Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Colm Cooper of Medina/Lyndonville battles for control of the ball with Albion’s Hayden Peccoraro during the Mustangs win over the Purple Eagles at Vets Park this afternoon.

A quick two goal scoring burst early in the first half keyed Medina/Lyndonville to a 2-0 victory over Albion this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League boys soccer game at Vets Park.

Ian Smith scored what proved to be the game winning goal for the Mustangs just 10:02 into the opening half off an assist from Vassilios Bitsas as a corner kick by Greg Husung started the play.

Husung then added an insurance goal just seven minutes later.

Albion’s Kendyll Hadick tries to keep the ball away from the Mustangs Quentin Adkins.

Justin Morgan earned the shutout in goal.

Defending champion Medina/Lyndonville is now 2-0 in N-O action while Albion slips to 0-2.

Medina Lyndonville next hosts Wilson on September 10 while Albion visits Akron on September 9.

Ian Smith of the Mustangs works for control of the ball against Joe Madjeski of the Purple Eagles.

Albion’s Nate Scanlan brings the ball up field pursued by Vassilios Bitsas of the Mustangs.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Tommy Mattison picks up yardage during this evening’s Purple Eagles home field win as Noah Mott pursues for Newfane.

The offense, defense and special teams all contributed touchdowns as Albion rolled to a 50-14 victor over visiting Newfane this evening to open the football season.

Albion jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead as quarterback Kyle Smith passed 9 yards to Kory Reynolds for one touchdown and Tommy Mattison ran 5 yards for another. Smith added the two-point conversion run after the second tally. Mattison had a 24 yard run to help set up the first TD.

The Puple Eagles lead increased to 29-0 at the half after Lamar Chambers returned and interception 16 yards for one touchdown in the second quarter and Tyler Rotoli returned a muffed punt 30 yards for another score. Trey Hart passed to Reynolds for a two-point conversion after the first tally and Nate Trembley added the extra point kick after the second.

Albion’s Kory Reynolds tackles Newfane quarterback Brandon Gross.

Albion also scored twice in the third quarter on a 1 yard run by Meach Gardner and a 34 yard Smith to Reynolds pass.

Blake Aina rounded out the Purple Eagles scoring parade with a 30 yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

Hart and Tony Rotoli led the Albion defense with 9 tackles each as Mike Laine had 7 and Reynolds 6 and 2 sacks.

“The kids executed pretty well tonight. We have some things to work on but we did some nice things.” said Coach Gary Parisi whose Purple Eagles next visit Alden on September 11.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Lizzy Baker sends the ball upfield for Albion during today’s game at Wilson.

Defending champion Wilson scored in the first overtime period to nip visiting Albion 2-1 this afternoon in a key early season Niagara-Orleans League girls soccer game.

Rachel Senek scored the game winner for Wilson which improves to 2-0.

Wilson grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Jenn Darlak but Albion pulled even in the second half on a goal by Brylie Hapeman.

The loss was the second in overtime this week for Albion which is now 1-2 in N-O action.

Bella Prest leaps to knock away a penalty kick from Wilson. Prest had a solid game as goalie for Albion against the hard-charging Wilson team.

Roy-Hart 7, Barker 2

Amber Villella scored 4 goals and Emma Lindke 3 to spark Roy-hart (2-0) past Barker (0-2). Villella, Maddie Fry and Ava Bligh each had 2 assists.

Newfane 4, Medina 0

Kaylee Heschke scored 2 goals as Makena Carpenter and Kayleigh Daniels both added 1 to lead Newfane (2-0) to a 4-0 win over visiting Medina (0-2).

Akron 12, CSAT 0

Eight different players contributed goals as Akron (1-1) blanked CSAT (0-2) 12-0.
Leah Czechowski, Allison Norton and Julia George each scored 2 goals to lead the Lady Tigers.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina quarterback Izaiah Rhim runs up field as Lew-Port’s Ian Sitek tries to make the tackle. The action took place during the Mustangs win over the Lancers this evening at Vets Park.

Surviving a scare down the stretch, Medina/Lyndonville outlasted Lew-Port 46-41 at Vets Park this evening in a wide open season opener.

The Mustangs opened up a 20 point, 40-20, advantage heading into the final quarter but Lew-Port scored three times in the final nine minutes to make the finish exciting.

The Mustangs jumped out to an early 16-7 lead as Jalin Cooper ran 5 yards for the first touchdown and freshman quarterback Izaiah Rhim, who was making his first varsity start, passed 21 yards to Dylan Lewis for the second. The pair of two-point conversions came on a pass from Rhim to Lewis and a run by Jake Cotter. Rhim completed 7 of 16 passes for 124 yards on the night.

The Mustangs maintained a narrow 22-20 lead at the half as Eric Neace ran 11 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. A 49 yard run by Cotter, who rushed 18 times for 237 yards on the evening, set up that tally.

That score came just seconds after Lew-Port’s Dawson Bailey scored on an 85 yard kickoff return. The Lancers also got a 4 yard TD run by Michael Fritz in the second quarter.

The Mustangs built the advantage to 40-20 in the third quarter on touchdown runs of 42 yards by Cotter and of 29 and 3 by Neace who had a total of 110 yards rushing on 13 carries on the evening. Cotter had a 27 yard run to help set up Neace’s second TD.

However, Lew-Port used a 75 yard fumble recovery return for a touchdown to spark the big fourth quarter surge.

Jake Cotter runs in for a two-point conversion for the Mustangs as Nick Christman tries for the tackle for the Lancers.

The Mustangs did answer right back for what proved to be the game winning touchdown on a 15 yard run by Neace to regain a 46-27 lead. A 37 yard run by Cotter helped set up that decisive tally.

Lew-Port though got two touchdowns by Bailey, on a 15 yard pass reception from quarterback Donald Allender and on a 1 yard run, to slice the deficit to 46-41 with 2:47 remaining.

The Lancers got the ball back two more times but could not find the end zone again.
The Mustang defensive unit made a huge goal line stand to stop the first drive and an interception by Trent Cotriss stopped the second.

Gage Grabowski also had an interception on the evening for the Mustangs while Charles Beach made 14 tackles and Dawson Joy 11.

With the win the Mustangs even their all-time series with the Lancers, which began in 1955, at 11-11.

Tonawanda 40, Barker/Roy-Hart 20

Senior quarterback Andy Xapsos had a big night for Barker/Roy-Hart rushing 32 times for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns and completing 12 of 25 passes for 143 yards including a TD toss to Ed Wasnock who a total of 9 catches for 101 yards.

Attica 39, Holley 6

Capitalizing on punt and interception returns for touchdowns, Attica built up a 32-0 half-time advantage over visiting Holley in route to posting a 39-6 win in the Genesee Region League opener.

Nick Passarell completed an 8 yard scoring pass to Ryan Andrews for Holley’s touchdown.

Passarell had a total of 82 yards rushing, Zach Day 58 and Adam Stetzel 36.

On defense for Holley, Clarence Moyer had 12 tackles, Nick Shenck 10 and a sack and Passarell an interception.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Rielly Albee tries to go through Akron defenders Heather Cummings and Olivia Diebel during this afternoon’s game at Roy-Hart which was won in overtime by the visiting Lady Tigers.

Akron edged past host Roy-Hart 1-0 in overtime this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League field hockey game.

In the other N-O contests, Medina edged host Kenmore 2-1 and Wilson downed rival Newfane 5-1.

Heather Cummings scored the game winner for Akron just two and a half minutes into the 10 minute 7 on 7 overtime period.

Akron is now 1-0 and Roy-Hart 1-1.

Roy-Hart’s Victoria Thompson tries to take the ball away from Akron’s Kayleah Aldrich.

Medina 2, Kenmore 1

Michaela Cardone scored in the first half for Medina and Lacey Kenward tallied what proved to be the game winner in the second half for the Mustangs.

Medina improves to 1-1 and Kenmore slips to 0-2.

Wilson 5, Newfane 1

Leading by a narrow 2-1 margin, Wilson used two second half goals by Liz Soles and one by Courtney Wheeler to lock up the victory over Newfane.

Alex Seeley and Rachael Cobo scored in the first three minutes of the game for Wilson but Newfane answered wit a tally by Madison Bunn before half-time.

Wilson is now 2-0 and Newfane 0-2.

Medina defeated host Newfane 215-231 this afternoon to improve to 5-1 in Nigara-Orleans League golf competition.

Ian Wagner took medalist honors for Medina with a 37.

Melanie Green carded a 41 and Mike Cardone a 43 for the Mustangs.

Connor Duncan shot a 42 for Newfane.

In other N-O action, front-running Wilson stayed perfect at 5-0 by downing Albion (2-3) 210-265 as Connor Seeley, Brandon Seider and Ben Kelly shared medalist honors with rounds of 41.

Jonah Miller added a 42 and Nick Seider a 45 for the Lakemen.

Jared Fearby shot a 49 for Albion.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Emma Lindke and Holley goalie Maddie Papaj go head to head during second half action of this evening’s Holley Tournament semifinal which was won by the visiting Lady Rams.

Scoring a goal in each half, Roy-Hart blanked the host Lady Hawks 2-0 this evening in the opening round of the Holley girls soccer tournament.

Emma Lindke scored both goals for Roy-Hart which will face LeRoy for the tournament championship at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Lindke scored what proved to be the game winner at the 25 minute mark of the first half off an assist from Amber Villella. She later added an insurance tally 4:03 into the second half off a corner by Ava Bligh.

Holley’s Haylee Passarell tries to drive around Roy-Hart defender Josephine Capen. Roy-Hart’s Kayla Brown is in the background.

Now at 2-0, Roy-Hart next visits Barker in a Niagara-Orleans League game at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

LeRoy nipped Greece Olympia 1-0 in the other semi.

The Holley boys tournament will conclude on Friday evening as Roy-Hart faces Batavia in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. and the host Hawks take on Alden in the championship contest at 6:30 p.m.

Kendall opened the Genesee Region League volleyball season on a high note Wednesday outlasting visiting Wheatland-Chili in a five set marathon 25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-15.

Sarah Pearson had 10 service aces, 15 assists, 5 spiking kills and 5 digs; Chelsea Wright 7 aces and 10 digs and Alexis Payton 11 kills to lead the way for Kendall which erased a 2-1 deficit by winning the final two sets.

“It was definitely a great way to start the season,” said Coach Morgan Engelbert. “A great and hard fought victory for the Eagles!”

Kendall next hosts Medina in a non league match on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

In another G-R opener, Oakfield-Alabama/Elba defeated Holley 25-22, 25-11, 25-12.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion quarterback Kyle Smith hands off to Tyler Rotoli during last Saturday’s scrimmage which was a tuneup for the Purple Eagles home season opener Friday against Newfane at 7 p.m. Medina/Lyndonville also opens the season with a home game Friday against Lew-Port at 7:30 p.m.

High school football action gets underway Friday night highlighted by home games for Albion and Medina/Lyndonville.

Albion will host Newfane at 7 p.m. and Medina/Lyndonville will entertain Lew-Port at 7:30 p.m. at Vets Park in a pair of interdivisional contests.

Friday’s other openers will have Barker/Roy-Hart at Tonawanda at 7:30 p.m. in an interdivisional game and Holley at Attica at 7 p.m. in a Genesee Region League contest.

Veteran quarterback Kyle Smith, a senior, leads the offense for Albion which also returns good experience in running backs Tyler Rotoli, a senior, and Tommy Mattison, a junior, along with senior wide receiver Trey Hart and junior Kory Reynolds at tight end.

The veteran trio of seniors Mike Laine and Nate Trembley and junior Jared Hollinger anchors the offensive line which also looks to include junior Jacob Buzzard and sophomore Caleb Pettit.

“I’m looking for us to execute at a high level,” said Coach Gary Parisi. “We’ve been pushing them pretty hard and they’ve responded. They know what the coaching staff is trying to accomplish and they are responding.”

Albion holds a 40-9-2 lead in the series with Newfane which began in 1954. The Purple Eagles downed the Panthers 42-6 last fall.

Medina/Lyndonville will be utilizing a pair of quarterbacks in senior Tyler Valley and freshman Izaiah Rhim to lead the offense against Lew-Port.

On the ground the Mustangs are looking to a quartet of running backs including including senior Tom Follman and juniors Eric Neace, Jake Cotter and Dawson Joy while the receiving corps includes senior Dylan Lewis and sophomores Mason Lewis and Jalin Cooper. The tight end spot will be shared by a trio of players including Trent Cotriss and Gage Grabowski and Charlie Enderby, all seniors.

Up front, the offensive line looks to open with senior Baylee VerCruysee at center, seniors Charles Beach and Kalvin Packer at guard along with senior Noah Banazwski and junior Frank Carrasquio at the tackle spots.

Mason Lewis, shown here looking for running room in last Saturday’s scrimmage, and his Mustang teammates will host Lew-Port Friday.

“We’re pretty well rounded,” said Coach Eric Valley of his offense. However, against a Lew-Port squad which has a veteran quarterback and receiver and looks to be pass oriented Valley is concerned about the Mustangs defensive secondary which was hit hard by graduation.

“The key for us will be to put pressure on their quarterback and slow down their passing game,” said Valley.

The Mustangs won last year’s meeting 36-0 but the Lancers hold an 11-10 lead in the series which began in 1955.

Veteran quarterback Andy Xapsos, a senior, leads the offense for Barker/Roy-Hart which has good experience on the line in the senior trio of Joe Dimayo, Chris Anderson and Chris Steves.

“A big key is for us to get off to a strong start to get the momentum going for the season,” said Coach Bill Bruning whose charges defeated Tonawanda 26-21 sat year.

Barker/Roy-Hart posted a 3-6 overall record last fall.

Heading into a challenging G-R opener at perennial power Attica, Holley will be relying on a large veteran contingent including quarterback Nick Passarell, wide receivers Zach Vaccarelli and Clarence Moyer, running backs Zach Day, Adam Stetzel, and Nick Schenk, tight end Ronnie DeWaal along with linemen Ross Pinson, Pat Purtell and Austin Vroman. All are seniors except Day who is a junior.

Attica holds a 13-0 series lead over Holley including a 42-0 win in last year’s opener.