Contributed Photos – Anna Rath

Stormi Kruger

Two Medina High graduates, Anna Rath and Stormi Kruger, are members of the Alfred State women’s soccer team which will begin competition in the USCAA National Tournament on Thursday at Asheville, North Carolina.

Rath is a senior midfielder and Kruger a junior defender on the No. 5 seed Lady Pioneers squad which will face No. 5 Bryant & Strattion Syracuse in the opening round.

Rath, who is one of three seniors on the team who are the first four year players in the history of the college’s women’s soccer program, started all 16 regular season games and has 3 assists.

Rath is majoring in Tech Management and Kruger in Forensics.

The Lady Pioneers, who are appearing in the national tournament for the third year in a row, went 8-7-1 during the regular season.

Contributed Photo – Nicole Blackburn

Wednesday, when Holley High graduate Nicole Blackburn takes the floor for the North Country Community College Lady Saints basketball team, it will mark an almost 11 month battle back from the left ACL tear she suffered against Cayuga CC December 9 of last year.

The injury came the day after the Saints had knocked off the Onondaga Lazers at Allyn Arena and propelled the Saints to #2 in the country in the NJCAA Div III polls. The Saints finished their season 23-4 losing in the Regional semi-finals to Mohawk CC.

Blackburn had surgery January 19 at University of Rochester Sports Medicine and completed her recovery on schedule to make this season. Now playing with a brace on her left knee, she has moved from the Center position to a shooting forward, but her strength is still her stifling defense and rebounding.

Blackburn was also named one of three co-captains for this season with teammates Morgan Fountain and Latifa Fletcher, all are returning sophomores.

Last season Blackburn averaged 3.7 points and 3.7rebounds and led the team in free throw percentage at with 58.3%.

Blackburn is a 2014 graduate of Holley where she lead the team with 194 points her senior season and was a named team MVP as well as to the Orleans Hub first team.

Legion defeated Vets Club 42-28 Monday to open up an 11 point lead in the Medina Euchre League over runner-up Sacred Heart, which downed JR Wilson 37-33.

Legion is now 192-158 on the season, Sacred Heart 181-169, JR Wilson 177-173 and Vets Club 150-200.

League action continues on November 9 with Legion at Vets Club and JR Wilson at Sacred Heart.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Maya Rutland tries to get a shot past Cal-Mum goalie Megan Little during this evening’s Section V Class C state qualifier game at Hilton.

Clashing this evening for the third straight year with a sectional title on the line, Kendall and Cal-Mum for a third straight year saw a lone goal decide the issue.

After trading one goal victories in the Class CC championship game the past two years, the two teams met this time with the Section V Class C berth in the state playoffs at stake.

This time is was a lone goal in the last six minutes that decided the issue earning Cal-Mum a narrow 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Kendall advancing the Lady Raiders to the Far West Regionals.

Claudia Haut scored the lone goal for Cal-Mum with just 6:54 remaining off a direct kick as Autumn Jeffery earned the assist.

Kendall did try to mount a late rally but the Lady Eagles last good scoring attempt with 3:40 to go saw a shot sail just wide of the Cal-Mum goal.

“We had a lot of good opportunities, especially in the second half, but we just couldn’t finish,” said Kendall Coach Pam Beres. “They really got that one good scoring opportunity and they made the most of it. We knew it was going to be a very competitive game and it certainly was.”

Kendall goalie Jenna Jacob goes high to knock away a shot.

The teams took turns applying pressure in the first half but neither could sustain an attack.

Kendall goalie Jenna Jacob did come up with two big saves during that stretch, first on a diving stop in the first five minutes and later on a leaping save in the final minute.

Kendall nearly connected at the outset of the second half but Cal-Mum goalie Megan Little came out to stop the breakaway with a diving stop.

Cal-Mum then just missed on a direct kick attempt two minutes later. The Lady Raiders kept the pressure on but Jacob turned back the threat with a sliding stop.

The momentum continued to swing back and forth as Kendall then put on good pressure but Little came up with a couple of key saves for the Lady Raiders, the second on a quick reaction grab of a shot from close range. That stretch of pressure by the Lady Eagles included a corner opportunity with 14 minutes to go.

The next, and deciding, swing of momentum though belonged to Cal-Mum which, after first missing on one corner opportunity with 12 minutes to go, kept the pressure on finally cashing in off a direct kick with the deciding goal by Haut.

Kendall’s Taylor Rutland goes high trying to head a corner against Cal-Mum defender Maddie Lowe.

The loss was the first of the season for Kendall which finishes at 19-1 as Cal-Mum advances with an 18-2-1 record.

“It’s disappointing to end the season like that but the kids have a lot to be proud of as they had a really good season,” said Beres whose Lady Eagles captured a third straight Genesee Region League Division 1 title and a second straight Section V Class C2 championship.

Kendall had nipped Cal-Mum 2-1 in double overtime last year in the Class CC title contest. The Lady Eagles win avenged a 1-0 loss to the Lady Raiders in the 2013 CC title game.

Kendall also dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to Avon in last year’s Class C state qualifier at Hilton.

Kendall’s Taylor ReQua battles for possession of the ball with Cal-Mum’s Maddie Shoemaker.

The Lyndonville/Medina boys volleyball squad won its Section V playoff opener by defeating NE/NW College Prep of Rochester in straight sets 25-23, 25-19, 25-15.

Junior Eddy Schildt led the Tigers with 14 spiking kills and 4 service aces. Senior Lucas Cook added 3 aces, senior Kenneth Kalson 4 kills and junior setter Dustin Joy 20 assists and 3 aces.

The Tigers will next take on North Rose-Wolcott on Wednesday at McQuaid.

Contributed Photos – Nate Moore with his parents Robyn and DJ Moore.

Two Albion youths earned first place honors at the National Football League’s Punt, Pass and Kick sectional competition held Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Alison Gibson took home first place honors in the 8-9 year old girls division and Nate Moore won the boys 14-15 year old division.

Alison Gibson along with her parents Becki and Allen Gibson and brother Alex.

The two winners now advance to the Buffalo Bills championship competition which will be held December 5.

Albion also had a second place finisher in Thomas Furmanski in the 12-13 year old boys division and a of third place finisher in Reuben Rivers in the 10-11 year boys division.

The other participants from Albion included Abby Kincaid, Nate Gibson and David Stritzinger.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Chanyce Powell blocks a spike attempt by Courtney Kling of Iroquois during the host Purple Eagles sectional loss to the Lady Chiefs this evening.

Avenging a late season non league four set loss, No. 10 seed Iroquois upset No. 2 Albion 25-22, 12-25, 26-24, 25-22 this evening in a Section VI Class B quarterfinal match at Albion.

Setting an ominous tone for the evening, Albion built up a 22-19 lead late in the opening set after a burst of five straight points polished off by Chanyce Powell on three kills and two blocks only to see Iroquois rally to take the next five points in a row and the set 25-22.

Rebounding, Albion jumped out to a commanding 14-3 lead in the second set, ignited by two spiking kills by Aleah Foos and one by Powell and highlighted by a seven point run of service points (8-14) by Kaitlyn VanSkiver, a run which included two aces.

Two more kills by Powell, along with one each by Kelsee Soule and Meghan Hurley, helped Albion close out the 25-12 win to even the match as VanSkiver registered an ace for the final point.

Keeping the momentum, Albion then jumped out to a 6-1 lead at the outset of the third set on two kills and an ace by Hurley along with two aces by Soule and one by Powell.

The Purple Eagles went on to hold narrow leads late in the set of 20-17, after a pair of service points by VanSkiver, and at 21-19, after a kill by Soule, but just as was the case with the first set could not hold the advantage.

In an near instant replay of the opening set, Iroquois, which kept virtually everything in play throughout the match, rallied to take six of the next eight points to claim a 26-24 overtime win and regain a 2-1 lead in the match.

Albion’s Aleah Foos spikes over Elena Grossman of Iroquois.

Despite being able to only score more than one point in a row just once, Albion did manage to hold a slender 19-18 lead late in the fourth set. Powell had three kills and a block, Soule two kills and Foos a kill and a block for points to keep the Purple Eagles in the set.

However for the third time in four sets the Purple Eagles were unable to hold the late lead as the Lady Chiefs claimed 7 of the next 10 points to win the set and the match.

The closest Albion could get down the stretch was within one at 22-23 after back-to-back blocks for points by Powell and Foos followed by an ace by Powell. The next two points and the match though belonged to the Lady Chiefs which registered an ace for the clinching point.

Powell had a total of 12 kills and 6 blocks on the evening, Soule 8 kills and 2 aces, Foos 3 kills and 5 blocks, Hurley 4 kills and 2 aces and VanSkiver 4 aces.

The loss was the first of the season after 18 straight wins for the Purple Eagles.

Akron 25-25-29-25
Medina 13-14-31-8
No. 3 Akron ousted visiting No. 6 Medina in four sets in a Class C1 quarterfinal.

Megan O’Keefe had 16 digs, Emily Kams 10 assists and Molley Gross 7 digs for Medina. Kams and Gross also both had 2 kills and Je’ne Brown 3 and Carley Schultz 3 aces.

Schultz served up potns 3-11 for the Mustangs in the overtime third set win as Gross polished off the set winning point with a kill off a serve by Abby Maines.

Roy-Hart 23-25-25-25
da’Vinci 25-10-18-20
No. 6 Roy-Hart bested No. 3 da’Vinci in four sets in a Class C2 quarterfinal.

Becca Albrecht had 10 kills and 4 aces, Olivia Vorholzer 8 kills, Bea Bacon 7 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces, Skyler Christopher 6 kills and 5 service points and Savoy Laubacker 6 kills and 14 points to lead the way for Roy-Hart.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Maya Rutland, right, and her Lady Eagle teammates will face familiar foe Cal-Mum for the Section V Class C berth in the state playoffs on Tuesday at Hilton. She is shown her working against South Seneca’s Emily Lavarnway during Friday’s Class C2 title contest.

For the third straight year Kendall will collide with Cal-Mum with a Section V girls soccer title on the line.

After tangling for the Class CC title in each of the past two years, Kendall and Cal-Mum will clash for the Section V Class C berth in the state playoffs at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hilton.

Those two previous Class CC title encounters saw the teams trade victories as Cal-Mum won 1-0 in 2013 and Kendall 2-1 in double overtime last year.

“We have a lot of history against Cal-Mum, seeing them in sectional finals in 2013 and 2014.  It’s always a competitive match against them, so I look forward to that again this year,” said Kendall Coach Pam Beres.  “I think that the key to our success will be possessing the ball in the middle and attacking third and denying them the opportunity to win the ball.  They are a very strong team, especially winning balls out of the air.  We will have to keep the ball on the turf as much as possible, to play to our strengths.”

Kendall, which is 19-0, reached the state qualifier game for the second straight year by defeating South Seneca 4-1 Friday for the Class C2 championship. The Lady Eagles dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to Avon in last year’s state qualifier.

Amelia Patrick, shown here kicking the ball away from South Seneca’s Jenna McDonald during the C2 title game, will help anchor the Kendall defense.

Cal-Mum, which is 17-2-1, advanced by downing Gananda 3-1 for the Class C1 title.

Maya Rutland has spearheaded the Kendall offense with 29 goals and 7 assists. Taylor Rutland has added 12 goals and 10 assists, Taylor ReQua 11 goals and a team leading 22 assists and Coralee Freitag 9 goals and 5 assists.

The Lady Eagles defense has been equally steady registering 16 shutouts and allowing a total of only 3 goals to date. Goalie Jenna Jacob and her defensive mates Julia Smith, Liz Rath, Amelia Patrick, Lyndsay Wright and Andres Villalobos anchor that unit.

The Cal-Mum offense has been led by the duo of Jessica Garland (9 goals, 7 assists) and Claudia Hart (9 goals, 7 assists).

The victor will face Section VI champion Allegany-Limestone in the Far West Regional at 5 p.m. Friday at Niagara University.

Contributed Photo – Alba Perez

Medina High graduate Alba Perez helped the Niagara County Community College women’s basketball team score a pair of victories this weekend at the MSAC vs. WNYAC Crossover Classic.

Perez scored 17 points and grabbed off a team high 14 rebounds in NCCC’s opening round 81-43 victory over Tompkins-Cortland Community College on Saturday. Alliyah Gillespie led NCCC with 18 points and 6 steals as Allis Koithan (Starpoint) added 9 points.

Perez then had 12 points, a game high 17 rebounds and 6 steals in NCCC’s 78-63 victory over Corning Community College today in the finals. Jenna Faulkner (Starpoint) was high scorer for NCCC with 17 points.

“Alba is back! She looks great,” said NCCC Coach Nate Beutel who noted that two other local players who started for NCCC last year are now at four-year colleges, Jesse DeWaters at Daemen and Tanisha Moyer at American International.

Contributed Photo – Players and coaches of the champion DeSales baseball team include, in front from left, Colin Fragale, Jaydon Lang, Jared Pellicano and Chris Goyette. In the second row are Coach Todd Fragale, Mark Crocker, Joe Bohlman, Karl Darling, Jason Buzak, Frank Pellicano, Sam Murphy and Assistant Coach Tom Murphy. Missing from the photo is Assistant Coach Chris Goyette Sr.

With a lineup which includes Medina and Middleport area players, the DeSales Knights recently won the Western New York Catholic school baseball championship with a 4-1 victory over Notre Dame at St. Joe’s Collegiate Institute.

Chris Goyette pitched a complete game fanning 8 batters.

Karl Darling led the Knights offense going 3-3 (2 doubles and an RBI) while Jason Buzak added two RBI’s and Frank Pellicano chipped in with one too.

The Knights displayed some of the season’s best defense in the 7th inning including a spectacular running catch in center field by Joe Bohlman and a 1-6-3 double play to end the game and secure the championship.

This win earns DeSales Catholic School its first ever Western New York Parochial baseball championship.

“I could not be prouder of the boys” said Coach Todd Fragale. “This is quite remarkable when considering this is the 94th year, with the parochial baseball league starting in 1921.” The only other team from Niagara County to win this prestigious championship was Saint Dominic’s out of Niagara Falls a few years back.”

“Each and every boy on this team contributed to the championship win” added Fragale. “Timely hits, pitching and defensive plays during the year and during the playoffs allowed us to bring home the championship. Commitment to the team, practice and unselfish play by everyone, especially Jaydon Lang, Mark Crocker and Jared Pellicano made it all possible.”

DeSales won the Northtown Parochial league going 9-1 dropping only one game to St Amelias.

In the playoffs DeSales knocked off Northern Chautauqua 10-7 in the quarterfinals scoring three in the seventh, utilizing the impressive speed and heads up base running of Buzak and Pellicano.

In the semi finals, DeSales took out perennial powerhouse St. Mark’s winning 4-3, scoring one in the bottom of the seventh on a walk off bunt single. This was set up by a base on balls by Sam Murphy who then stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch.   Colin Fragale then dropped a perfectly executed bunt down first scoring the speedy Murphy.

In the WNY Parochial title game DeSales downed Notre Dame 4-1 riding the dominant pitching of Goyette who threw a complete game and the phenomenal hitting in the playoffs by Darling.

DeSales then ended the game in the seventh flashing the leather first by an impressive running grab by Bohlman in centerfield and then a textbook 1-6-3 double-play from Goyette to Darling to Fragale with an impressive scoop at first.

“The boys never wavered and remained calm in the midst of every challenge that came their way, mirroring the confidence and relaxed demeanor of our veteran coaches Tom Murphy and Chris Goyette,This was a great way for all these eighth-graders to finish their baseball career at DeSales going out on top”, remarked Fragale.

DeSales finished the year 12-1.

The DeSales team will attend and be honored on November 6th at the 94th WNY Parochial Association banquet in Buffalo.