Albion romped to a 25-10, 25-8, 25-17 victory over visiting Attica this evening in a non league volleyball match.

Kelsee Soule had 13 spiking kills and 16 digs, Chanyce Powell 11 kills, 5 digs, 2 aces and 3 blocks and Meghan Hurley 4 kills and 12 assists to lead the way for Albion.

The Purple Eagles also got 2 kills each from Kaitlyn VanSkiver, Aleah Foos and Emilie Barleben. Foos also had 2 blocks, Barleben 2 aces and Kassidy Hastings 10 assists.

Medina improved to 7-4 in Niagara-Orleans League competion with a 25-20, 25-12, 25-20 victory at Newfane.

Lexi Neuman served up points 1-5 and Lexie Sargent 19-22 in the opening set to get Medina rolling.

Emily Kams then scored points 10-16 in the second set and Meghan O’Keefe closed out the match by serving up points 21-25 in the third set snapping a 20-20 tie.

Kams had 12 assists on the night and O’Keefe 2 aces and 6 digs.

Carley Schultz chipped in with 4 kills and 4 digs, Molley Gross 4 aces and 2 kills and Je’ne Brown 5 kills and 2 blocks for the Mustangs.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Tyler Rotoli (35) tries to get away from Medina/Lyndonville defender Mason Lewis as Manwell Taylor (7) tries to block. The action took place during the host Purple Eagles win over the rival Mustangs this evening at Spierdowis Field.

Ending a three year drought, Albion used back-to-back touchdown drives to open the fourth quarter to snap a 14-14 tie and key a 27-14 victory over rival Medina/Lyndonville this evening in a B East Division contest at Spierdowis Field.

A big 56 yard run by Tyler Rotoli down to the Medina/Lyndonville 2 set up a 2 yard touchdown run by quarterback Kyle Smith with 9:44 to go in the fourth quarter putting Albion on top to stay at 21-14 as Trey Hart added the extra point kick. Rotoli had a total of 142 yards rushing on the night.

“The key play of the game was Tyler’s run,” said Albion Coach Gary Paris who’s Purple Eagles also claimed the Doc’s Rick Trophy for the first time since 2011. The trophy is given annually to the winner in memory of the late Larry “Doc” Decker, a long-time Medina coach and teacher who also taught and coached for a time at Albion.

The Purple Eagles got the ball rght back as Manwell Taylor recovered the ensuing short kickoff and the Purple Eagles were quick to capitalize. Smith hooked up with Kory Reynolds for a 29 yard touchdown pass play on a fourth down and 15 play with 5:15 remaining upping the Purple Eagles advantage to 29-14.

The Mustangs Jalin Cooper (1) tries to go up field as Dylan Lewis blocks Purple Eagles defender Lamar Chambers.

“Kory’s catch was a big play and so was the kickoff recovery,” said Parisi. “I’m just so proud of our kids. I know we’re a good football team. We’ve come up a little short a couple of times this season but the kids kept grinding and working and I’m just real proud of them.”

The teams had traded touchdowns twice in the first half which ended deadlocked at 14-14.

Medina/Lyndonville jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Tyler Valley threw a 20 yard touchdown pass to Dylan Lewis with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter. A 28 yard run by Jake Cotter ignited that drive which was also highlighted by a 15 yard run by Jalin Cooper.

Albion though answered right back on the next possession to take an 8-6 lead as Tyler Rotoli scored on a 4 yard touchdown run and Hart threw a two-point conversion pass to Reynolds on a broken play. A 9 yard run on fourth down by Meach Gardner for a first down and a 15 yard run by Smith keyed that drive.

The Mustangs though grabbed the lead right back at 14-8 as Eric Neace scored on a 2 yard run with 6:16 to go in the second quarter. Cotter had runs of 27 and 15 yards to highlight the march.

Albion’s Kory Reynolds (84) breaks away from a tackle attempt by Dylan Lewis to score the clinching touchdown for the Purple Eagles.

The sea-saw battled continued as Albion again answered, this time with a 26 yard touchdown pass from Smith to Hart on a fourth down and 11 play with just 53 seconds to go in the half to pull the Purple Eagles even at 14-14. A pass interference penalty against the Mustangs helped ignite that drive.

Both teams mounted good scoring threats in the third quarter but couldn’t capitalize.

Albion drove to the Medina 15 after a 14 yard Smith to Reynolds pass completion but the Mustangs defense came up big as Charles Beach recovered a fumble and returned it to the Medina 35.

The Mustangs then drove to a first down at the Albion 19 after Neace picked up 37 yards on a fake punt play. However, the Purple Eagles defense stopped the advance on downs and the Mustangs would get no closer in the final quarter.

Mike Laine had 10 tackles, Gardner 9 and Nate Trembley and Reynolds 7 to lead the Albion defense.

Tyler Howard helps to lead Eric Neace up the sideline on a Mustangs fake punt play.

Albion and Medina/Lyndonville both finish the B East season at 2-3. The Purple Eagles are 3-4 overall and the Mustangs 4-3.

In snapping the Mustangs three game win streak in the rivalry, the Purple Eagles increase their lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1898, to 65-48-5.

Holley and Kendall both scored victories this evening to close out the Genesee Region League boys soccer season.

Holley nipped Attica 3-2 to finish the G-R campaign at 7-3.

Gabe Mendoza had 2 goals and an assist for Holley as Bailey Schubmehl had a goal and Andrew Cary 2 assists.

Kendall, which finishes the G-R season at 5-5, edged past visiting Pembroke 2-1.

Brayde Moyer scored in the first half for the Eagles as Brandon Lewis netted the game winner in the second half off an assist by Jesus Aguirre.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina/Lyndonville’s Chase Pecoraro (15) heads the ball up field against Roy-Hart’s Jameson Johnson during the rainy overtime game at Vets Park this afternoon.

On a wild weather afternoon which saw driving rain at the start, a bit of sun in the middle and a wind swept driving rain at the finish, Medina/Lyndonville and Roy-Hart battled to a 1-1 double overtime tie in a Niagara-Orleans League boys soccer game at Vets Park.

Medina/Lyndonville took a 1-0 lead when Vassilios Bitsas scored with 17:33 remaining in the first half off an assist from Kristian Snyder.

Roy-Hart battled back to knot the contest when Patrick Sheeler scored with 24:56 remaining in the second half.

The Mustangs put a barrage of shots on the Rams goal in the first 10 minute overtime but could not connect.

Neither team could mount a sustained threat in the second overtime as the wind picked up whipping the rain in sheets across the field.

Medina/Lyndonville finishes the N-O season at 5-3-4 and Roy-Hart 1-10-1.

Roy-Hart’s Aaron Snell tries to advance the ball toward the goal against Medina/Lyndonville defender Paul Kurz.

Roaring out to a commanding 35-0 half-time advantage, host East Aurora/Holland went on to defeat Barker/Roy-Hart 35-10 this evening in a B East Division contest.

Eric Fitch scored on a 1 yard touchdown run and Andy Xapsos completed a two-poitn conversion pass to Ryan Ulrich in the fourth quarter for Barker/Roy-Hart whose other points came on a safety.

Ulrich finished with 64 yards rushing and 43 receiving and Fitch 50 yards rushing.

On defense, Ulrich made 8 tackles and Fitch 7.

Barker/Roy-Hart, which finishes the B East season at 0-5, is now 1-6 overall.

East Aurora/Holland, which winds up at 3-2 in the B East Divison is now 4-3 overall.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Rivals Albion and Medina will battle for the Doc’s Rock trophy Friday night at Albion.

One of New York State’s oldest high school football rivalries will be renewed for the 118th time as Medina/Lyndonville visits Albion at 7 p.m. Friday in the B East Division regular season finale.

In addition to local bragging rights, the teams will also be battling to claim the Doc’s Rock Trophy which is named in honor of the late long-time Medina coach and teacher Larry “Doc” Decker who also taught and coached for a time at Albion.

“It’s a great rivalry, the best rivalry I’ve been involved in as coach,” said Albion Coach Gary Parisi. “It affects so many people in so many ways. It’s big for our players, especially our seniors, and for the people in the community.”

Both teams enter the contest with momentum from victories last weekend. The Mustangs scored their biggest win to date downing Depew 26-14 and the Purple Eagles snapped a four game losing streak with a 30-13 win over Barker/Roy-Hart.

“I’m proud of our kids and the way they’ve kept battling,” said Parisi. “We know this is going to be a physical game so the key for us is to keep grinding, keep working and stay positive.”

Junior running back Jake Cotter rushed for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns to spearhead the Mustangs attack against Depew while junior back Tommy Mattison had a pair of rushing touchdowns and also a clutch interception near the goal line late in the game to help preserve the Purple Eagles victory over Barker/Roy-Hart. Senior Trey Hart then sealed the Albion victory by turning in the rare feat of returning back-to-back pass interceptions for touchdowns in the final minute.

Medina/Lyndonville, which still has hopes of earning a sectional playoff berth, is 2-2 in the division and 4-2 overall while Albion is 1-3, 2-4 heading into the rivalry contest.

“Albion has had a couple of tough losses but they are a real good football team,” said Medina Coach Eric Valley. “They have a good running back (Mattison) and wide receiver (Hart) so we have to slow them down. We did a good job on defense against Depew and we’ve got to keep playing good defense.”

The Purple Eagles hold a 64-48-5 lead in the series which dates back to 1898 though the Mustangs have won the last three and five of the last seven. The last three encounters have been wide open, high scoring affairs with the Mustangs winning 56-34 in 2012, 38-31 in 2013 and 46-30 last fall.

The Mustangs recent run came after the Purple Eagles won 17 of 19 meetings from 1989 to 2007.

Prior to that, the Mustangs also had a long run of success going 18-3-1 from 1957-1978.

Barker/Roy-Hart, Holley on the road

Barker/Roy-Hart (0-4, 1-5) will close out the B East Division season at East Aurora/Holland (2-2, 3-3) at 7 p.m. Friday at East Aurora.

Holley (0-5, 0-6) will visit Notre Dame (41, 4-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Genesee Region League finale.

Standings

B East Division – Alden 5-0, 6-0, Depew 3-2, 3-3, Medina/Lyndonville 2-2, 4-2, East Aurora/Holland 2-2, 3-3, Albion 1-3, 2-4, Barker/Roy-Hart 0-4, 1-5.

G-R League – Attica 5-0, 5-1, Notre Dame 4-1, 4-2, Elba/Byron-Bergen 3-2, 4-2, Alexander 3-2, 4-2, Oakfield-Alabama 2-3, 3-3, Pembroke 1-5, 1-5, Holley -5, 0-6.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Emma Duffy, left, battles with Medina’s Stella Russo for control of the ball during the Lady Raiders home field win over the Mustangs this afternoon.

Scoring a goal in each half, Akron blanked host Wilson 2-0 this afternoon to lock up outright possession of the Niagara-Orleans League field hockey championship.

Olivia Diebel scored in the first half and Heather Cummings in the second half for Akron which completed a 11-1 league campaign to claim the N-O crown for the first time since 2006.

Nine time defending champion Barker finished a half game off the pace at 10-1-1 after defeating visiting Medina 8-0.

Becky Stoloski and Emma Duffy each scored a pair of goals for Barker which led 6-0 at the half.

Erin Greenwald, Erika Moeller, Lydia Dewart and Katrina Clare also each scored a goal for the Lady Raiders.

Medina finishes the N-O season at 1-11.

In one other N-O game Kenmore (2-10) upended Newfane (3-9) 2-0.

Final Standings: Akron 11-1-0, Barker 10-1-1, Wilson 7-4-1, Roy-Hart 7-5-0, Newfane 3-9-0, Kenmore 2-10-0, Medina 1-11-0.

The Kendall girls completed a perfect 16-0 regular season by blanking host Byron-Bergen 4-0 this evening in a Genesee Region League game which was halted early in the second half by thunder and lightning.

“It’s phenomenal,” said Kendall Coach Pam Beres of the Lady Eagles undefeated campaign.

Kendall, which finishes a third straight G-R Division 1 title campaign at 13-0, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half as Maya Rutland scored twice, both off assists from Taylor ReQua.

The Lady Eagles tacked on two more goal in the first five minutes of the second half before play was halted. Coralee Freitag scored from Rutland and then the two reversed roles as Rutland tallied off an assist from Freitag.

Rebounding from an opening set loss, Medina battled back to defeat host Holley 22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-11 this evening in a non league volleyball match.

Meghan O’Keefe had a big run of service points (7-18) in the decisive fourth set to help Medina close out the win.

O’Keefe had 11 service aces on the night as Emily Kams had 6 aces and 15 assists, Je’ne Brown 13 kills and Molley Gross 6 kills.

Brianna Barber had 5 aces and 3 digs and Cassandra Norman 3 kills and 3 digs for Holley.

Kendall 19-25-25-25
Wheatland-Chili 25-13-8-12

Kendall likewise rebounded from a first set loss to defeat Wheatland-Chili 19-25, 25-13, 25-8, 25-12 this evening in a Genesee Region League match.

Sarah Pearson, last week’s G-R Division II Player of the Week, had 7 aces, 4 digs, 4 kills and 13 assists for Kendall.

The Lady Eagles also had Madison Rath with 4 aces, 7 digs and 7 kills; Chelsea Wright 4 aces, 7 digs and 8 kills; Emily Mattle 3 digs and 3 kills and Alexis Paytone 4 aces, 8 digs and 3 kills.

For W-C, Elizabeth Russell had 8 kills and 3 blocks and Nissa Burch 13 assists.

In one other G-R match, Pembroke defeated host Lyndonville 25-8, 25-13, 25-18.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman

Lyndonville’s Brianna Paniccia (7) goes after the ball against Alexander’s Nicole Alvord. The action took place during the host Lady Tigers 1-0 Genesee Region League loss to the Lady Trojans this afternoon. Stepany McBride scored Alexander’s lone goal in the first half.

Ciarra Silversmith (15) tries to move the ball up field for Lyndonville against Alexander’s Jordyn Atkinson.