Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Tyler Rotoli, shown here picking up yardage in last weekend’s season opener, and his Albion teammates will open B East Division competition at Alden on Friday night.

Having successfully passed season opening interdivisional tests, Albion and Medina/Lyndonville will begin B East Division competition on the road Friday night.

Albion will visit Alden at 7 p.m. while Medina/Lyndonville will take on East Aurora/Holland at 7:30 p.m. at East Aurora.

Barker/Roy-Hart, which is looking to rebound from a season opening interdivisional loss, also opens B East Division competition on the road visiting Depew at 7 p.m. Friday.

In the Genesee Region League, Holley will host Elba/Byron-Bergen at 1:30 p.m. Saturday as the Hawks look to bounce back from a season opening 39-6 loss at Attica.

Albion got point production from all phases of the game in the week one 50-14 romp over visiting Newfane.

Quarterback Kyle Smith completed a pair of touchdown passes to Kory Reynolds to lead the offense which also got rushing touchdowns by Tommy Mattison, Meach Gardner and Blake Aina.

The Purple Eagles defense contributed a TD on a 6 yard intercept return by Lamar Chambers as did the special teams with a 30 yd TD run off a muffed punt by Tyler Rotoli.

Alden likewise romped past Pioneer 35-0 in the opener as Lyle Grant led the Bulldogs with 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

The Albion vs. Alden series is knotted at 6-6. Alden has won the last four games including a 36-14 win in their last meeting in 2012.

Eric Neace, shown here scoring one of his 4 touchdowns in the season opener, and his Medina/Lyndonville teammates will visit East Aurora on Friday to open B East Division competition.

Medina/Lyndonville likewise was involved in a high scoring, but much closer, opener as the Mustangs outlasted visiting Lew-Port 46-41.

The Mustangs youthful offensive unit was spearheaded by a strong junior runningback combination of Jake Cotter (237 yards, 1 TD) and Eric Neace (110 yards, 4 TDs). Freshman Izaiah Rhim made his first varsity start at quarterback and completed 7 of 16 pass for 124 yards including a 21 yard TD strike to senior Dylan Lewis. The Mustangs also got a 5 yard TD run by sophomore Jalin Cooper.

East Aurora/Holland defeated Olean 20-7 in the opener as Nolan O’Connor, Brigham Rogers and E.J. Staniszewski took turns running for touchdowns.

The Mustangs hold a 10-6 lead in the series with East Aurora which began in 1934. The Blue Devils won the last meeting by a narrow 29-25 margin in the semifinals of the 2007 sectional playoffs.

Barker/Roy-Hart, which is looking to bounce back from a 40-20 loss at Tonawanda, will be facing Depew for just the second time. The Wildcats won the only previous meeting 33-14 in 2012.

Senior quarterback Andy Xapsos had a big game for Barker/Roy-Hart in the opener rushing for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns and passing for 143 yards and 1 TD.

Depew dropped a narrow 30-28 decision to Dunkirk in the opener.

Holley, which is led offensively by senior quarterback Nick Passarell, will be facing a Elba/Byron-Bergen squad which defeated Pembroke 26-6 in the G-R season opener.

Elba/Byron-Bergen holds a 5-3 lead in the series with the Hawks including a 32-6 win last fall.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Anna Lewis (17) works the ball up field against Notre Dame’s Stephanie Pingrey during the Lady Tigers home field loss to the Irish this afternoon.

All of the scoring took place in the second half as Notre Dame defeated host Lyndonville 3-1 this afternoon in a Genesee Region League girls soccer game.

Lyndonville tied the game at 1-1 12 minutes into the second half on a goal by Aubrey Lewis but Notre Dame answered with two goals in the final 20 minutes to claim the win.

Improving to 4-2, Roy-Hart defeated Albion 248-256 this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League golf match at Hickory Ridge.

Murphy Lang took medalist honors for Roy-Hart with a 46.

The Rams also had Justin Czaja with a 48 and Madigan Lang a 49.

The loss drops Albion to 2-4.

In the other N-O match, Newfane defeated Akron 225-249 to improve to 3-2.

Aiden Herlan took medalist honors for Newfane with a 40.

Newfane’s Connor Duncan and Akron’s Matt Martin both carded rounds of 44.

Akron slips to 0-5.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Chanyce Powell spikes over the Medina duo of Molley Gross (10) and Je’ne Brown (14) during the host Purple Eagles Niagara-Orleans League season opening win over the Mustangs this evening.

Coming on strong after slow starts in each of the first two sets, Albion opened defense of its Niagara-Orleans League volleyball title with a 25-15, 25-18, 25-13 victory over visiting rival Medina this evening.

Meghan Hurley had 8 spiking kills and 2 service aces, Kelsee Soule 6 kills and 2 aces and Chanyce Powell 6 kills and 5 aces to lead the way for Albion.

Carley Schultz had 5 kills for Medina as Je’ne Brown added 2 kills, Lexi Neuman 2 aces and Lexi Sargent 1 ace and 1 kill.

Medina’s Je’ne Brown spikes over Chanyce Powell.

Medina jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the outset of the first set as Lexie Sargent served up five points in a row, a run highlighted by two spiking kills by Brown.

However, Albion battled back to take the lead for good at 15-9 as Powell served up 7 straight points (4-10), a run which featured kills by Kaitlyn VanSkiver, Soule and Aleah Foos. VanSkiver followed up by serving up points 12-15, a run capped off by an ace.

Albion closed out the set as Soule served up points 19-21 and Hurley 23-25 including aces for points 23 and 25.

The second set likewise saw Medina jump out to an 8-4 lead as Neuman served up points 1-4, including two aces, and Schultz scored points 7 and 8.

Ashlee Bocach returns a serve for Albion.

Albion though again came battling back to claim the win. Back-to-back aces by Powell ignited that rally which was capped off by back-to-back kills by Soule for points 24 and 25.

Keeping the momentum, the Purple Eagles then led all the way in the third set which was highlighted by a six point run of service points by Ashlee Bocach (15-20). Powell had two kills during that run and a total of 5 in the set.

“We got off to a slow start but we finished strong and that’s the big thing,” said Albion Coach Ann Capacci.

Albion next hosts CSAT at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The Purple Eagles then host their annual tournament on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m.

Emily Kams bump sets for Medina.

Roy-Hart 25-25-25
CSAT 12-6-9
Beatrice Bacon had 24 service points including 7 aces and Olivia Vorholzer 22 points with 7 aces to lead Roy-Hart to the straight set victory over CSAT. Bacon also had 4 kills and Savoy Laubacker 3.

Oakfield-Alabama 25-25-25-25
Lyndonville 27-16-4-13
Justina Pruski had 16 assists and 3 aces; Hannah Scarborough 7 aces and 6 kills; Kylie Schlagenhauf 2 aces and 7 kills and Brianna Smith 7 aces to lead the way for Oakfield-Alabams in the come-from-behind four set Genesee Region League win over Lyndonville.

Cierra Riley had 5 kills and Paige Gardner 2 aces and 2 assists for Lyndonville.

Building up a commanding 3-0 half-time advantage, Akron went on to defeat visiting Albion 3-1 this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League boys soccer game.

Goals by Bryan Whitbeck and Josh Weigel in the first 16 minutes put Akron in command. Ethan Martin upped the Tigers lead to 3-0 with a goal at the 34 minute mark.

Kendyll Hadick scored in the second half for Albion.

Akron is now 1-1 and Albion 0-3 in N-O action.

In the only other N-O game, Newfane blanked Roy-Hart 6-0 as Chad Gilson scored 3 goals and Trevor Moreland 2.

Newfane is now 2-0 and Roy-Hart 1-1 in league play.

The Wilson at Medina/Lyndonville game was postponed until September 18 due to a power problem at Wilson which closed school.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman

Boys varsity volleyball returned to Lyndonville High for the first time since the mid 1970’s this evening as the Lyndonville/Medina squad dropped a 25-8, 25-12, 25-21 decision to visiting Pavilion. Senior Kenny Kalson (13) here makes a block for a point for the Tigers during opening set action as junior Dustin Joy (14) goes up to help.

Junior Devon Allen, who served up an ace for Lyndonville/Medina’s historic first point, here makes a set. “We’re going to compete, be positive and keep improving,” said Coach Kevin Laskey of his charges opener. “The boys really rallied back in the third game. I am really proud of them for hanging in there.” The Tigers roster also includes seniors Michael Griffin and Zach McAdoo along with juniors Mason Pecoraro, Trevor Thaine, Jacob Houseman and Federico Rosario. Allen served up 8 straight points in the third set. Griffin and Pecoraro both had 3 kills and Joy 2.

Collegiate Notebook

Contributed Photo – Jenna Castricone

Lyndonville High graduate and Hilbert College sophomore Jenna Castricone has been named Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference women’s soccer Defensive Player of the Week.

Castricone, who shifted from a field position to goalie this season, made 8 saves at the SUNY Poly Tournament including stopping a late penalty kick which sealed Hobart’s 2-1 win over host Poly.

Castricone, a four year varsity player during her scholastic days at Lyndonville, is a Sports Industry Management Major.

Boyer a regular on the line at Hobart

Contributed Photo – Levi Boyer

Albion High graduate and Hobart College senior Levi Boyer has earned a regular spot in the offensive line rotation for the Statesmen.

Boyer, a four year player for the Statesmen, played on all the special teams and also rotated on the offensive line last year seeing action in 10 games.

A two-time All-League honoree during his scholastic days at Albion, Boyer has a 3.4 grade point average in the classroom at Hobart.

Kendall edged past visiting rival Holley 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 26-24 this evening in a Genesee Region League girls volleyball match.

Sarah Pearson had 9 service aces, 9 assists and 5 spiking kills; Emily Mattle 11 aces; Chelsea Wright 8 aces, 6 digs and 2 kills; Alexis Payton 6 aces, 3 digs and 3 kills and Madison Rath 3 aces and 4 kills for Kendall which took the decisive fourth set in overtime.

Chelsea Norman ad 4 aces and 2 kills and Jennah McMillon 4 aces for Holley.

Lyndonville boys open Wednesday

The Lyndonville boys varsity volleyball team will make its debut by hosting Pavilion at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The match had originally been scheduled for 7 p.m.

Medina rallies to tie at Akron

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Amber Villella (2), who netted all four of the Lady Rams goals, drives the ball toward the goal as Vivian Rivers moves in to defend for Albion. The action took place during Roy-Hart’s win at Gasport this evening.

Surviving a big second half challenge, Roy-Hart nipped Albion 4-3 this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League girls soccer game at Gasport.

Amber Villella scored all four goals for Roy-Hart which jumped out to as much as a 3-0 lead.

Mariah Elsenheimer, Ally Page and Emily Blanchard each scored a goal for Albion which did battle back into a tie in the second half.

Roy-Hart grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first nine minutes as Villella tallied twice off assists from Emma Lindke.

The Lady Rams upped the lead to 3-0 as Villella scored from Ava Bligh with 11 minutes to go in the half.

Albion though did answer back with a goal by Elsenheimer to cut the deficit to 3-1 at the half.

Keeping the momentum, the Purple Eagles then rallied into a 3-3 tie by scoring two lightning quick goals midway from the second half as Page tallied at 24:37 and Blanchard at 23:21 off a corner by Elsenheimer.

However, Roy-Hart rebounded as Villella scored on a breakaway with 8:16 remaining, off an assist from Lindke, to give the Lady Rams the win.

Roy-Hart is now 3-0 in the league and 5-0 overall while Albion slips to 1-3.

Roy-Hart’s Ava Bligh battles for control of the ball with Albion’s Ally Page.

Medina 2, Akron 2

Destiny Satkowski scored both goals for Medina which rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to earn the 2-2 tie at Akron.

Emma Gardner made no less than 20 saves in goal to anchor the defense for the Mustangs.

Jenna Robnett and Eliza Papke each scored a goal for Akron.

Akron is now 1-1-1 and Medina 0-2-1.

Wilson 11, CSAT 1

Two goals each by Emily Patterson, Lauren Couturier and Kayla Neumann spearheaded the attack for Wilson which improves to 3-0 as CSAT slips to 0-3.

Newfane 7, Barker 0

Kaylee Heschke scored two goals and Erica Flagler had two assists to lead Newfane (4-0) to a 7-0 win over Barker (0-3).

Rallying from an early 1-0 deficit, Kendall rebounded to defeat visiting Wheatland-Chili 4-1 this evening in a Genesee Region League girls soccer game.

Kendall used a lightning quick two goal scoring burst to erase the 1-0 deficit as Coralee Freitag scored at the 25 minute mark of the first half and Taylor ReQua netted the go ahead tally just two minutes later at the 27 minute mark.

The Lady Eagles then used a similar two goal scoring burst midway through the second half to put a lock on the victory. ReQua scored at the 18 minute mark and Maya Rutland at the 21 minute mark.

Jenna Jacob made 6 saves in goal for Kendall which improves to 2-0 in the league and 3-0 overall.

Kendall next hosts Albion at 7 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the Lady Eagles Tournament. York will face Bishop Kearney in the opener at 5:15 p.m.

In another G-R contest today, Pembroke got two overtime goals by Grace Krizen to edge visiting Holley 2-0.

Boys Soccer

Holley 5, University Prep 0
Gabe Mendoza scored two goals for Holley which also got tallies from Andrew Cary, Chris Balys and Ryan Moseman to blank visiting University Prep 5-0 in a non league boys contest.