in the quarterfinals and Warsaw 1-0 in the semifinals.

However, for the second year in a row Kendall’s post season run came to an end by a narrow loss in the Section V Class C state qualifier. In 2014 the Lady Eagles lost 2-1 to Avon while this season is was a 1-0 loss to Cal-Mum that snapped the season long 19 game win streak.

Ironically it marked the third straight year that Kendall and Cal-Mum had met with a sectional title on the line. The teams had split a pair of meetings in the Class CC final the previous two seasons with Cal-Mum winning 1-0 in 2013 and Kendall 2-1 in overtime in 2014.

The Kendall offense this season was spearheaded by Maya Rutland with 29 goals and 7 assists. Taylor Rutland added 12 goals and 10 assists, Taylor ReQua 11 goals and a team leading 22 assists and Coralee Freitag 9 goals and 5 assists for the Lady Eagles.

The Kendall defense was equally effective. Goalie Jenna Jacob and her defensive mates including Elizabeth Rath, Julia Smith, Lyndsay Wright, Amelia Patrick and Andrea Villalobos registered a school record 16 shutouts in 20 games, breaking the old mark of 15, while allowing a total of only 4 goals.

“All of these accolades just show a glimpse of what makes this team so amazing,” said Coach Pam Beres.  “As a coach, I am so proud of everything that the team has accomplished!  This was a fantastic year for Kendall varsity girls soccer,  and I look forward to another great season next year.”

Photos by Mike Wertman

This trio of Orleans County runners has earned Genesee Region League cross-country All-Star honors. From left are Kendall’s Sarah Pieniaszek along with the Holley duo of Derrick Hildreth and Lindsey Allen. All three competed in the Section V championships on Saturday at Victor. Allen placed 7th in the girls Class C race while Hildreth was 40th in the boys race. In the girls Class D race Pieniaszek placed 24th.

Photo by Mike Wertman – Sarah Pearson

Kendall High senior setter Sarah Pearson has earned Genesee Region League All-Star volleyball honors.

Pearson led the Lady Eagles in aces with 90 and assists with 207 this season.

Kendall junior outside hitter Chelsea Wright, who led the Lady Eagles in digs with 133, earned G-R Honorable Mention.

Lyndonville had a trio of Honorable Mention selections including Jennifer Wetherbee, Cierra Riley and Jessica Harling, all seniors.

Photo by Mike Wertman – Holley’s Genesee Region League football All-Stars include, from left, Clarence Moyer, Nick Passarell, Zach Day and Glenn Thrower.

Four Holley players have earned spots on the Genesee Region League All-Star football team.

The Hawks quartet includes senior defensive back/quarterback Nick Passarell, senior wide receiver/linebacker Clarence Moyer, junior linebacker/running back Zach Day and sophomore lineman Glenn Thrower.

Passarell passed for 1,431 yards and 13 touchdowns and also rushed for 805 yards and 5 touchdowns. On defense, he had 4 interceptions and made 67 tackles.

Moyer had 817 yards receiving with 8 touchdowns.

Day made 85 tackles, including 7 for losses, and registered 7 sacks. On offense he scored 3 touchdowns.

The Hawks also had three players earn G-R Honorable Mention including junior running back/defensive back Collin Papaj, senior wide receiver/linebacker Nick Shenck and senior lineman Patrick Purtell.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Sarah Schultz scored Akron’s lone goal in the Far West Regional loss to East Rochester.

A quick two goal scoring burst just before half-time keyed East Rochester to a 2-1 victory over Akron this afternoon in the Class C Far West Regional field hockey championship game at Amherst.

Section V representative East Rochester first broke a 0-0 deadlock by scoring with 4:58 to go in the first half. The Lady Bombers then netted the game winnining goal with just three seconds to go.

Section VI champion Akron scored with just three minutes to go in the second half on a goal by Sarah Schultz.

Akron advanced to the regional by defeating Barker 3-1 on Thursday for the Section VI Class C title.

Section V Cross-Country

Holley’s Lindsey Allen placed 7th in the girls Class C race at the Section V cross-country championships held this afternoon at Victor.

Kendall’s Sarah Pieniaszek finished 24th and Brittany Regan 32nd in the girls Class D race.

In the boys’ Class C race, Holley’s Derrick Hildreth finished 40th.

A foul call with 3.4 seconds to go proved costly as the Niagara County Community College women’s basketball team dropped a narrow 71-70 decision to host Garrett, Maryland College this evening in the title game of the David K. Martin Legacy Showcase.

NCCC nearly pulled out the win but a shot attempt by Alliyah Gillespie (24 points, 5 rebounds) was just off target as time expired.

Medina High graduate Alba Perez had 7 points and 7 rebounds for NCCC which is now 3-1.

Perez, who earned Region III Player of the Week honors last week, also had a big 15 point, 18 rebound effort in the opening round on Friday as NCCC edged past Potomac State 62-61.

NCCC earned the win on a three-pointer by Val Odom (Sweet Home) as time expired.

Contributed Photos – Champion Wilson is represented on the Niagara-Orleans All-League golf team by this trio of, from left, Brandon Seider, Jonah Miller and Connor Seeley.

Six repeat selections head the annual Niagara-Orleans All-League golf team.

Wilson, which captured a second straight N-O title with a 14-0 record, leads the All-League team with the trio of senior Branndon Seider along with juniors Jonah Miller and Connor Seeley, all repeat selections.

Medina honorees Melanie Green and Ian Wagner.

Medina, which finished in the runner-up spot for the second year in a row at 12-2, is represented by the duo of Ian Wagner and Melanie Green, both eighth graders. Wagner is a repeat honoree.

Newfane, which took third place at 10-4, also has a pair of honorees in seniors Aiden Herlan and Conner Duncan. Herlan is a repeat selection.

Barker’s Brad Wilson, who is also a repeat honoree, completes the All-League team.

Completing the All-League team are, from left, Aiden Herlan (Newfane), Conner Duncan (Newfane) and Brad Wilson (Barker).

Six Niagara-Orleans League runners qualified for the upcoming state meet with high finishes at the Section VI championships held today at Sunshine Park in West Seneca.

In the boys competition, Newfane’s Samuel Auernhamer and Roy-Hart’s Avery Green qualified by finishing 7th and 8th respectively in the Class C race as did Barker’s Jacob Arnold with a 3rd place finish in the Class D race.

The Newfane girls trio of Nina Burkard, Kim Goerss and Vaness Burkard also all advanced to the state meet by placing 6-7-8 in the Class C race.

The Newfane girls team placed second to East Aurora in the Class C1 race while the Akron girls took top honors in Class C2.

In the boys Class D race team competition, Barker finished second to Maple Grove.

The Barker boys also had Jack Hopkins finish 8th, Matt Pestinger 14th, Adam Wagner 15th, Michael Snell 17th, Andrew Jenks 20th and Brent Bachman 21st.

Albion’s top finishers in the Class C race were Evan Pappalardo 19th and Brady Meakin 28th while Medina’s Daniel Heil was 29th.

Newfane’s Tyler Arnett placed 13th and Akron’s Mike Swiniarski 17th in Class C.

In the girls Class C race Akron’s duo of Margo Henley and Emma Chubb placed 11th and 15th respectively while Albion’s duo of Meredith Patterson and Emma Mathes finished 20th and 21st.

In the Class D race for Barker Gabby Baker placed 11th, Jessica Haseley 16th and Emma Jenks 20th.

Girls Soccer

Wilson nipped Livonia 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout in the Far West Regional Class B girls soccer game this evening at Niagara University.

Leah Herman, Rachel Senek, Zipporah Barrett and Kayla Neumann took turns scoring the penalty kick goals for Wilson.

Section VI Class B champion Wilson and Section V Class B champ Livonia played to a scoreless tie through 80 minutes of regulation play, two 10 minute overtime periods and two 5 minute sudden death overtime periods before the contest was decided in a shootout.

Volleyball

Defending champion Eden romped to a 25-7, 25-8, 25-12 victory over Akron in the Section VI Class C2 championship match.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Lydia Dewart, left, drives the ball up field as Abby Stone defends for Akron. The action took place during Akron’s Class C title victory this afternoon at Amherst. Following the play is Barker’s Madison Greenwald.

A long drought and a long reign both came to an end this afternoon as Akron defeated rival Barker 3-1 in the Section VI Class C field hockey championship game at Amherst.

The victory earned Akron its first sectional championship in 20 years and also snapped Barker’s string of seven straight Class C titles. Six of those Lady Raiders’ title wins came over the Lady Tigers.

Akron’s last sectional title came in 1995 when the Lady Tigers ironically nipped Barker 1-0 in the Class C final.

“We played incredibly tough,” said Akron Coach Mary Borden.

Breaking away from a scoreless deadlock, Akron took the lead for good when Heather Cummings scored just 55 seconds into the second half off an assist from Sarah Schultz.

The Lady Tigers then capitalized on a corner opportunity to score again just nine minutes later as Lilyanna Berghorn tallied to make it 2-0.

Battling to get back in the game, Barker then had four corner opportunities over the next eight minutes but could not capitalize.

Barker’s Madison Greenwald (18) tries to keep control of the ball from Akron’s Heather Cummings (12).

Akron put a lock on the victory when Berghorn scored again with just 9:03 remaining to give the Lady Tigers a commanding 3-0 lead.

Barker missed on three more corner opportunities before finally scoring on a goal by Lydia Dewart with only 3:10 remaining.

Akron, which split a pair of meetings with Barker during the Niagara-Orleans League season, next faces Section V representative East Rochester in the Far West Regional on Saturday at Amherst.

Akron, which claimed the N-O title with an 11-1 record, advanced to the finals by blanking Medina 5-0 in the quarterfinals and Eden 2-0 in the semifinals.

Barker, which had captured the Class C title 11 of the previous 13 years, shutout Holland in the quarterfinals and Wilson in the semis by the identical score of 3-0. Eight of the Lady Raiders title wins during that stretch came over Akron, two over Holland and one over Eden.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Akron’s Sydney Leeds, left, and Akron’s Natalie Menz and their teammates will meet for the Section VI Class C title on Thursday at Amherst.

Over the past dozen years Akron and Barker have not only been keen field hockey rivals in the Niagara-Orleans League title race but also in the battle for the Section VI Class C title.

That rivalry will be renewed on Thursday when top seeded Akron and No. 2 Barker collide again for the Class C championship at 3:30 p.m. at Amherst.

It will mark the seventh time in eight years and the ninth in the last 13 seasons that the two have met in the championship game.

Barker has won all eight of those previous meetings including a narrow 2-1 victory last year. In fact, since the 2002 season, Barker has won 11 of 13 Class C titles including the last seven in a row.

Akron is seeking its first sectional title since 1995 when the Lady Tigers ironically defeated Barker 1-0 in the finals.

The teams split a pair of N-O meetings this year with Akron winning the first 1-0 and Barker the second 3-2 in overtime. Akron claimed the N-O crown with a 11-1 record as Barker finished in the runner-up spot at 10-1-1 as the result of an early season 1-1 tie with Wilson.

Akron advanced to the finals by defeating Medina 5-0 in the quarterfinals and Eden 2-0 in the semis. Barker blanked Holland in the quarterfinals and Wilson in the semis by the identical score of 3-0.

The Akron offense has been led this season by Sarah Schultz with 19 goals an 9 assists, Heather Cummings 16 goals and Abby Stone 7 goals and 11 assists.

For Barker, Rebecca Stoloski has scored 10 goals as Erin Greenwald, Lydia Dewart and Natalie Menz have each netted 5.

The winner will advance to the Far West Regional against Section V representative East Rochester on Saturday.